The CRP Program IS the Tree Program (A Pre-Auction Sibling Debate)

So today my brother Alex is going over his speech for tomorrow's auction.

"Where's the information for the tree program?" he asks.

"It's on page 2," I tell him.

"No, that's the CRP program."

"I said that IS the tree program."

"No, I need the tree program information."

"IT IS the CRP program!"

So I printed off the CRP information for him. He looks at it and says, "Yeah, that's the CRP program."

"I SAID THAT IS THE TREE PROGRAM. IT'S THE SAME THING."

"No it's not."

At this point, he calls the FSA office. The person had stepped out for a few minutes. While he's waiting, I'm frantically pulling up the color map on my computer—because the map the FSA office gave us is in black and white and basically just... black. Not helpful when you're trying to prove a point to your stubborn brother.

I point out the exact places on the color map. He stares at it. Finally: "Oh. My bad."

I'm sure our faces were both beet red at that point.

"I'm sure others will be confused too," he says, trying to save face.

"No one else has called about it," I reply.

This is what I love about getting ready for real estate auctions like tomorrow—except for those parts. The passionate sibling debates over programs that are actually the same thing? Not my favorite. But the rest of it? Absolutely.

Speaking of interesting—we've got a real estate auction TOMORROW, and I'm genuinely excited about it. There's something about auction day that never gets old. I get to meet new people, learn the ins and outs of a property I might never have known existed otherwise, and watch the whole process unfold. Every property has a story, every bidder has their reasons, and putting it all together? That's the fun part.

Right now I'm finishing the final touches while writing this blog post. Printing the PIPs—yes, Alex wants to rename them, and for a while we called them PPPs, but I'm back to PIPs now. The poor printer. This PIP is 40-some-odd pages long. I got so wrapped up in typing this I didn't even hear it run out of paper.

See you at the auction tomorrow—if not in person, then online.

Happy Bidding,
Kara C. Belcher-Miller

P.S. This story would not have made the cut if I was wrong though.