My cousin hasn't spoken to me since I sold him property

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
About 30 years ago, my mother bought a vacant 10-acre, partially wooded lot in the country form her brother. My uncle passed in 1997 and my mom in 2006. She never did anything with it and after her passing, my cousin approached me about buying it back. He wasn't going to build anything on it - he just wanted it to go deer hunting. I told him I wanted to research the value of the property. He said he'd give me what my mom paid which was $5000. When I did "comps" I found out the land was worth around $2500 and acre or $25,000 for the lot. I told this to cousin. He got really peeved and said he wouldn't pay over $7000. End of conversation? Nope. About 3 months later he called me again and offered $10,000. I refused the paltry, less than half value. He finally got a friend to go in with him on it and they bought the land for my asking price, but ever since then he hasn't spoken to me, even at family gatherings. Is he just carrying a snit too far or should I have sold him the property way below it's minimum value? I think if the situation was reversed, he'd hold out for full value.
 

Shame on your cousin.

There is nothing set in stone that reads where family is binded to provide other family members with discounts and/or reduced asking prices on anything. Fair-market value is fair-market value. The end.
 

Autumn said:
If anyone should be angry it's you...it sounds to me like he tried to take advantage if you, and he's angry that you were too smart and too well-informed to fall for it.

I wouldn't worry, his behavior reflects badly on hhim, not on you.
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I thought the same thing. When I first read her post, I said "He is trying to take advantage of her". He's mad because you wouldn't let him.
 
debodun said:
About 30 years ago, my mother bought a vacant 10-acre, partially wooded lot in the country form her brother. My uncle passed in 1997 and my mom in 2006. She never did anything with it and after her passing, my cousin approached me about buying it back. He wasn't going to build anything on it - he just wanted it to go deer hunting. I told him I wanted to research the value of the property. He said he'd give me what my mom paid which was $5000. When I did "comps" I found out the land was worth around $2500 and acre or $25,000 for the lot. I told this to cousin. He got really peeved and said he wouldn't pay over $7000. End of conversation? Nope. About 3 months later he called me again and offered $10,000. I refused the paltry, less than half value. He finally got a friend to go in with him on it and they bought the land for my asking price, but ever since then he hasn't spoken to me, even at family gatherings. Is he just carrying a snit too far or should I have sold him the property way below it's minimum value? I think if the situation was reversed, he'd hold out for full value.
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Haha. This guy doesn’t understand the term inflation. Thirty years ago $5,000 isn’t worth $5,000 now plus property values go up. You should be happy he’s out of your life. You don’t owe him a thing. Your mom bought it fair & square and you inherited everything and that was part of it.
Cheeky Blighter! A phrase my parents used. 😁
 
Sounds like someone who pulls out the 'family' card at every opportunity. Some feel if it's 'family' they are entitled to a piece of the action no matter what. In this case the action would be a deep discount.

When it comes to money many so called family members seem to find a way/rationalization to demand more or pay less.
 
I sounds to me, like he thought the property really should belong to him in the first place, like his father shouldn't have sold it.
He is acting like his father just pawned it to your mother, with unlimited time to retrieve it. He could have turned around and sold it for market value and made a huge profit. He is not thinking right.
 
It's a 30 year old deal. I don't know contract law but even in court wouldn't that be passed the statued of limitations?

Family hold the strangest grudges or selfish grudges ie sense of entitlement. I have family who got mad at me for giving away some of my personal stuff over a decade ago to another family member. Literally something that happened over 10 years ago in which they had no say or knowledge bugs them to this day. To top it off it was something they had ZERO interest in at that time but the other family member did. But they wanted my stuff to enhance their stuff while trying to sell it. They felt I deprived them of top dollar for their stuff.
 


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