Should I spend the extra money a month investing in the market or buy land (at least 20 acres)? Both are on sale at the moment, I guess?

high commodity prices have really driven up cropland prices. Stocks are on firesale right now though.


I'd vote stocks.

If the land is in a good location and is desirable, I'd vote land.  What am I saying?....     I did buy land!  

land

unless you know what you are doing or have a great broker don't jump into the market.  however, don't rush out to buy land immediately.  things are not going to get better and land prices are likely to go down.  what i would do is go to your lender get preapproved and get  a letter saying such, so when you find a good deal you can jump right in and buy it.

If you could use the land to produce food or as a safer place to live in the event of a crisis I'd go land in a heart beat.

If it's just an investment vehicle to park some cash well flip a coin your odds will be about the same as if you consulted a market expert.

Buy land but wait until we get even further into this situation. Unemployment has not even started its rise no less peaked. Prices will come down a lot more no matter how much money the govt throws at this.

With stock there is a potential of making some money but a LOT more potential to lose it!

Gil

Buy the land.... God said that he's not going to make more.

land.....

With a couple of exceptions - I'd do nothing at the moment except sit on cash.  I can't predict what will happen in the future but my gut tells me that land has yet to bottom and same goes with stocks.  IMO stocks will be a rocky ride for the next year or two but there is definitely money to be made in the swings and as the recession realities sink in - land will go lower, I certainly don't see it going higher any time in the near future.  Just that with credit being as hard as it is for many and banks not wanting to financed "overpriced" land, prices will have to come down to attract buyers.  But if you find a chunk of land that you absolutely fall in love with to the point that you feel you could live out the rest of your days there, and can afford it with somewhat discretionary money, I'd go for it.  
That said, I really don't know, just my gut feelings.  I'm looking to buy land in 12-18 months, I don't have the cash I need yet and want to wait to see how more of this plays out.

I'm no marketing or financial expert, but look at the overall picture in real estate history.  Land will continue to go up in value - pretty much no matter where you live.  If it's secluded land, you have to look at it as a long-term investment, but if it's near other businesses or homes and what-not, then buy.  It's easy for me to say that because I'm not the one making that big of a decision, but if I had money to just throw at something, I would have to say land.  Just my two cents, though.

KT_Cobra

I don't think the market will bottom in the next 18 months, probably longer.  If you have the cash, buy the land. If you have to go into debt to get it, I'd sit pat.

This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it...

snafu

Land its a great time to buy land or any kind of property in Oklahoma.

if your ortgage is not paid off id do that.......then save and pay cash for the land

Quoted: With a couple of exceptions - I'd do nothing at the moment except sit on cash.  I can't predict what will happen in the future but my gut tells me that land has yet to bottom and same goes with stocks.  IMO stocks will be a rocky ride for the next year or two but there is definitely money to be made in the swings and as the recession realities sink in - land will go lower, I certainly don't see it going higher any time in the near future.  Just that with credit being as hard as it is for many and banks not wanting to financed "overpriced" land, prices will have to come down to attract buyers.  But if you find a chunk of land that you absolutely fall in love with to the point that you feel you could live out the rest of your days there, and can afford it with somewhat discretionary money, I'd go for it.   That said, I really don't know, just my gut feelings.  I'm looking to buy land in 12-18 months, I don't have the cash I need yet and want to wait to see how more of this plays out.

This sounds like pretty good advice. We're holding off putting our "old" retirement money back into the stock market; but, we'll probably start putting our new 401k contributions back into the market now. This will take advantage of dollar cost averaging, and won't require me to guess the bottom which I suspect will take another 12 months to find. I really don't want to put our old money back (we got out at the beginning of January) because this stock market reminds me of a third world country, and I really don't like the emotional worry of watching our retirement money going up and down in 10% swings each day. If I wasn't risk adverse, I probably wouldn't be a member of the survival community . I probably won't buy stocks outside of the 401k (or a Roth IRA) simply because we'd have to deal with capital gains taxes. I think both stocks and property are going down for at least 6 months, and possibly not recovering for up to 18 months. I think Obama will raise capital gains taxes in the future.

We'll probably look for property within the year with post tax money simply because we'll likely hold this much longer, the interest rates may still be low then, and it makes a great inflation hedge. I'd anticipate inflation in about 2+ years as foreign investors start to figure out exactly how big our deficits and national debt is and start to devaluate the dollar again. Once inflation really takes hold, we should have another devaluation of property as payment sizes increase because of higher interest rates; but, it will be hard to get a fixed interest rate loan at a reasonable rate by then for the same reason. I'm hoping the dollar devaluation takes a lot longer (10+ years) to occur; however, it really depends on the finance ministers of Japan and China more than anything. The day they stop buying our Treasury securities is the day we're in trouble. The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the only two bailouts I agree with simply because they're failure would have burned China severely and possibly caused them to call in their other markers all at once. Our being a debtor nation is a precarious position. Until the dollar devaluates again, precious metals are going to be a crappy investment.

