In 1999, Merri and I moved to
Ashe County and bought 252 acres of land far from town. We paid
less than $1,000 per acre. At that time, the farm first of all
offered what we wanted from life, but also appeared to me to be
good value. Merri and I have made millions by again and again buying
real estate we liked that seemed to be good value. DETAILS
Either we have a feel for the
pulse of the marketed or are just darned lucky, but look at what
our friend and real estate broker, Trey Morison, says in his latest
report.
“Howdy everyone,
“I’m only a few weeks
away from having a new addition to the family and so I’m
trying to get everything in order the chaos that I’m sure
will ensue. I was just emailing a gentleman earlier about property
values in the area and here is what I wrote…
“I do feel that things are
just starting to accelerate here as far as appreciation in concerned.
People are taking their profits from Florida and investing them
here. There is a new super Wal-Mart in West Jefferson and a Lowe’s
hardware is going in next door. These companies have certainly
done their homework and would not be investing if they did not
believe in the growth potential here. As to vacancy rates, here
in Boone I have several college rentals and I have never had any
vacancy, but I do manage them myself which I’m sure helps.
The appreciation of property is difficult to gauge. It was pretty
easy to find land at $2000-4000 per acre when I moved here 9 years
ago. Now it is tough to find good land for under $14,000. That’s
a pretty good increase and I anticipate similar returns over the
next 10 years. There are already places going for over $100,000
per acre. Home sales have increased too but not at that rate. The
biggest jump in prices is and probably will be the second home
market, so while the rental cabins will be harder to cash flow
they will likely appreciate more.”
“After writing that I did
a search for new listings and found two new ones that seemed pretty
interesting.
“The first one is 12.3 acres
for $1,200,000 or $100,000 per acre…
“The second one is 45 acres
for only $318,250 or a little over $7000 per acre…
“They do not look too dissimilar
to me! But the prices sure are different. One property is near
West Jefferson and the other one is in the country near Merrily
Farms, but many of the people that are coming up here to buy are
often looking for places that are not close to town. They want
to be in the country.
“Okay I gotta go and prepare
for the new family member for a while! Trey”
There you have it, wonderful land
with vast differences in price. This spells opportunity. There
are a couple of hundred acres for sale adjacent to our farm as
well (the owner is asking in the $5,000 an acre range). If you
want to look at property in this area, you can reach Trey at treymorrison@bellsouth.net
We have cabins for rent where
you can stay if you want to come view real estate in the area.
Included in the rental is our office with broadband and free Vonage
calls. Send enquiries to merri@littlehorsecreek.com
But the other opportunity comparison
I want to make is with real estate in Ecuador! We began buying
land there at the turn of the millennium as well.
Land is so much less there, the
lifestyle wonderful and cost of living so low. If Merri’s
and my feel is correct, land prices are going to explode there.
It is my belief that as the standard
of living in the US drops, more and more people will move to emerging
countries. Ecuador is one of the least known and as such offers
great opportunity.
Spanish is the world’s second
most important language. Join Merri and me for a week of Quantum
Learning in Ecuador. Look at real estate for sale while you are
with us at El Meson, Cotacachi, Ecuador. FOR
DETAILS
For example here I am riding with
our friend Joe Cox on a 225 acre farm, 10 minutes ride from our
hotel, El Meson, where the owners are asking less than $1,000 an
acre.
Until next message, good international
investments to you!
