The first land I bought was 60 acres about a 35-minute drive north of Amherst, Massachusetts. I paid $5,000 for the top of a mountain, much of which had recently been timbered. It had a deeded right of way easement that had never been developed. An adjoining landowner allowed us to use the traditional road into the property. This was 1970; I was 25.

I sold it about 20 years ago, regretting the need to sell. Even at 2008’s deflated prices, it would move today for at least 50 times what I’d paid, more likely 75.

Since buyer intelligence doesn’t explain my success, what does?

Time and proximity.

Time almost always appreciates land.

The other factor was proximity to a small town with a university engine powering its development…and all the land within convenient driving distance of it.

Current conditions favor buyers of rural property.

First, the economy is pointing down, and economists are fighting over how far it will go and how long it will last. The immediate future looks bleaker, rather than brighter. Unemployment is up; corporate profits are down. Stocks are down by almost 50 percent. Everyone thinks it’s a good day when the Dow Industrials fall by only 200 points. Read more »

President-elect Obama showed up unannounced in Blue Grass late Wednesday afternoon as I was pulling in with a load of split firewood. He wore old jeans and work boots. I tossed him a spare pair of leather work gloves, and we started pitching sticks on the pile behind my back gate.

He didn’t say anything for a while.

Lucy and Sophie, our two Yellow Labs, sniffed him up, decided he wasn’t edible and wandered off to shampoo themselves in fresh cow flops. The results of good breeding always amaze me.

“Ever live out here?” I asked.

“Nope. Big cities. Honolulu. New York, Boston, Chicago.” Read more »