How things have changed. I have always done my banking with the local small town bank. It was small town, but not a small bank. Their assets, loans, deposits, etc. rivaled those of banks in bigger cities.
1965. I was a junior in HS. I had acquired paper routes of three news papers, Macon, Columbus, and Atlanta in our town. Two brothers, friends of mine, had been doing it on a bicycle and a car. I was going to do it by myself. My Mother went with me to the bank to sign with me. The bank president, with whom we were on first name basis, said, "He's big enough that he won't have any trouble collecting," and loaned the $1500 or so for the '64 VW with a sunroof.
About 1975 or 76. We were farming several hundred acres of peanuts, soybeans, peaches, and vegetables.I went to the bank in January and talked to Johnny, the same bank president. I told him we needed a $60K line of credit for seed, fertilizer, etc. He said, fine, he would take care of it, and just let them know when I needed to draw. Late March, I went to the bank on Monday morning and told the lady who was a vp that I needed to write a check for about $20K for peanut seed and fertilizer. I told her about my conversation with Johnny. She pulled my file, and said there was nothing about a line there. She said Johnny was leaving that morning for 3 days in Atlanta, and would probably not come by the bank. About that time, Johnny walked in the door. She told him the situation and he nodded and said, "Yeah, cover his check. Hell, Mark wouldn't lie about something like that!"
There were several more incidents like that, where my brother and I needed a fair size chunk of money within 24-48 hours, and we could always count on the bank to cover us. Then, things began to change.
The local owners sold the bank. It was Wachovia for a while, then BB&T. My last land transaction with them was the purchase of about a 19 acre tract in 2006, adjoining my wife's inherited farm. I think I borrowed $35K, and things went smoothly. Since then, there were some minor indicators of change. The local people had less and less authority to complete even seemingly small transactions. Meanwhile, BB&T became Truist.
I paid off the 19 acre tract in five years. Early this year, I decided I might want te expand my small cow herd, and was doing some maintenance work on the property. I called the bank officer I deal with and told her I wanted to set up a $20K line of credit, and use the 19 acres as collateral. It is a beautiful tract, in fenced and cross fenced pasture, with a ten acre stand of "plantation cut" pines. The bank has all the necessary paperwork on file. She informed me that the bank no longer makes loans on "unimproved" real estate, obviously meaning without a residential or commercial structure of some kind. This in what is still a mostly rural community. She helped me with a promotional credit card, with a $15K limit, and 0% interest for 12 months. Better than nothing, but aggravating, and limited in usefulness.
I guess the days of the locally owned, friendly small town bank are gone.
Some pictures of the property they won't loan money on.
1965. I was a junior in HS. I had acquired paper routes of three news papers, Macon, Columbus, and Atlanta in our town. Two brothers, friends of mine, had been doing it on a bicycle and a car. I was going to do it by myself. My Mother went with me to the bank to sign with me. The bank president, with whom we were on first name basis, said, "He's big enough that he won't have any trouble collecting," and loaned the $1500 or so for the '64 VW with a sunroof.
About 1975 or 76. We were farming several hundred acres of peanuts, soybeans, peaches, and vegetables.I went to the bank in January and talked to Johnny, the same bank president. I told him we needed a $60K line of credit for seed, fertilizer, etc. He said, fine, he would take care of it, and just let them know when I needed to draw. Late March, I went to the bank on Monday morning and told the lady who was a vp that I needed to write a check for about $20K for peanut seed and fertilizer. I told her about my conversation with Johnny. She pulled my file, and said there was nothing about a line there. She said Johnny was leaving that morning for 3 days in Atlanta, and would probably not come by the bank. About that time, Johnny walked in the door. She told him the situation and he nodded and said, "Yeah, cover his check. Hell, Mark wouldn't lie about something like that!"
There were several more incidents like that, where my brother and I needed a fair size chunk of money within 24-48 hours, and we could always count on the bank to cover us. Then, things began to change.
The local owners sold the bank. It was Wachovia for a while, then BB&T. My last land transaction with them was the purchase of about a 19 acre tract in 2006, adjoining my wife's inherited farm. I think I borrowed $35K, and things went smoothly. Since then, there were some minor indicators of change. The local people had less and less authority to complete even seemingly small transactions. Meanwhile, BB&T became Truist.
I paid off the 19 acre tract in five years. Early this year, I decided I might want te expand my small cow herd, and was doing some maintenance work on the property. I called the bank officer I deal with and told her I wanted to set up a $20K line of credit, and use the 19 acres as collateral. It is a beautiful tract, in fenced and cross fenced pasture, with a ten acre stand of "plantation cut" pines. The bank has all the necessary paperwork on file. She informed me that the bank no longer makes loans on "unimproved" real estate, obviously meaning without a residential or commercial structure of some kind. This in what is still a mostly rural community. She helped me with a promotional credit card, with a $15K limit, and 0% interest for 12 months. Better than nothing, but aggravating, and limited in usefulness.
I guess the days of the locally owned, friendly small town bank are gone.
Some pictures of the property they won't loan money on.
