He Got a Return of About 19,000%…

You read that number right…

That’s 19 THOUSAND percent… That’s a 19,000% return on an investment.

Think those numbers are possible?

Not usually in normal times. But when markets are in turmoil, I’m not sure there’s a limit really. And that’s because…

Crisis = Opportunity
(For Smart Investors)

I’ve been in the land business a pretty long time. And I’ve seen good markets and I’ve seen bad markets.

With the experience I’ve gained riding through all of those markets myself, I’ve realized something important you need to think about.

I’ve realized there are basically two types of people in this world. The first type of person looks at a crisis and worries about what’s going to happen. They fret, they fidget and they, more often than not, are just happy to sit there and “ride it out.” They’re so scared of losing they forget to even think about how to win.

[I've just described MOST people I know.]

Then there’s the other type that looks at a crisis and spends his time thinking, “Where is the opportunity in all of this mess?”

Those are the people that make it. Those are the winners.

Here are some numbers to give you an idea about how BIG opportunity can be in a “crisis.” This came just last week from an investment letter I subscribe to from Weiss Research…

Here’s a quote:

“In 1929, my father borrowed $500 from his mother and used it to sell short the stock market. He told me that, by the time the market hit bottom, he had close to $100,000. And he didn’t start before the crash; he actually began in April of 1930 after the ‘29 crash.”

Now I’m not a math whiz, but if you invest $500 and get $100,000 back… that’s well over a 19,000% percent ROI.

This investor was in the right place at the right time and had access to the knowledge to make smart moves–while everyone else was running for cover.

It’s a little bit like the land business right now. Most people are skeptical about the current real estate market. They’re reading the papers, watching the news and seeing the red ink day in and day out.

And that’s why, when I get a call asking for advice about what to do in a market like this, I usually say something like:

“Don’t be like most people.”

How’s that for specific?

Here’s the deal:

The media surely isn’t talking about opportunity. And if you looked at the ad revenues that reporting “good news” like that brings in, you’d understand pretty quickly why “bad news” is their bread and butter.

Here’s a good rule of investing to remember:

Just because someone says something doesn’t make it so. A good investor can listen to all of that and STILL figure out what is ACTUALLY happening… in reality.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

I pay a LOT of attention to a few things that are very important to the future success of my investments. One of those things is institutional buyers and the other is major developers.

I call these guys the “big guys.”

They’re well funded and they know what they’re doing.

But I don’t listen to what they say… I watch what they DO.

Because when a major developer goes in and starts buying up 25,000 acre tracts of land, you know something is going on. Or at least it’s probably going to start…

That’s because all of that buying power can actually CREATE a new market. It can CREATE demand. The big guys have the funds you need to get a ball like that rolling. And I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

So when do you think “big guys” tend to make their acquisitions?

One of the times they tend to do it is when everyone ELSE is freaking out. Because THAT’S when they can find DEALS that would never exist otherwise.

Times Like
NOW

This is really the best example I’ve ever seen of the phrase, “Knowledge is Power.” Actually it’s a little bit different in the land business. It’s more like “Knowledge is MONEY.”

In high school, the smart kids didn’t usually win. The prizes often went to the jocks or the popular kids.

Well thank GOODNESS that’s not how it is in my business or I’d be sunk. In the land business, the smart guy wins.

The guy who has a better sense of what is actually going on tends to win.

So you’ve got to be careful who you listen to.

Think about THIS the next time you’re watching the news or reading the paper:

“Chances are, the vast majority of the people that contributed to bringing you that story are broke… working for someone else… just trying to make ends meet.”

Is that really someone you want influencing the direction of your financial future?

Hang in there, opportunity is everywhere. Learning to spot it is a process… so just keep moving forward.

But before you go, you’ve got to read this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/us/10kingman.html?em

It’s an article about Kingman Arizona, right in my backyard. That’s where Leonard Mardian (one of the “big guys,” a major developer) went out and bought 47,000 acres of land years ago.

Remember how I said I pay attention to the actions of MAJOR developers?

Now Mardian bought the land, in part, because of the Colorado River Bridge that I discussed last week. But BEFORE his purchase, there was little demand. Not like there is now.

