Why Buy Land Now?

People nearing retirement age have been prowling for 100-acre properties and smaller, said Charles Gilliland, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. That’s helped lower the average acreage involved in a land sale.

But at the same time, real estate agents say some high-dollar investors are looking for a stable place to park their money for a few years, and the have zeroed in on land — lots of land. Both the boomers and the big-money investors have driven prices higher.

But now, both groups of potential land buyers are, to a large degree, on the sidelines watching the stock market and the presidential election. Land has long been used as a shelter from inflation and an investment to turn to during difficult times, but it isn’t immune from the economy’s gyrations, economists say.

Nevertheless, people who receive an inheritance or other cash infusion are often deciding to put that money into retirement real estate instead of stocks. Others are pulling some of the nonretirement-plan money from their nest egg. Either way, says Suzanne Krasna, a financial planner in Walnut Creek, Calif., the bottom line is to figure out if your income can support the additional liability of this house after you’ve met other obligations — such as building an emergency savings account, contributing to a child’s educational savings and fully funding your retirement plan — and after accounting for your current lifestyle.

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