The Offer

[Frankn]

Sjarchangel, You are going to have to look that up yourself, but the law doesn't go checking everyone on private land. If someone calles the law, you better have written permission. It is a tresspass offence unless you are causing"property damage". Frank

 

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[Dave44]

Sjarchangel, You are going to have to look that up yourself, but the law doesn't go checking everyone on private land. If someone calles the law, you better have written permission. It is a tresspass offence unless you are causing"property damage". Frank

I believe it is the same in VA. Most people just want a handshake, and I am like that myself. It seems so awkward to then say, btw, could you sign this please??

 

[Frankn]

I work with a handshake when I do old yards and have had no problems, but when there is real money at stake, I get written permission that gives me permission to hunt for a certian period of time and to remove cache. It also states the split. That way all the bases are covered. I don't have to fight" it's mine" or "you found it now leave." Frank

 

[sjarchangel]

That was my point. There are no Maryland Laws saying you must have written permission to MD on individual private property, only the owners permission to be on the property, which can be verbal. However written permission is a wise idea. Other than that, it would be trespassing should there be a complaint.

:-)

 

[bluehunter1973]

What if the treasure ends up being right underneath his house or another building structure. If you have to demo a portion does LO get more. Not trying to complicate things but if it was my situation I would find some agreement with LO and sign contract. Rent ground radar to cut down on backhoe rental find or not find treasure and move on to next project. But your situation seems different.

 

[spartacus53]

Frankn, shake hands with me and you better count your fingers

I am just waiting to see where else this post goes.. Interesting for sure

 

[Frankn]

Hay Spart, it is following the actual event. It is a kind of realistis lesson for prospective cache hunters. Kind of a cake without the iceing. If the iceing happens, you will never see it. lol Frank

 

[poorhunter78]

Hay Spart, it is following the actual event. It is a kind of realistis lesson for prospective cache hunters. Kind of a cake without the iceing. If the iceing happens, you will never see it. lol Frank

Some fine tasting Cake it will be. unless the cows aint sh!t in it yet..

Frank, Did you get your Birthday Present.. Green backs, I mean a Green Box..

Poorhunter

 

[Frankn]

OK you guys the time is about up. I am going into the next phase. That is applying a little mental pressure to get things moving. I am going to advise them that the 1/3 split, if in paper money is worth $50,000 to them, but if I read the story correctly it is in $20 gold coins. In that case the 1/3 split would be worth app. $4,250,000 EACH. I think this might speed up a reply. Now I want to hear your opinions on this. Let me see your logic
Frank

 

[matt092079]

Wow. That's a lot of cash. Here is the thing, the more they know is involved might up their level of greediness. Good luck and I can't wait to see what happens here.

 

[Frankn]

Yes, and I am hopeing The greediness ups the desire to have it now. Its like someone looking at a new car and the salesman sayes I can get it for you today for free. Frank

 

[Scar]

Back off of the gold for now you don't want to start a feeding frenzey.

 

[Scar]

Scar
I like your style . I think we could hunker and haggle for a while

truckin, Guess we could hunker and haggle and still be friends. Like your style also.

 

[GatorFrog]

Interesting issue. If i had that issue, I would offer 50/50 split and not talk about the possible value. Despite your intensive research and all the indications you may have, it may not be there. When you start to talk about having some real money on the table, the bigger the amount, the more the owner will feel entitled. No need to bicker on a "if", but do have a contract in place stating a "possible" nominal value ($100) and up.

I would take a 50/50 split all day long. Here is why. For about 15 years, I was in the telecom business. I dealt with a large fortune 500 company that would send me tractor trailer loads of telco and computer equipment. I would inspect it, test it, refurbish it, re-package it, and resell it. The split was 65-35 in their favor. They sent the stuff, I took care of the rest.
If you think about it, this is essentially the same. They own the land and you are providing a "value-added" service.

I would be hesitant to start the negotiation at 33% for him. That number is low enough that he may feel that you are trying to pull wool over his eyes. If that happens, your credibility just went out of the window and getting him back on the negotiating table will be very tough.