His MAJOR purchase (47,000 acres is a LOT of land folks) started the machine. People started paying attention. Then MORE people started paying attention.

Well fast forward a few years and look at what’s happening. Read the article.

So here’s a question:

Why would an article like THIS appear in the New York Times? A newspaper with readership of over a million subscribers (not counting online subscribers)?

Hmmmm….

Time to Put On Your, “I’m NOT Like
Most People” Hat and Really Think
About What’s Happening Here

Let me answer the big question with another question:

“What do you think could happen to the value of an up and coming affordable development when you tell an additional 1 MILLION people about it?”

The demand is being created right in front of your eyes folks. It’s all part of the plan.

And when you learn to see this stuff and REALLY know what’s going on AND take action on that knowledge… Let’s just say the payoff is well worth developing this skill.

71.3 Million Dollar Contract QUIETLY Awarded?

I got an email from a potential land investor this week with a question. A VERY good question:

“Will the Financial Crisis Affect Construction on the Colorado River Bridge?”

That’s a very important question in my world, and here’s why.

If you’re not familiar with the Colorado River Bridge, you can get the FULL scoop at http://www.hooverdambypass.org

But here’s the quick story:

The Colorado River Bridge is the central portion of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Completion of the entire project is expected in June 2010. The current two-lane highway across the dam, U.S. 93, can’t really handle the 14,000 vehicles and trucks crossing per day. That’s DOUBLE the volume of 15 years ago.

If you’ve ever driven across the Hoover Dam, you know that it’s SLOW going for a couple of miles. We’re talking like 10-15 MPH.

Some snails crawl faster… and when traffic is heavy, it’s even worse.

The Colorado River Bridge is going to make crossing the Hoover Dam a whole lot more convenient.

Here’s an artist’s rendering of what it’s gonna look like when it’s done:

The point is, it’s going to open up a LOT of areas to become bedroom communities for Las Vegas.

Here’s an example:

27 Miles south of the Hoover Dam is the White Hills Ranch Land. 21,000 acres of this land will be master planned into a development similar to Las Vegas master planned communities.
This area will be the site of approximately 35,000 new home sites.

Right now, White Hills is a one hour and 15 minute drive from the Las Vegas strip. But once the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge is completed, this will cut drive time down to less than an hour.

People can live where it’s affordable and STILL work in the Vegas area.

All these clues point to BIG growth coming. And that’s why so many people are interested in the DIRT that’s up for grabs in the area.

Because when you buy land in the path of growth… well, good things tend to happen.

So Will the Financial Crisis
Hold Up Construction?

Not according to the article in the Las Vegas Review Journal printed just TWO days ago.

Read the article…

The article explains that a 71.3 million dollar contract was quietly awarded to the company responsible for WIDENING the road leading up to the new bridge.

I’m not sure how you keep $71.3 million QUIET, but we’ll leave that up to the government.

At any rate, the article is a HUGE clue that things are moving forward with the road widening project.

Why Isn’t the Financial Crisis
Messing with the Project?

My hunch is that the mess in the financial markets is temporary. But the 1.3 Million people coming to Nevada in the next 20 years that I mentioned last week?

Those people are STILL coming…

That’s a huge amount of projected growth coming…

Now just one more thing before we wrap this up. In the next issue of the Dirt Report, we’re going to focus on the Great Depression.

That was a rough time for a lot of people. But we’re NOT going to talk about those people–the folks who struggled through it. We’re going to focus on the people who spotted the potential and became EXTREMELY wealthy.

They became wealthy BECAUSE of the Great Depression. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Well it looks like it might happen again. In fact, it’s already started. I’ll explain it all next time.

75% of Your Retirement Income… from a Land Investment?

It’s been quite a week…

The Dow is bouncing around like a super ball on speed.

…down 700 points one day.

…up 900 points the next.

…then back down 500 points.

I don’t know about you, but watching that turns my stomach.

But here’s the worst part: the Dow’s activity is taking the hopes and dreams of much of America on an emotional roller coaster ride.

If you’ve been on that roller coaster these past few weeks, just brace yourself… because it’s just beginning.

(And remember, turmoil for one person spells big opportunity for another.

But as I talk with my colleagues, investors and potential investors, there’s really ONE question that’s on everyone’s mind.

