Valentine, Texas Land Rush: $65 Per Acre

The cost of property in major US cities is so expensive that many city residents are buying cheap, bleak land in the middle of the Texas desert. Why? Because they can.

1 minute read

August 8, 2005, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"Most of the buyers are from California, Florida, New York and other places where the cost of homes has been surging. People on the coasts, who have to spend a fortune for somewhere to live, are spending more for somewhere they can't.

...At the county clerk's office in Fort Davis, the county seat, they long ago lost track of how many new landowners Valentine has. They definitely dwarf the hamlet's population of 217. The best guess is a thousand.

...But the fact that this land is being sold off piecemeal probably guarantees that it will never have electric power or streets. Developers want to work with large tracts they control, not hundreds of small plots whose owners are unlikely to agree on what improvements they will pay for.

Developers also like to build within sight of growing cities. Valentine, however, is a long way from anywhere. El Paso is 160 miles west, San Antonio 450 miles east. That's a tough commute, even in Texas."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Bad Lands Now Hot Property

Thursday, August 4, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

Land Use Texas

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