Yuma Real Estate

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

People are flocking to Yuma …

… to fill their gas tanks and stop for fast food on their way to Texas in their U-Haul trucks.

[PerryChase]

FormerSanDiegan, I think you meant to say prejudicial statement not prejudiced statement. But never mind me, I have dry humor also.

I have a former colleague who bought a house in Yuma. I think that she paid $300000 for it. Poor woman.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea if Midwesterners will flock to places like Yuma, but there are a plethora of reasons for why this is the case–not because they are a “little prejudiced.” Your reasoning is simplistic to the extreme. What if I did prove that tons of Midwesterners were moving to Yuma in the near future–would that cleanse them of any prejudice they might harbor?

You can analyze the investment without resorting to blanket statements such as that, was my basic point. I’m sure your friend is a world-renowned sociologist who has spent decades analyzing the Midwest and is capable of discerning to a high degree of certainty just how racist, biased, or closed-minded the people of that region are.

None of this is a debate over whether this is a sound investment–it sounds pretty dubious as you have described it.

[powayseller]

Bugs, he is not anxious to give me any information at all. To my e-mail asking what is the source of job growth (i.e. is it all real estate-boom related as in San Diego?), he sent me an Inc. article, which rated the fastest growing small towns in the U.S. Yuma was tops on the list. I wrote him back, with my data found from the state employment data website. I showed him the biggest occupations in Yuma are construction (10%), agricultural workers (8%), teachers, restaurant and retail (5% each), truck drivers and cashiers (2% each). Yuma has 2,000 cashiers, and less than 10 engineers. Ok, how sustainable and fast growing will they be when the economy slows? I closed with telling him that I look forward to getting the information in the mail, that HE used to make the decision to buy this land, because I am certain “your company did not make a decision to purchase these parcels based on a Inc. magazine story.” So far, he’s given me NOTHING other than that Inc. article.

North County Jim, – the refinery has been in the works for 5 years. They have the permits, and plan to start construction in one year. The original refinery was supposed to be outside Phoenix, but that area had too high ozone levels already, so it had to be moved. Mexico is cooperating with oil delivery. My approach was to give them the benefit of the doubt, that the refinery would go through. It looks like a money-losing idea, so whether the refinery goes in or not, makes no difference to me, since the impact of the refinery is negligible, and the Midwesterners are not going to retire in Yuma, a desert town with 120 degree summers.

[anxvariety]

Obviously just because someone doesn’t reply doesn’t mean they’re hiding something or wrong.. BTW, Did Zeal ever respond to your email about metals? I sent Zeal an email questioning a few of their positions and they never responded… I sent them another email asking for their performance this year – they responded within a day and sent me several years worth.

Personally if I was a developer and wasn’t struggling to find customers, I wouldn’t find the time to respond to your email.. I think your email has some good questions in it like most of your posts, but if I were a person with multi-millions of dollars and 20 years of real estate experience I might not care to respond.. raw land is supposedly a totally different type of investing.. Myself, I am super excited to see what happens to desert land in the next 10 years.. I think people will move to affordability and that Southern California desert climate isn’t that bad if you build your house right.

I’ve noticed in alot of your posts you talk about price, demand and supply as if they are seperate.. You know theyre not, but I’m just pointing out one exasmple.. you said something like ‘i dont see any money to be made investing in yuma real estate over the next 5 years’ – are you completely disregarding price? What about that corner lot just off the exit thats going in(hypothetical) don’t you tihnk that lot will be valuable to a gas station regardless of the real estate market? What if it’s $100,000 dollars and the appraisal says $250k.. maybe a weak example, but putting things in black and white might be cutting too many corners..

[cooperthedog]

I’d want to know if this financial planner has any of his own funds invested in the project. It seems like you should be able to get the reports by having your friend request them.

I’d also be curious to know if there are any unique aspects to the property (by a lake or recreation area)? Is this the closet private land to the refinery? Do they plan to put in basic infrastructure? How is the land zoned, will that change? It would be interesting to find an existing, comparable refinery and track property values and how it grew over the years.

It does sound like they have a good track record, that spans decades, so they should have experienced boom & bust cycles. Has your friend used them before? If not, can you verify their record?

[powayseller]

cooperdog, thanks for the additional questions.

The financial planner’s job is to selling investments, so he wants to convince me to invest with him. He said he would send me some information. Yuma property values jumped a LOT in the last few years, so people buying now are late to the party. I don’t see how a 260 acre parcel 40 miles outside of Yuma will ever be worth more than it is today, regardless of the refinery. I haven’t heard of plans to put a new highway through the desert at that location. So I posted this stuff, hoping that you all would show me what I’m missing.

[Bugs]

Is the plan to subdivide the parcel and bring all the utilities, road improvements, site engineering and such to result in individual parcels or is the plan to flip the whole thing to a developer?

[powayseller]

Sell to a developer. They buy in the path of growth and then wait 5 to 10 years until growth surrounds them and then sell to a developer.

“It’s all about supply and demand! If the demand for land in an area is high and the supply of land is low, land prices will go up over time. 87% of both Nevada and Arizona are owned by the U.S. Government or is Indian Reservations.”

So he assumes this land will be very desireable in 5 years. Bugs, what does he see that I don’t?

[powayseller]

It appears the financial planner does NOT like me asking questions. He considers my questions of his claims as a debate, and rests on his laurels, none of which he is willing to back up.

“Dear powayseller
The past growth has nothing to do with the housing boom. The future growth in the Yuma area will be driven by Blue Collar retirees, agriculture, and the only oil refinery built in this country in the last thirty years.

I don’t want to debate with you over weather this is a good investment or not. Western Financial Planning has been in business since 1978, and has quite a track record. I’ll be happy to share that info with you if you are interested!

Financial Planner XYZ”

Okay piggington group, would YOU invest with him in Yuma, based on this e-mail?

[desmond]

It is Yuma, No.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

I might invest in a gas station in Yuma.
I would not buy raw land there.

[powayseller]

The land is actually 40 miles OUTSIDE of Yuma, 4 miles away from that refinery.

Here is his lastest reply:
“I will send you more info on both the Arizona and Nevada land investments in the mail. I do have a list on the past land investment we’ve done. I’ll include them in the mailing.

We’ve been buying and selling land since the 1960’s, and we’ve had only two properties that did not make money.

Have a great week-end.”

Well, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see what comes in the mail.

[VCJIM]

I would not invest with anyone that does not know the difference between “weather” and “whether”.

“I don’t want to debate with you over **weather** this is a good investment or not. Western Financial Planning has been in business since 1978, and has quite a track record. I’ll be happy to share that info with you if you are interested!”

Some might think I’m joking, but I am dead serious. If I received that lettter, I would NEVER have anything to do with them again. It goes to professionalism and care…if they can’t get that right, how could I trust them to get investments right?

[Author]

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