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Subject:  Re: Protected trust Date:  6/13/1998  9:48 PM
Author:  Linne Number:  3780 of 76418

<< I am interested in purchasing some land in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Idaho; maybe 5-10 acres, not as an investment, but as a possible retirement area.
However, I would like to be able to be 100% certain that this land will always be there. >>

I don't think you can be 100% certain that the land will always be there, no matter what you do. If the real estate taxes aren't paid, it's gone. It can be taken for right of way for a road. I don't know that a charity would want to take such a donation, either. (taxes owed but no income and no guarantee that there is any value) The most likely thing to have happen is that the land becomes undesirable because of what happens around it (that you have no control over.) A real estate columnist in the Washington Post recommends that you NEVER buy real estate for personal use that you don't plan to use within 6 months - there are just too many things that can go wrong. It's hard to think of land as having NO value, but I know several cases where that's just what happened.

IMHO, your best bet is to keep your high-paying jobs and aggressive savings and investment strategy! ;-)