That question is:

What Should I Do With My Money?

The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.

-The government wants you to know that “everything is going to be okay.” Just give us your money (and the authority to spend it as we see fit) and we’ll work it out.

-The Gold guys are having a field day with all of this. Of course, they’ve been waiting for a long time for Gold to shoot up to $2,000… Maybe it’ll happen. Maybe not. Either way, they’re shouting, “Buy gold.”

The other week, Andy Rooney even suggested that putting your money under the mattress might be the smartest idea. Maybe THAT’S the safest place for it right now.

(If you missed that message, here’s a link to the video:
Watch Andy Rooney’s video…)

But here’s the problem with that.

The Government printing presses are about to ramp up and become a source of practically unlimited funds. There’s really no limit to the amount of new greenbacks they can spit out.

After all, they make the rules…

But guess what happens when all this money hits the market?

Every Dollar You’re Already Holding
Goes DOWN in Value

So putting your money under the mattress isn’t really so safe after all. The government can ruin its value even there.

So the goal is obviously to take your money, and put it into a hard asset that isn’t going to lose 75% of its value by the time you wake up tomorrow.

So let’s just take a deep breath, calm down and enter a world that I like a whole lot better than the roller coaster ride of Wall Street.

Partly because I don’t like roller coasters and partly because the vast majority of my clients don’t like them either. Especially when it’s their MONEY that’s being taken for a ride.

Let’s talk about the ace in the hole we’ve got in the land business.

I’m not taking credit for this fact… but I AM taking credit for using it to my advantage and the advantage of my clients.

That fact is this:

We’re STILL Making People, But No
One’s Making Any New Land

Just like the value of your dollars goes DOWN when the government creates more of them, the value of land tends to RISE when the population grows.

And that’s happening of course. The population is GROWING.

Despite the doom and gloom, the clues are everywhere. Here’s a link to an article from the RJ (Las Vegas Review Journal) that appeared on October 7, 2008.

Read the article…

Here’s the title:

State’s Growth Projected to Continue:
Population rise of 49 percent seen by 2028

The hard number is 1.3 million NEW people in Nevada over the next 20 years.

And guess what…

Those People Have to Live SOMEWHERE!

But don’t think you can just go in and buy up all the land, sell it 12 months later and retire on a sandy beach somewhere.

That DOES happen… sometimes. But it doesn’t happen the majority of the time.

As a land investor, the one thing you MUST be willing to do is WAIT. 5-10 years is best.

What happens when your time horizon is 5-10 years?

Take my client, Beverly…

She’s been a land investor since the 1990s.

She’s 62 and been retired for about 8 years.

Here’s part of her story, in her own words:

“I did want to let you know that the 80 acres I got from you was sold last year for $396,000!! I’m holding the paper and this made my retirement economically feasible, so thanks, and know that you should have great karma for a long time.” -Beverly Boulder City, NV

Were there bad markets during some of those years Beverly owned her land?

You better believe it…

But she waited… waited until the time was right to sell. And now Beverly is receiving payments every month for the next 12-15 YEARS.

In fact, it’s 75% of her retirement income. Month in month out… like clock work.

No matter what the market is doing.

Believe it or not, Beverly’s situation isn’t uncommon when you’re talking about land.

Could an investment in raw land be right for you? Maybe, maybe not… but definitely something worth looking into. Especially in this market.

Andy Rooney, the Credit Crisis and the Land Business

If you’re worried about what to do with your money now that the markets are being turned upside down, you’re in good company.

Watch this quick clip from Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes.

There are good places to put your money… even now.

You just have to educate yourself so you know what they are.

Of course, I’m partial to vacant land, but it’s not for everyone… Whatever you do, don’t take Mr. Rooney’s advice and stick your money under the mattress.

That’s a sure recipe to lose it. I’ll explain why in a few days.

Note: The video may take a few seconds to load once you click play.

The Credit Freeze and What It Means for Investing in Land

Here’s an audio I recently recorded for some of my clients discussing how the credit freeze is actually something that the savvy land investor can use to their advantage.

Most people think the credit freeze is a crisis. But for the savvy land investor who knows what they’re doing, it’s actually a huge opportunity.

You can listen in below:

(Audio Play Time: 9:45)