Or free land.

Full article here:

http://www.nbc4columbus.com/news/2945960/detail.html

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Yeah, but...., it's KANSAS!

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1984 300D Turbo - 4-speed manual conversion, mid-level resto

1983 300D - parts car

1979 300TD Auto - Parts car.

1985 300D Auto - Wrecked/Parts.


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"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". Lewis Carrol

Kansas is nice idk what your talking about. Hey they even a have a decent football team in the next state over the Chiefs

I agree, if your name is Dorothy! :p

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Rode a motorcycle across Kansas on the way to Colorado on Rt 70. First time I almost fell asleep riding a motorcycle.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

I'm not sure why someone would accept free land in Kansas to build a house when you can buy houses in Kansas for under 10k. (see ebay)

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Bingo Kerry, I'm wondering how they are coming up with valuations on these properties to support the mortgage. If the land is given to you the Mort. company is not allowed to use it as consideration because it didn't come from the buyers funds. I guess it would be nice to see it work though. I bet the appraisers have their hands full finding comps.

What's wrong with Kansas? Is there too much of it?

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'79 280SE
'87 560SEL
'83 280CE
'01 Nissan Micra
'98 VW Passat
'83 911 turbo

as an appraiser, I don't see free land as an arm's length transaction for a comparable sale due to concessions (i.e. giving it away.) The inducement is to bring people to an area and would have to be tossed out.

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71 220D 169K wrecked
83 240D 118K sweet 4 speed
91 350SDL (one of the 60% good engines) 156K
84 300d (loaner to my sister) 189K
79 300SD (partswagen)
86 420SEL partswagen
70 220d (partswagen)
68 280s GASSER!!! under construction now
85 300sd 310K miles winter beater car retired
93 300d 2.5 turbo 168K wife's car
83 280SL euro 5 speed 155K
69 250S newest project 54K

Check this out.

http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListings.asp?frm=bymap&st=KS&typ=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5%2C+6%2C+7&poe=realtor&mnbed=0&mnbath=0&mnprice=0&mxprice=99999999&js=off&pgnum=1&lnksrc=&fid=so&mnsqft=&mls=xmls&ct=Marquette&optInCheckbox=yes&areaid=87815


1720 sq ft for 99K. I can't imagine construction cost's being so low that any appraiser their right mind could substantiate a new build.

Thats funny!!!

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N. Hodges
1994 S350
1987 300 SDL (for sale)

What's wrong with Kansas is the same thing that is wrong with Oklahoma, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Eastern Colorado. Nobody wants to live there anymore. NY Times did a piece on the Great Plains about 6 months ago. It's a huge area of the US that is losing population. I'm not sure of all the reasons, but it is partly explained by the growth of corporate farms and the inability to make money on small family farms. As a result, towns slowly lose their population until they can't sustain schools, grocery stores, hardware stores etc.
Drive across the Great Plains on the two lane highways and you can see it happening everywhere. The main streets of most of the towns are dying or dead.

The towns that are surviving are the ones that have attracted WalMarts and have colleges.

Look on ebay and you can find schools for sale in these areas.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

To quote Getrude Stein, "There's no there, there." :p

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Learn as though you will live forever.
-Ancient Hindu Proverb
(Are there any modern ones?)

1998 E320 Blk\Blk
1995 BMW 530i (bad engine) sold
1989 BMW 535i sold after 170,000 fun miles
1996 Lincoln Town Car (6 passenger land barge, still smooth and quiet at 130,000 miles, make me an offer!)

Much of the large area that Kerry is describing is essentially flat, featureless, temperate, semi-arid desert (some of the region is actually referred to as the "dust-bowl"). There's nothing really wrong with it I suppose -- it's just that there's nothing right with it. In a nutshell -- it's boring. The driving force of the region is agriculture, which it's less than ideally suited for.

Ron is right, with one exception. There are some suprisingly interesting rivers in the region. The Niobrara River which flows from western Wyoming, east, all the way across northern Nebrasksa is strikingly beautiful. It is the intersection of a number of ecological zones. It runs thru the Sandhills.
There are also some intersting archaeological sites in the region. There is a writing similar to old European Ogham in parts of southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas and northern New Mexico and Oklahoma. There is speculation that it comes from very early European settlers who travelled up the Mississippi and then westward up the Arkansas and its tributaries.

What I like about the region, is its vast openness which can spur a deep sense of metaphysical emptiness.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13