Generational Shift

28 Feb Generational Shift

I have been talking about a Generational Shift for years, but I never knew the name of what I was describing until last week someone put a name to it, and I think it fits. We will now call it Generational Shift. The Generational Shift is the evolution of farm families and corporate business families either resolving their estates before or after the passing of their parents. Typically, this Generation, especially the farm families like mine, had multiple children who as adults are not involved in the family business. Once the Generational Shift kicks in, the family must decide what to do. Do they split up the assets and or the business entities among the multiple children equally or sell off the assets?

In farm family transactions we see the Generational Shift dividing the farms up among the children whom are not farm oriented and have other places they can use that money. More often than not this creates some hard feelings between siblings.

This results in portions of the farm being sold off to third parties whom may or may not rent the farm back to the remaining family members who operate the farm, ultimately dividing up the family Legacy. Where non-farm family businesses’ as well as investors whom have owned and managed commercial real estate buildings for decades are selling off their businesses and real estate assets and are looking to re-position those funds via a 1031 Trade into a stable return on investment which requires a less time requirement, like farmland and a beach somewhere. The Generational Shift of the farm families is providing these investors multiple high-quality opportunities to invest in dirt. We deal in the Generational Shift every day and it is an important emotional item to be addressed. If you have questions, we will meet you at your kitchen or conference room table to discuss the effects created as a result of the Generational Shift.

Author: Joe Ludwig

Broker/Owner