"Land is Dirt, Cash is King!" by Richard Crenian

Richard Crenian Blogs
March 9, 2009

“Land Is Dirt, Cash is King!”

Old story with a new twist.

I ran into someone today that was talking about an accumulation of land “to be ready for development in 2-3 years” in Calgary. I laughed and said it would more than likely be five to seven years at least.

He wanted to know why? There is so much land in Calgary and area “ready for development” that even if his would come on, there would be no one to sell to.
Who would be buying land if the market for residential is not there.

There is a lot of infrastructure to put into place before the land is “ready” and there is also a cost to setting up the infrastructure. Who is going to finance it? How are you going to carry your financing and how are you going to pay for your financing?

Most people I know are keeping their lands as farming or agricultural so that the taxes are lower. Land deals do work so long as you have patience, very good patience and you can withstand the economies of time. However beware when you are not the first man in buying, if you are buying through a promoter then the land price is already inflated.

Howard and I have been in real estate for over 30 years each. What haven’t we seen? Here we are in the twilight of our careers, talking about cash flow, cash flow and cash flow.
Cash Flow is King, Land is Dirt, of course. There is no easy way to make money today, so be smart and go for the flowing of Cash. Howard is still in Tucson, he loves the hot weather and his golf game is looking good. Call him to say hi! 4036304544.

Richard Crenian