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I see lots of baby boomers trying to unload the business they've worked hard at the past 30yrs, hoping someone can pay cash at 3x what they make from it. Who ca

I see lots of baby boomers trying to unload the business they've worked hard at the past 30yrs, hoping someone can pay cash at 3x what they make from it. Who can buy something that costs 250K if they've never had steady work let alone the burden of student debt? Eventually even that market will "correct" down to 2x or less.

pc86 11y ago
I don't think this is unique to boomers. They've spent decades building something - they're probably the people least capable of objectively valuing the business. There's too much emotion tied into it, especially if they're at a point where they could sell but are just as happy to keep working, meaning the price needed to get them to leave goes up. It's not unique to business owners, either. One of the real estate websites have a "Make Me Move" option, which is basically the homeowner saying what number they'd need to pack up their shit and leave. It is consistently 180-200% the actual market value. To the point where you want to ask the homeowners what exactly they're smoking that they think their house is worth even close to that much money.
- shadowfiend 11y ago
  But that's not how much their house is worth to the market—it's how much their house is worth to them. “Make Me Move” doesn't reflect the cost of the property when you're ready to move, it reflects the value of the home to you when you're not really ready to move. It seems completely reasonable that that value would be significantly higher than the value of a piece of land that you need to or are looking to get out of anyway. Same is true of a person who owns their own business but isn't ready to stop running it. You're not reflecting the market value of your business, you're reflecting the market plus emotional/‘satisfactional’ value of it.
- Spooky23 11y ago
  "Make me move" is basically saying "This is the price for which I will uproot my life!" I actually know someone who was in this situation. A company wanted a sliver of the guy's land for an access road. Eminent domain wasn't an option for the company. The company offered $100k for the 10x30 piece of land. Sensing blood in the water and figuring that redoing all of the project would cost at least $2M + lots of time, he demanded $750k for his property and got $700k. It was worth about $250k total.
- matwood 11y ago
  > It is consistently 180-200% the actual market value. Market value is what it would take to have a buy/sell transaction on the house. If there are no houses for sale in the neighborhood, everyones make me move number IS the market value for the house/neighborhood.
  - leogiertz 11y ago
    Not really, market value requires a buyer too.
roymurdock 11y ago
I see a lot more of them continuing to work well into their 60s and 70s, sometimes because they haven't planned for retirement, but more often because it keeps them busy, active, and young. Retiring to the golf course at 55 has gone out of fashion for economic and health (increased longevity) reasons.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Unfortunately, sitting in front of a screen 8 hours a day does not contribute to longevity. We should see some fallout from this trend.
  - noxToken 11y ago
    I try my absolute best to minimize the incoming damage from this line of work. Every 20-30 minutes, I grab my laptop and move to a high desk. There are accompanying chairs for them, but they are the perfect height for working while standing. Every hour or so, I find a stopping point, take the stairs down a level (sometimes two), walk the length of the building, and return back via another flight of stairs. It's not perfect, but I'm hoping that these position changes and bouts of walking are working for the better. It shouldn't be harmful at the very least.

pc86 11y ago

I don't think this is unique to boomers. They've spent decades building something - they're probably the people least capable of objectively valuing the business. There's too much emotion tied into it, especially if they're at a point where they could sell but are just as happy to keep working, meaning the price needed to get them to leave goes up. It's not unique to business owners, either. One of the real estate websites have a "Make Me Move" option, which is basically the homeowner saying what number they'd need to pack up their shit and leave. It is consistently 180-200% the actual market value. To the point where you want to ask the homeowners what exactly they're smoking that they think their house is worth even close to that much money.

shadowfiend 11y ago
But that's not how much their house is worth to the market—it's how much their house is worth to them. “Make Me Move” doesn't reflect the cost of the property when you're ready to move, it reflects the value of the home to you when you're not really ready to move. It seems completely reasonable that that value would be significantly higher than the value of a piece of land that you need to or are looking to get out of anyway. Same is true of a person who owns their own business but isn't ready to stop running it. You're not reflecting the market value of your business, you're reflecting the market plus emotional/‘satisfactional’ value of it.
Spooky23 11y ago
"Make me move" is basically saying "This is the price for which I will uproot my life!" I actually know someone who was in this situation. A company wanted a sliver of the guy's land for an access road. Eminent domain wasn't an option for the company. The company offered $100k for the 10x30 piece of land. Sensing blood in the water and figuring that redoing all of the project would cost at least $2M + lots of time, he demanded $750k for his property and got $700k. It was worth about $250k total.
matwood 11y ago
> It is consistently 180-200% the actual market value. Market value is what it would take to have a buy/sell transaction on the house. If there are no houses for sale in the neighborhood, everyones make me move number IS the market value for the house/neighborhood.
- leogiertz 11y ago
  Not really, market value requires a buyer too.

roymurdock 11y ago

I see a lot more of them continuing to work well into their 60s and 70s, sometimes because they haven't planned for retirement, but more often because it keeps them busy, active, and young. Retiring to the golf course at 55 has gone out of fashion for economic and health (increased longevity) reasons.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Unfortunately, sitting in front of a screen 8 hours a day does not contribute to longevity. We should see some fallout from this trend.
- noxToken 11y ago
  I try my absolute best to minimize the incoming damage from this line of work. Every 20-30 minutes, I grab my laptop and move to a high desk. There are accompanying chairs for them, but they are the perfect height for working while standing. Every hour or so, I find a stopping point, take the stairs down a level (sometimes two), walk the length of the building, and return back via another flight of stairs. It's not perfect, but I'm hoping that these position changes and bouts of walking are working for the better. It shouldn't be harmful at the very least.