If I were in the owner's shoes and you would approach me with that deal I would say thanks but no thanks and there would be no further negotiation.
If I didn't know anything about MD, I would take an ad in the paper or in a MD forum. My ad would simply state that I believe that there is a treasure on my property and that it will be open to all MD in the region on such and such a date. Free coffe and donuts. If you find it, you get 10% of it. I bet you I would have 100's of MD on my property on that date.

 

[spartacus53]

GatorFrog, I'm in agreement with you and have addressed these sames issues a page ago, but it's still nice to see someone put it in kinder terms than I do

I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment of this saga, so I can toss more fuel onto the fire

 

[Frankn]

Here's my problem, things are stalled, it has turned into a waiting game. Oh, I could jest turn to another project and I suspect that they would eventually contact me, but this is a cache ready project and the others have bugs to work out. I figured that showing them that they had much to loose by prolonging their decision would speed them along. They really know nothing about the location or even the story line, so I think they have nothing to go on to start a search themselves. Then there is the fact that I mentioned that the cache is on or in the area of there property so I dought that they would look themselves since it might not even be on their property. This is a game of witts where every move must be carefully considered for the right reaction. I think the land owner that immediately shot back a 50/50 demand is very interested and only needs a little push to consent. I think the big bucks will be that push. Now the other land owner is skeptical and not replied at all, so I think a bigger carrot might convince him. I will have to put a lot of thought into this offer before sending it.

Gaterfrog. I see your thought , but the 65%er is putting a tangable product in your hand for his part, that is he is putting bucks into the project up front. Not so in this case. He is not actually furnishing anything up front. The cache is an unknown substance to him. There is no risk of loss to him. You can't loose something you never had.

Scar, Mentioning the possible amout of the find is giving him the least info on the location. I want him to be unable to locate it himself. He doesn't know the markings or description of the cache location that I know and that is how I want it to stay.

Spart, I think the fact that this an actual offer in progress is furnishing it's own fuel. It's probably an orginal for T Net.

Frank

 

[rockhound]

In most cases persistance pays off. I think it will in this case also. It may take a while for him to reconsider your offer, so you may have to sit on it for a while. Since he is not living on the property it makes it more of a gamble for him to not let you find it, then to take a chance that someone will let it out and then it will be like a gold rush with many people trying to find it at all cost. It would be hard for him to guard his property since he doesn't live there. Good luck. rockhound

 

[spartacus53]

In most cases persistance pays off. I think it will in this case also.

Interesting logic, but persistence vs. stubbornness, it just may be a stalemate

 

[GatorFrog]

Gaterfrog. I see your thought , but the 65%er is putting a tangable product in your hand for his part, that is he is putting bucks into the project up front. Not so in this case. He is not actually furnishing anything up front. The cache is an unknown substance to him. There is no risk of loss to him. You can't loose something you never had.
Frank

Hi Frank,

Actually most of the tractor loads were duds and some were little gold mines. When we would get the tractor trailer loads, we would run around each pallet trying to figure what was worth refurbishing and selling. Most of it went to scrap. We eventually lost the contract when someone offer them a 75/25 split. At that number, we couldn't see making any decent money. But I digress.

If the anticipated value of this cache is really substantial, a sliding scale is may convince a reticant landowner. For example if the value is under $25K, it's a 33/67 split, 33 for him. If it's between $26-100K, it's a 38/62 split, if it's 101k-500K, it's 43/57 split, it's above 500k, it's a 50/50 split. Or something to that effect. Point being, he gets more as the amount goes up. People tend to dismiss the smaller value and look only at the largest number.

Don't forget to add in the contract that the valuation is to be done by two or three independents experts. The average value will be calculated based upon these numbers. The contract should name these experts and that the landowner agrees to accept this average value.

Have fun and break a leg!

 

[bigscoop]

At this point, I'd probably skip the mention of gold coins and the possible huge increase in value. Because you've already shot him an estimated value, the landowner my think you have no idea what you're after if you hit him with too/so much shadowed uncertainty. If in fact, you've already made mention of a possible value.