THE WOULD’VES, COULD’VES & SHOULD’VES
by By Stan C. Strom
May, 2007

This is an article written in conjunction with my land presentations and booth at the 3rd Annual Real Estate Investing – Making it Work for You! Conference & Expo. My perspective is that of a third generation Arizona native who has watched this state grow exponentially over the past 40 years. My great grandfather came to Tucson in 1887 to farm cotton along the Santa Cruz River that flowed north from Mexico through Tucson and into the Gila watershed. Nothing could have prepared him to think long term about buying land or other real estate. If he, my grandfather or father had looked into the horizon and purchased land, I may not have had to work today for a living. But I did get an earful of them saying, “If only I would’ve, could’ve or should’ve.”

Growing up in Tucson, where the population was only 80,000 in 1960, I have experienced a lifetime of stories about real estate deals they passed on. If there is one point I want to hammer home it’s this: It’s not too late to buy land! It comes from economics 101 when they talked about that principal called “supply & demand”.

After the Korean War, many veterans were offered land in Apache Junction for $50 per acre. In 1950, Phoenix’s city limits population was about 64,000 people and John F. Long was selling houses in Maryvale in that decade from $3,400 – $9,900. In 1966, my parents passed on an offer to buy an
“A” frame cabin on one-acre on the White Mountain Country Club. The purchase price: $4,500 on terms, with $500 down and monthly P & I payments at 4% annualized interest. They weren’t sure that would be a good investment up there in the mountains. At that same time, we came up to Phoenix-Tempe to visit a new theme park called “Legend City” where investors were offered shares in this new western theme park. It eventually went bust because people said it was too hot and that kind of theme park just didn’t have enough people to support it. That same property today is where the Phoenix Zoo sits at Papago Park.

In that period of time, Arizona has grown to the 16th most populated state and soon will become the 9th most populated state. When Barry Goldwater died ten years ago, Arizona had two electoral votes. In this next presidential election, Arizona will be a swing state with 11 electoral votes. Our state’s population is now around 6.1 million with nearly 4.1 million here in Maricopa County. Phoenix is ranked as the 5th largest US city and soon will surpass Houston and become number 4. Arizona has the highest per capita of children under the age of five with over 45,000 new babies born in Phoenix hospitals last year. The average age is somewhere between 28 -33 years. Moreover, Phoenix Sky Harbor was ranked last year as the world’s 5th busiest airport based on daily take-offs and landings.



With 82 million baby boomers who control some 2.6 trillion dollars in net worth, many of whom live here or are coming here, let’s just agree that it is a smart, safe and prosperous bet to buy land right now in Arizona. Our state has been divided into four ownership types as below:


























One thing is for sure, there have been over 200,000 new legal adults moving to
Arizona every year for each of the past nine years. I have researched the state based upon water availability, transportation, topography, employment, open space, political climate, land pricing and growth potential. My company has identified the projected “hot spots” for your investment dollars. You will hear me talk about creating wealth and income from land splits and using your qualified retirement accounts to buy land tax free. If you’ve read to the end of this article, let me end with the way it began: Don’t be a would’ve, could’ve or should’ve! Make an investment in Arizona land today.

Mr. Strom is the designated broker and owner of ACRES4U LAND & DEVELOPMENT and can be reached at (480) 503-0777 or www.acres4u.et.