Just got my appraisal back for the re-fi, value of the property is 40% what it was 5 years ago

[riderinthestorm]

17. Since we operate the farm as a business, we could never get a bank to do a 30 yr fixed rate loan

So we've been forced into doing commercial loans every 5 years. It's a major drag BUT, it has helped along the way because the interest rates have always gone down every time this came up. We've always just applied the "extra" savings $$ towards the principal (which is why we're not underwater even with the property value at 60% less).

Although we've gone to the same bank building all these years, it's changed owners - now it's PNC so this was our first experience dealing with them really. So I asked them about trying to convert this into a 30 yr fixed. No way they told me. But with the rates this low, I was determined to see if there was another way. I called our local farm bureau who put me onto this Farm Credit Services Bureau who will write a 30 year fixed! The rate is lower (again, yay!) and now I don't have to worry that we're going to get stuck with a much higher rate 5 years down the road....

I was just really shocked at the appraisal value - a 60% drop in value within 5 years is amazing to me. While we're "rural", I'm actually less than 2 miles from the major highway into Chicago, and 5 minutes to the commuter station into Chicago. I can see why a LOT of people are just walking away.