Article: Why is it time to buy raw Land?

**michael@visi.com** · 02-22-2008, 09:52 AM

I am not Crazy: Buy Residential Land Now

In my daily life as a real estate developer, I am often given a puzzled look when I relate to people that I am in the market for large tracks of residential real estate. On the heels of the largest housing slump in decades and one of the worse credit crisis’ in modern finance, one might agree with my detractors.

So why buy residential real estate for development? Simple. When housing was robust, developers, builders and speculators were crawling all over each other to buy land, driving prices to unsustainable levels. Bidding wars were commonplace and land prices became ludicrous. Those prices have dropped 30-50% since that peak. It is a simple, old adage, buy low; sell high. The time to buy real estate is when prices are depressed. Savvy investors will do so and hold until the recovery. With that in mind, a few precautions are necessary.

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