Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 February 26

= February 26 =

Murdaugh fortune
Per the Washington Post, Alex Murdaugh's family


 * owned a 1,772-acre property known as "Moselle," a sprawling hunting estate in Islandton, about 50 miles from Charleston, that includes a four-bedroom home, a farm, two miles of river for fishing and kayaking, and dog kennels.

So they weren't poor, but how rich does that make them? Was the guy a 1e9 (billion)-aire? 1e8? Some multiple of 1e7? I can't imagine it being much lower than that, but it might not be much higher, South Carolina forest land maybe not being all that valuable compared to say Manhattan. His alleged financial scams seem to have been in the "mere" 1e7 range, which would be peanuts for someone with Elon Musk levels of wealth. And weirdly, he was supposedly spending 1e6's on a drug habit. I had thought drugs were a scourge precisely because they are affordable enough to get people with ordinary income levels dependent on them. He even allegedly tried to get himself murdered so his older son could collect a $1e7 life insurance policy. That sounds like relatively slim pickings for such a powerful clan.

Fwiw does anyone know how much a 2,000 mg/day oxycodone habit would cost assuming you can afford scam prescriptions rather than getting it on the street? I'm not in the market for anything like that myself (if I want an opiate I have access to television) but that is supposedly what Murdaugh was using.

I haven't followed the criminal drama that carefully but would like to see some numbers on the finances. Stories of rich-on-rich violence are not that common compared with other sorts of sagas. Thanks. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:BDFA (talk) 23:41, 26 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Here is an article that summarizes his messed up finances. Cullen328 (talk) 00:04, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks, that helps. It says that the 1772.2 acre hunting estate has an appraised value of $934,800, which sounds awfully low.  Could that mean the assessed value for tax purposes, which is usually a tiny fraction of the market value, maybe an especially tiny fraction for someone with as many fingers in the local government as the Murdaughs?  It's around $528 per acre, which seems ridiculously low for a somewhat temperate region with rainfall and stuff.  I pay way more than that in rental for a tiny studio apartment in California every month.  2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:BDFA (talk) 00:59, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * You absolutely cannot compare urban residential property rental to the value of rural unimproved farmland. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 06:25, 1 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Courtesy links: Murdaugh family, 1e9, 1e7, 1e6, Islandton, South Carolina. DuncanHill (talk) 00:51, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * The Lowcountry of South Carolina has relatively low property value. The Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton area is expecially low valued. There are small areas of inflated property value, such as Hilton Head Island. But, overall, the value per acre is far lower than most other populated areas of the nation. Then, I should also point out that the BJH area is not heavily populated. Once you get away from the coast (Hampton is very far from the coast) it is very rural. Varnville touches Hampton. My mother's 4-bedroom house, 2000 square feet, on just over 2 acres in Varnville would likely sell for about $130k right now. If we were very lucky, we could push up to $150k, but that is doubtfull. You can compare that to the price of a similar house in other areas. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 23:09, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * One thing that should also be noted is that "In Islandton" is a rather vague idea in much of the U.S. In such very rural areas, to live "in Islandton" merely means "my mail is delivered by a post office that is in Islandton".  Islandton, South Carolina indicates it is an unincorporated community of only 2.77 square miles.  See .  The 29929 ZIP code is MUCH larger, and would basically include all of the addresses including "Islandton" that are outside of the formal definition of Islandton.  See  and compare to the above.  In other words, to say one lives "in Islandton", most people mean colloquially "That's what goes in the "city" field of my address" and not "I live in the officially defined area known as Islandton".  They may actually live some miles away.  -- Jayron 32 15:37, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Exactly. Your address in the United States is the address of your postal route's initiating location. My postal route begins in Simpsonville. I live and work in Five Forks. But, Five Forks doesn't have a post office, so the route begins over in Simpsonville and shoots over here to drop off mail. It causes issues. For example, if I were to call the Simpsonville police for something, they don't care. They don't cover my city. I need to call my local police instead. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 18:00, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Right. But if you're telling someone how to get to your house, do you tell them "I live in Simpsonville" or "I live in Five Forks"?  It probably depends on how familiar they are with the local geography; but if you're telling them so they can put it into Google Maps and get directions to your house, you're probably saying "I live in Simpsonville".  From an official postal address point-of-view, the post office treats Five Forks as a local neighborhood in Simpsonville, even if the state you live in treats them like distinct municipalities.  -- Jayron 32 19:11, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * "Inside the 1,700-acre Murdaugh family murder farm now on sale for $3.9M" Modocc (talk) 18:34, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks everyone. The figures mentioned are interesting and I guess they answered my questions. I'm a bit surprised by the disparity in value for what out here would be considered high-quality land, but it's not my area at all. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:BDFA (talk) 20:24, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Just as a passing thought: there might be a degree of discount in the asking price because of the property's somewhat off-putting recent history. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 12:21, 3 March 2023 (UTC)