Prime Real Estate Along Scenice North Dakota Badlands - Little Missouri Scenic River -- Theodore Roosevelt National Park Sells For Less Than $2,000 / Acre -- October 9, 2016

Don sent me the link to this story some time ago, but I was traveling and did not get to all the stories readers sent me.

This may have been one of the best stories I missed. But here it is. Sorry for the delay, Don.

From Watford City, Inforum is reporting, data points:

• auction held September 28, 2016
• historic ranch in southwestern North Dakota
• 2,000 acres
• $3.3 million
• nine different buyers

So, now where we had nice open range land, and 2,000 acres of wide-open space, we are now going to have upwards of 8,000 homes -- quarter-acre lots. Actually that's not entirely accurate. This is what some will do, and hopefully many will do:

Steve Burian, CEO of AE2S in Grand Forks, purchased about 430 acres across the river from the parcel the Howes family bought. He plans to lease it for limited grazing and enjoy the land for hiking and hunting.

But had an oil company wanted to put in one well -- and once the rig was gone, it would have been almost impossible to see the pump -- all "environmental" hell would have broken out, despite the fact that the land would have had dual use as open range land and hiking, biking. Maybe even a wind tower or two.

Quarter-acre lots along some lakes in Montana are being appraised for $100,000, making an acre worth $400,000. I personally think folks got the deal of a lifetime buying an acre for as little as $825/acre.

The land, which was available as one large purchase or up to 13 smaller parcels, sold for an average of about $1,670 per acre. The prices ranged from $825 an acre for a 615-acre parcel in the Badlands to $4,700 an acre for the parcel that included the family's house and a historic barn where the Watsons once hosted popular dances.