I see I've gotten a lot more than I intended. As someone else said, free investment advice from internet strangers is worth exactly what you paid for it

No question for me.  


Land

More ammo.

The original post says, "spend the extra money a month" so I am guessing it will either be cost averaged for stocks or a mortgage or loan for the land.

I would either put the money in the bank and let it accumalate or put it into stocks.  Right now I think land in my area will fall more and I am unwilling to take on more debt just because land is at a better price than in recent times.

I personally am considering the same thing but I am just putting cash in the bank until I can find an amazing deal that causes me to feel it is well worth every penny needed.

I currently live in an apartment and while I want to move to the country right now I feel there will be more stuff to look at for sale in the near future.

Near future for me is 1 to 3 years.

Land will ALWAYS be worth something. When the SHTF, land has more value than anything (besides food and water). So you just can't lose investing in land IMO. I'd rather have something I could walk on, build on, and live on... than something that exists only on paper or in computers. REAL estate baby!

Also in terms of good investments, gold is probably the best way to go.  But you probably shouldn't just buy a little bit of that.  Getting a whole load of it would probably be a better move.

KT_Cobra

Stocks come and go, But LAND, Aint no mo gona be made..

.. Unless you plan on a lunar landing


Zar

Quoted: Should I spend the extra money a month investing in the market or buy land (at least 20 acres)? Both are on sale at the moment, I guess?

When the Dow hits 5000 and things hold together, you may want to think stocks.

My 11 acres is worth 3X what it sold for (market wise) in 1997 even at todays depressed prices.  I wouldn't take 5X what I paid for it; you won't either.

Quoted: Land will ALWAYS be worth something. When the SHTF, land has more value than anything (besides food and water). So you just can't lose investing in land IMO. I'd rather have something I could walk on, build on, and live on... than something that exists only on paper or in computers. REAL estate baby!

+1. Land always seems to increase in value over time even with the Real Estate decline we are seeing now it will come back in time. Stocks are too volatile right now.

You can't live on stocks, you can't plant food on stocks.

Land.

Thanks for all the advice. Yes, I would have to take out a loan to get the land or I could use the money to contribute to my 401K/stocks. I just don't have the discipline to have a load of cash sitting around in the bank or save up enough to buy a tract outright, so I need to invest the money before I spend it. I just didn't know which would have a bigger return in the end. Plus, I'm 33 so it will be a little while before I see the retirement money.

Quoted: Buy land but wait until we get even further into this situation. Unemployment has not even started its rise no less peaked. Prices will come down a lot more no matter how much money the govt throws at this. With stock there is a potential of making some money but a LOT more potential to lose it! Gil

I don't think that people understand the full scope of how bad our economy is right now. Buy the land-it is a wealth preservation tool that you can use. To give you an idea of how fucked up the people and system are, we are having 401k enrollment meetings at work this week. Who in their right mind would want to throw money into something that is LOSING right now? Every time I go to my Dad's, he's telling me how he lost $800 that day.

People haven't begun to panic yet.

well, land for sure, but don't overspend.

Quoted:
You can't live on stocks, you can't plant food on stocks.

Land.[/quote]


remember this folks.............

Quoted: I don't think that people understand the full scope of how bad our economy is right now. Buy the land-it is a wealth preservation tool that you can use. To give you an idea of how fucked up the people and system are, we are having 401k enrollment meetings at work this week. Who in their right mind would want to throw money into something that is LOSING right now? Every time I go to my Dad's, he's telling me how he lost $800 that day. People haven't begun to panic yet.

I just started a new job.

I contribute enough to the 401k to get the match and I put a little extra in as well.

My 401k goes into a bank account earning interest.

Who would not contribute x amount of money to get the company's match on that?

I can put the money into the market whenever I feel like it.

Or I can just take the 100% return the company match gives me on my pretax dollars and the low percent the savings account give me and not worry about the market.

Even with unknown taxes in the future I expect to come out ahead with the company match being considered.

As far as land being a wealth preservation tool, around here prices seem to be heading downward again so I don't see much point in paying X for land if I can buy it in 6 months for X minus Y.

Now maybe the above does not apply to land in your area or your 401k options don't include a savings account option.

Just my opinion.