JD Seller

JD you said your kids got a good loan rate on there farm, Did they get it at a bank or credit union? My son is trying to buy an acreage. Thank you Dave

My daughter and her husband got the loan through a small local bank. We have dealt with this same bank for close to 75 years.

I have not had much luck with Credit Unions for land purchases. They seem to be more for car loans and home loans.

Get them to go to Farm Credit. They can be a pain to get into, but in the long run, their rates are as good or better than the banks, and they specialize in farm loans. From past experience, they are far and above any bank on farm financing, and can and will do things no regular bank will even think of.

thank you for the reply Dave

Farm credit did the best for me too.

Farm Credit isn't a credit union, but does operate sometimes like one. FCA first financed a haybine for me back when my bank said they were no longer taking machinery as collateral, after I had dealt with them since I was a kid. Then I went to FSA and they said I made too much to finance through them because I was working for the phone company at the time. Then I went to FCA, and it took a couple of weeks to get an approval- long enough that the dealer called asking me when he would get a check. When they financed my farm a few years later, they were all encouragement and have worked with me through thick and thin to build this place, from three barns to machinery and livestock- things no normal bank would even look at, primarily because of the debt ratio. I have been with them for forty years now, and because of them I own everything here. Now that I am paid off, the money that went into the bank now gives us a nice dividend check every year. Borrowers become stockholder members, and a part of the association, so it actually seems to help after you've been in just a couple of years. I still use the association for some projects, and the money is still very competitive with bank rates. The best part, is that both of the banks I have been dealing with have been bought up by larger banks- one of them four times, now. Every time I go in, it seems there is a new face. At FCA, I have been through three or four load officers, and a slew of staff over the years, but most of the people are still there, and still friends, just in a higher position. It's still like dealing with someone I know....