Chapter 1

Ray brought a really big land deal to me in 1974, bigger than I could handle even with the owner financing that was available. I talked to Billy about it, to see if he might be interested in going in with Ray and I. At first, he hemmed and hawed about not having the kind of money to be biting off anything as big as that, but then Ray kept after him, explaining what he had in mind with the deal, and promising to work night and day on putting his overall plan together for splitting off some of the acreage and selling it so that we could reduce our actual exposure. By now, I had developed a real high regard for the feel that Ray had for the land business, at least if it was anywhere around our neck of the woods. I liked the big parcel that he wanted to purchase, and I thought he had a very good chance of pulling off what he was planning on doing. The deal was complicated, at least as far as Billy was concerned, by the fact that Ray wasn't going to put up any capital of his own for the project. Ray had purchased a large home right on the Connecticut River. The house was made of brick and was huge, sitting on eighteen acres. The amenities included a dock, a big boathouse and a two bedroom mother in law cottage or caretaker's house along side of the main building. He had sunk everything he owned into securing the property, and was still left with a hefty mortgage that needed servicing every month. Ray was absolutely convinced that this deal he had found was so good that we should take the risks necessary to get our hands on the property before the price exploded upward.

After spending a week trying to convince Billy that the deal was just too good to pass up, Ray finally gave up and went to see Mr. Bennett to see if he might know of an investor, or a group of investor's that might be interested. Mr. Bennett told Ray that he'd ask around and would get back to him if he had anyone who wanted to discuss Ray's project. As soon as Billy told Theresa about the deal that Ray had been proposing she called over to our house and asked to talk with me.

"Jackie, what's this project that you and Ray were talking to Billy about?" I immediately assumed that Theresa was worried that Billy was being hustled into doing something he didn't want to do, so I assured her that Billy had already turned the deal down and that Ray had gone outside the family to look for another investor. "I know that Billy said no Jackie, but Billy doesn't make the decisions on the trust money, I do. Billy told me that you and Ray both think it's a great opportunity. I know that you two have been doing pretty well on the land deals that Ray has been bringing over to you. Do you think Ray would mind coming out to the farm to talk to me about it?"

"Teri, I don't think that would be a good idea. Billy wouldn't like it if he thought you were trying to wear the pants in the family. You guys have done pretty well for yourselves with Billy calling the shots so far. I think you should just leave well enough alone, and stick with what's worked well for you in the past."

"I already talked to Billy, Jackie, and he said I can look at it if I want to. Billy doesn't like having to put up half the money and then only get a third of the profits. I wanted Ray to explain that to me too."

"Teri, Ray found the deal, and he's the one who'll wind up doing all the work. When he and I do a deal, I put up all the money, and he does all the work, and then he gets half of the profits, not a third. He only agreed to take a third this time to try and make it easy for Billy to come in on it with us. I think it might be better for you guys to just sit this one out. Ray has already gone to see Mr. Bennett and asked him to round up some investors for the deal." We jawed back and forth for another couple of minutes, and then I handed the phone over to Ellen when Theresa said she needed to ask her something. I went into my living room and got back to reading my newspaper. I thought that the matter was over, and that Theresa had decided to listen to my advice. That thought only lasted for as long as it took Ellen to get off of the phone and come out to see me in the living room.

"Jackie, why did you just choose to ignore what Theresa was telling you? Don't you think she has a right to hear about what you and Ray were talking to Billy about? Is it only you men who get to make the business decisions?" In all the time Ellen and I had been together, she'd never once shown the least little bit of interest in anything having to do with making money or investing. In fact, when I tried to talk to her about things like that, she usually just walked away from me saying she had something else that she needed to do. She liked to participate in the spending of the money, not the earning of it.

"Ellen, what makes you think that Theresa might be better qualified to make an investment decision than Billy? Billy has a lot of experience with buying and selling land, and with making decisions about business having directly to do with land. As far as I know, Theresa has never interfered with Billy in any of that before. So, what makes this investment different? Why is she suddenly qualified to second guess Billy's decisions or opinions?"

"Can I call over to Ray and Sandy's and ask him a few questions myself, or are you going to tell me that I don't have the right to find out more about what you and he are planning?"

"Ellen, please, be my guest. There isn't anything Ray or I are planning that you shouldn't know as much about as you want to." She smiled at me then, the total victory smile that I'd grown used to looking at after she had backed me into an uncomfortable corner. I went back to the paper and heard her talking to someone on the kitchen phone. An hour passed by, and she was still talking on the phone. I was about ready to head off to bed when she got off of the telephone and came into the living room and, unceremoniously plunked herself down on my lap.

