Texas is Cheap for Foreign Investors
We’ve heard that Texas land is still a bargain compared to the rest of the country. However, I recently listened to a talk given by Manfred Chemek, CEO of an international real estate investment firm, at the 2008 Realtors Land Institute that was held in San Antonio. Mr. Chemek stated that due to the weak American dollar, many foreign investors from Europe and the Middle East have begun to buy large tracts of raw land in Texas.
Interestingly, quite a bit of this land was purchased on the basis of a “romantic atmosphere” seen only in old cowboy films and serials. A German investor came over to West Texas and fell in love with the desert because there was “nothing like that back at home (in Germany)”. A German author that made a living selling fictional books about the old West and cowboys had never set foot in America! Fortunately, due to the decline of the dollar, this German author was able to buy country property and live the lifestyle he made a living off of.