ALERT: Big Land Developer Files Chapter 11

Things are heatin’ up in the desert…

To most people on the outside, it might seem like the real estate market is dead. (See this article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Businesses are going under, and times are tough for everyone.

That’s probably what you hear on the news, right?

You can believe what you want, but in today’s issue of the Dirt Report, I’m going to give you a glimpse of a different reality.

It’s a reality based on many things that are really happening, not just one-sided, bad news media stories.

Now as I always say, gather information from many sources! Get connected to the news and people that are making it happen. Use these clues to help you make good decisions.

The thing is, if you’re not watching closely, it’s easy to miss what’s REALLY happening. It’s easy to miss the clues you need to make the right decisions.

It’s not hard to follow along in the newspapers, but newspapers only give you bits and pieces. You have to dig deeper to see the whole picture and find out what’s really going on.

And that’s what the Dirt Report is all about. Getting you accurate information (from the source) and keeping you focused on the types of things you need to know to profit.

Let’s jump right in.

No April Fools Joke for Jim Rhodes

On April 1, 2009, this headline hit the business section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

“Developer Rhodes Seeks Chapter 11 Bankruptcy”

Jim Rhodes has been in the Las Vegas valley since the early 1980s… but in case his name is new to you, he’s one of a handful of megadevelopers in the Las Vegas area. And he’s bought major amounts of property in the Mohave County area for future development.

Jim Rhodes is a real player. Love him or hate him, he’s the kind of person that you want to follow. He plays big… and he plays to win.

Stories like the Rhodes bankruptcy are what most people are reading in the news these days. Bad news 24/7.

That’s pretty much the spin you’ll get in the media.

And even worse, is that investors who don’t really know what’s going on (and don’t have access to the WHOLE story) will probably ingest the media’s doom and gloom and pull back.

They’ll hesitate and just sit out on the sidelines, waiting for someone else to jump in first.

We’ll come back to Jim Rhodes in a second, but first, let’s revisit something from last time.

What’s the Sun Got to Do with It?

In the last issue of the Dirt Report, I talked about the Albiasa Corporation and its plans to build a $1 billion, 200-megawatt solar power plant near Kingman.

Well, solar plants are popping up all over the desert these days.

And construction like that creates jobs… lots of jobs.

The world’s LARGEST solar-thermal plant is set to be built in Red Lake, about 27 miles north of Kingman.

It’s estimated that up to 1,500 jobs will be created during its construction.

You can read all about it here.

Now solar plants need land (they also need plenty of sun, and Mohave County averages about 300 days of it each year) and the one in Red Lake is going to be built on 4,160 acres of it.

So guess who the folks up at the Red Lake Plant bought their land from?

Mr. Jim Rhodes.

Approximately 4,000 acres. That’s a huge land deal in the middle of a “dead” market… in the middle of a bankruptcy.

So we’ve got the media screaming doom and gloom about Jim Rhodes. And we’ve got Mr. Rhodes doing a 4,000 acre land deal in his spare time.

Is all of this good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle?

It depends on who you talk to.

When I see jobs being created, I pay attention.

New jobs bring new people… and those people need somewhere to live.

That’s growth.

So how IS the market right now?

Again, it just depends on who you talk to.

Donald Trump’s in a buying mood right now. Do you think he knows what he’s doing?

Here’s what he said the other week on Larry King:

If you have trouble viewing the video, you can see it online here.

Success in land investing isn’t black and white. It’s more like a constant stream of shades of gray.

If you can learn to see the shades of gray and make smart decisions anyway, you’ll be far better off.

Some people say the market is soft. Some people say it’s a bad thing that you can buy land NOW at prices last seen 10 years ago.

Do you think land investors are saying that?

THE POINT

So let’s connect the dots here:

1. Solar power is heating up (no pun intended)… fueled by investors looking to cash in on the next big thing AND the U.S. government, hoping to jumpstart the renewable energy industry.

2. The Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge is slated for completion in 2010…

3. Median real estate prices in the Las Vegas area are down 40% according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors… Las Vegas is becoming more and more affordable.

4. And the Clark County population is STILL projected by 2022 to surpass 3 Million (by 2030, it’s estimated that the Las Vegas area will have traffic congestion worse than L.A. That requires a WHOLE lot of people. And those people have to live somewhere.)

So what type of opportunity picture does that paint for a savvy land investor?

Invest in the path of growth right?

Study major developers and investors, right? As they have invested huge dollars and time researching the prospects for any area!!!

The four items in the list above are how growth happens.

So just in case I wasn’t clear, here’s the point of today’s issue:

PEOPLE ARE BUYING LAND.

COMPANIES ARE BUYING LAND.

STUFF IS BEING BUILT ON THAT LAND.

THAT STUFF REQUIRES PEOPLE TO BUILD IT.

MORE PEOPLE MEANS MORE GROWTH.

Here’s the question:

Why do you think all of this is happening NOW?

And what type of action might a savvy land investor take during a time like this?

The ones I know are taking action to leverage the opportunity they see.

What are you doing?