"Jackie, please try to be home for dinner tomorrow night by six thirty, because we're having several people over for dinner, and then a discussion about that real estate project you and Ray have been working on." I told her that getting home wouldn't be a problem, and asked her who exactly would be joining us. "Your mother and father, my mother and father, Billy and Theresa and Ray and Sandy."

I nodded to her, wondering whether she thought my parents were supposed to have any money to invest in the deal. I didn't ask her any questions though and she seemed satisfied that I didn't. When I went over to pick up my wood the next morning, Billy didn't say much. He just grunted when I asked him if he was okay with Theresa getting all involved in his business dealings. Theresa came out before I was ready to leave and told me that Ellen wanted me to stop off at the bakery on my way home and pick up some french bread and something nice for dessert. Billy gave me a horse laugh and told me that it was nice to see that I was helping my wife with the grocery shopping. He wanted to know if I could recommend a good laundry detergent to him, one that wouldn't make his hands rough and chapped. I ignored him and told Theresa that I was really pleased to hear that her pistol practice was starting to pay off for her. Billy flipped me the bird, and I pantomimed throwing him a big kiss. I drove home with three loaves of french bread and two big pies, one an apple pie, and the other a blueberry. Ellen told me to get cleaned up and changed for our dinner guests. I made a big face at her, then did what she'd told me to do. Ellen had baked up some deep dish lasagna using four different kinds of cheese. We had a nice lettuce salad with the homemade dressing that Ellen's mother had made and brought over. Theresa had brought over some of Big Tony's celler corked Dago red wine. My father had a case of Rheingold beer and half a fifth of Four Roses Whiskey. Ray brought Sandy, and she brought over some of her fudge brownies. All the talk at the supper table was of family and how fast all of the children were growing. After dinner, while the ladies were in doing the dishes and clearing off the tables and putting the leftovers away, the five men went out on my front porch and smoked and had a beverage or two.

Ellen finally came out to get us and let us know that they were all ready for Ray to come tell everyone about his latest real estate project. Ellen and the women had brought the chairs out from the kitchen and the ten of us sat in the living room. Everyone looked at Ray as he stood up and started to talk.

"This is a pretty simple deal really. Mr. Comstock died a couple years ago, and he left everything to his wife. She is getting on in years, and the kids have been pressuring her to convert some of the holdings over to cash. I don't know what all else she owns, but the property that she put up for sale is a little over three hundred net acres of what was once a half section of land with over a thousand feet of frontage on each side of the Old Post Road. The land is all fairly densely wooded, but the important thing is that it backs right up to the new housing development that Manny Trujillo is putting up at Farley's Brook. He got a density waiver and is putting up four houses to the acre out there. Usually, they were only letting builders go two to the acre, and that's how land is currently priced out that way. There is no reason at all, after allowing one builder to get heavier density, that they wouldn't approve the same thing for the next guy who wants to build out that way. The land for sale is for four hundred thousand, and they want a hundred thousand down. They'll carry a note for the rest at six per cent, interest only for five years, and then all due and payable. There is a provision that we could split up the land and sell off chunks of it as long as we pay down the mortgage as we do so. Now, what I want to do is to split the property into three parts. The first part is eighty acres and it is right behind the new subdivision. I know I can either sell that to Manny or another builder for at least three thousand per acre. With Manny building out there already, there is electric, water, phones, sewers and a paved road right up to our property line. The second part of the property would be about one hundred and sixty acres, and that would be right behind the eighty acres that we would sell either to Manny or to some other builder. That property is the one I want us to hold on to. The third piece would be sixty two acres and it is the piece with all the frontage on the Old Post Road. I'm pretty sure that I can get at least two hundred and fifty thousand for that piece from one of several land speculators I know. Billy says that the wood on the whole property is worth at least thirty thousand to him, and we'd use that to make the interest payments, so that we wouldn't have any debt service while we're waiting to pay off the note. The interest payment would be fifteen hundred dollars a month. Taxes would be another four hundred a month. I'd expect that we would be able to get eight hundred thousand for the second parcel if we can hold on to it for two or three years. That would be our profit on the deal. Jackie and I have already paid Mrs. Comstock five thousand in option money, and we have another forty five days before our option runs out. Anybody have any questions?"