Why Vacant Land?

The demand for land will continue to be strong in the next few years especially compared to other forms of real estate. In fact, the major media is reporting a strong, positive message in recent articles about land:

LANDFLIP.com – the premier land website, recently conducted a poll asking “When are you likely to purchase land?” 73% responded said they plan to purchase land in the next 12 months!

USA Today – According to a poll commissioned for the National Association of Realtors, 60% of Baby Boomers want to retire to a small town. The article concludes that Boomers have “an almost insatiable desire for real estate….they see real estate as a way to build and protect a nest egg.”

Why vacant land? “For a lot of people, it’s a dream to have a second home, but they really can’t afford it, so, they buy a lot.” Many Boomers are buying land with hopes and dreams to one day move on the property.

New York Times – “The real estate market may have cooled, but investor demand may soon be heating up for at least one type of property: land. Skip to next paragraph“ The time is ripe to start looking; I haven’t seen this market in 20 years,” said Jaime Raskulinecz, a real estate investor from NJ, who wants to buy land in the hard-hit market of Cape Coral, FL. She found lots for sale on or near the water at about a third to half below their peak prices of two years ago. On a larger scale, Ray Alcorn, an investor in VA, is picking up parcels of land after two years on the sidelines. He has bought more than 100 acres throughout VA this year, much of it at reduced prices.

Bloomberg.com – “…farmland is having its biggest revival in almost 30 years as demand for corn and soybeans from Asia and the ethanol industry drive commodity prices to record highs. From Iowa to South Dakota to Wyoming, gains in rural land prices have ranged from 78 percent to more than 200 percent.”

New York Times – “Farm values probably will rise at an annual rate of 6 percent to 10 percent in the next five years,” said Murray Wise, of Westchester Group Inc. manager of $550 million of global farm tracts. In comparison, the median U.S. home is forecast to gain 1.2 percent through 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington said. “It’s just crazy out there right now,” said Mac Boyd, 65, a real estate broker in Arcola, IL, who has sold farms for more than three decades. “The land market has never been stronger.”

DailyWealth.com – “Timberland has actually beaten the stock market since 1960 (as far back as data goes). Stocks did extremely well in that time… up nearly 12% a year. But the total return on timberland was even better, at nearly 14%. Another nice thing is timber is completely uncorrelated to the stock market. It makes sense… the trees have never heard of the Nasdaq bubble… and they don’t know what a War on Terror is.”

LANDFLIP.com – Emily Wilson, a realtor in Shelbyville, TN (south of Nashville) was asked to comment on land sales in her area. She stated “acreage is selling better than homes in our area. We sell a lot of horse farms and high dollar properties…but if I were depending on starter home sales for a living, I’d be crying hard times. Instead, our company sales are up $1 million over this same time last year.”

Buy Land. They’ve stopped making anymore – Mark Twain

In following articles, I will talk about the amazing demand for land in many different shapes, sizes and types.

Here’s to your success in real estate.