Doing the Right Thing
Fertile business finds more than $46,000 during home clean out
By Forum News Service on Nov 27, 2015 at 6:36 a.m.
Story and photo Wade Rupard
FERTILE, Minn. Tim and Sarah Oistad try to run their business as honestly as they can.
The two run Oistad Estate and Auctioneering Service, and as the name suggests, the business provides ways to manage one's estate, including traditional auction, estate clean-outs and estate buyouts, among others.
Whether that's offering the services they think are the best for the customer at the expense of their profit or returning any unexpected items they may find during a clean out, the Oistads said they always try to do the right thing, whatever that may be.
"Our motto is if we find something we didn't know about, we're going to return it to the rightful owner," Tim Oistad said.
A few weeks ago while cleaning out of a house, Sarah found a bag filled with what appeared to be trash, but she could tell there was something heavy in the bottom. It's customary for them to go through everything—and that means everything—during a clean out like this one, so she opened it to find quite the surprise.
In it, she found a lockbox containing $46,777 in cash.
"I opened it up and went 'Holy cow,'" Sarah said.
"She didn't say 'cow,' " Tim interrupted.
The Oistads could have taken all or some of the money, and nobody would have known the wiser, but they said they wanted to do the honest thing. On Tuesday, the two of them, along with their other full-time employee, Jennifer Flikke, shut down their business for the day to deliver the money to Lutheran Social Services, who gave the money to its rightful owner.
"Man, I could sure use that to pay some bills," Tim said laughing. "I went and told a few people because I didn't want it on my conscious. Then they knew about it so I couldn't keep it."
This isn't the first time the Oistads have stumbled upon other unexpected treasures. They've found money in the cushions of a couch, an expensive coin collection tucked away in a rusty coffee can and even a silver dagger. All, they said, were returned to their rightful owner.
The Oistads said they try to run their business where their customers come first. They said they know their customers are often in a difficult spot, so they try to be there for them as much as they can.
If that means, digging through four trailers full of belongings to find one dragonfly ornament for somebody who really wanted that, they'll do it.
"For us to be able to return those to their owner, it feels really good to us," Sarah said. "The word of mouth and knowing you can trust us has been really good to us so far, and I don't think we could run a business any other way."
Oistad Estate & Auction Service, LLC
42952 State Hwy 32 SW
Fertile, MN 56540
218-945-3377
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