Unusual and Unique Holiday Gifts and Gift Ideas
The Wanderer
Rochester, Massachusetss 09/02/08
Land in Deed: The Selling of Rochester, Inch by Inch
I'm now the proud owner of an inch of land in Rochester.
Yes, you read that correctly. An inch of land. [And by the way what great, unusual and unique Holiday gifts they'll make!]
The effortless transaction took all of five minutes from the comfort of my desk right here in The Wanderer office and cost a whopping $3.95.
A scam, you ask?
Well, I myself had strong suspicions, but after looking into it further I found it all to be quite legitimate.
Seems that a New York-based company named American Acres, Inc. bought an acre of property in Rochester way back in 1982 and now they're offering to sell it off -- one inch at a time -- for $3.95 per piece. If that sounds a little odd, consider that there are 6,272,640 square inches in an acre of land ... so once the company "sells off" every inch, they stand to profit to the tune of nearly $25 million.
Not bad for an initial investment of just $1,500.
After placing a call to the Rochester Assessors office, it was confirmed that American Acres, Inc. does, in fact, own a 1.10-acre parcel of land in Rochester located off Walnut Plain Road, with access along a 60-foot right-of-way on Estabrook Way. The parcel is listed as Lot 16D on Map 24.
While it may seem a bit unorthodox and unusual to to divvy up a one-acre parcel into over six million one-inch pieces, it is completely legal.
According to Scott Moger, CEO of the Manhattan-based American Acres, Inc., he was inspired to embark on what has become a 30-year novelty venture after finding a similar promotional item from his childhood.
"I remembered that when I was a kid Quaker Oats had a promotion that gave away deeds to square inches of property in the Yukon," Mr. Moger said. "My parents were moving from New York to Florida and we were cleaning out everything and I found my deed. I remembered how exciting it was for me as a kid. I did some research and found it was one of the most successful sales promotions ever created in the United States. The day they announced the promotion, some 20 million cereal boxes moved off the shelves."
With that in mind, Mr. Moger struck on the idea of purchasing at least one acre of land in each of the 50 United States and then offering them -- one inch at a time -- in a similar marketing promotion. Once he amassed the requisite 50 acres, more or less, he set out to sell his idea to other companies.
"I tried selling it the old-fashioned way around 1992," Mr. Moger said. "I thought it would be a great promotion. That's why I put it together. I didn't hit a home run, but I came close. Cracker Jack was very interested in putting a little deed inside every box, but that fell through. So I decided to put the idea aside for a while. When the internet started booming, I thought that would be the ideal way to sell this idea. I set up the website about two years ago and it's been doing very well ever since."
As if to stress the clear novelty of the notion, Mr. Moger notes how he tries to make light of the item on his website. Among the property restrictions listed under the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the site is this disclaimer:
You cannot live on the land (hard to believe, huh?). You cannot make any improvements to, or develop the parcels. You must allow rights of ingress and egress over the parcels and very importantly, the deeds cannot be sold by the owner for a profit and owner shall not receive any income or derive any other financial benefits whatsoever from the parcels or any or all portions of the property.
"Most people are pleased to know they don't have any financial obligations -- it's clearly a novelty item," Mr. Moger said. "I do get questions quite a bit. I try to keep it light and make sure everyone knows it's light. I'd say 90 percent of the people who hear about it love it. Then there's 10 percent of the people who seriously ask: 'Why would anyone buy a one-inch piece of land?' Most people buy the deed to all 50 states. It's a bigger novelty to own."
Noting that American Acres, Inc. retains the full ownership of the overall parcel and, in turn, is responsible for paying all property taxes -- which Mr. Moger claimed was his biggest expense -- he still thinks offering deeded one-inch portions is a great and unique novelty idea ... not unlike the recent push to have a star named in someone's honor.
Of course, those thinking about spending $19.95 to buy the deed for all 50 states in an effort to give them the chance to vote 50 times for either McCain or Obama in the upcoming presidential election will be disappointed to learn that ownership of a one-inch undeveloped piece of land does not come with any voting rights.
"Technically you have to be a resident of a community to vote in town," said Rochester Town Clerk Naida Parker. "It has to be a house and it has to be their legal place of residence. Massachusetts General Laws stipulate you must have a residence ... and they're not going to be able to prove to me that they have a house on that one-square-inch."
"It's very exciting and it's been successful," Mr. Moger said. "I get comments all the time, saying how unique it is and how much they loved it. It's been gratifying."
The land is available exclusively at www.ownapieceofamerica.us and has been approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for sale as a novelty gag gifts, not as an investment.
By Kenneth J. Souza
Unusual, Unique Retirement Gifts
Patriotic Gifts
New Citizens and New Immigrants Gifts
Last Minute Gifts
Gifts for a Woman/Mother's Day Gifts
Gifts for a Man
Personalized Gifts
Anniversary Gifts
Graduation Gifts
Christmas Gifts
Unique Birthday Gifts and Presents
Gag Gifts
Corporate Premiums and Sales Promotion Campaigns
Citizenship Gifts
Unusual, Unique Clever Gifts for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas for him or for her
Rochester, Massachusetss 09/02/08
Land in Deed: The Selling of Rochester, Inch by Inch
I'm now the proud owner of an inch of land in Rochester.
Yes, you read that correctly. An inch of land. [And by the way what great, unusual and unique Holiday gifts they'll make!]
The effortless transaction took all of five minutes from the comfort of my desk right here in The Wanderer office and cost a whopping $3.95.
A scam, you ask?
Well, I myself had strong suspicions, but after looking into it further I found it all to be quite legitimate.
Seems that a New York-based company named American Acres, Inc. bought an acre of property in Rochester way back in 1982 and now they're offering to sell it off -- one inch at a time -- for $3.95 per piece. If that sounds a little odd, consider that there are 6,272,640 square inches in an acre of land ... so once the company "sells off" every inch, they stand to profit to the tune of nearly $25 million.
Not bad for an initial investment of just $1,500.
After placing a call to the Rochester Assessors office, it was confirmed that American Acres, Inc. does, in fact, own a 1.10-acre parcel of land in Rochester located off Walnut Plain Road, with access along a 60-foot right-of-way on Estabrook Way. The parcel is listed as Lot 16D on Map 24.
While it may seem a bit unorthodox and unusual to to divvy up a one-acre parcel into over six million one-inch pieces, it is completely legal.
According to Scott Moger, CEO of the Manhattan-based American Acres, Inc., he was inspired to embark on what has become a 30-year novelty venture after finding a similar promotional item from his childhood.
"I remembered that when I was a kid Quaker Oats had a promotion that gave away deeds to square inches of property in the Yukon," Mr. Moger said. "My parents were moving from New York to Florida and we were cleaning out everything and I found my deed. I remembered how exciting it was for me as a kid. I did some research and found it was one of the most successful sales promotions ever created in the United States. The day they announced the promotion, some 20 million cereal boxes moved off the shelves."
With that in mind, Mr. Moger struck on the idea of purchasing at least one acre of land in each of the 50 United States and then offering them -- one inch at a time -- in a similar marketing promotion. Once he amassed the requisite 50 acres, more or less, he set out to sell his idea to other companies.
"I tried selling it the old-fashioned way around 1992," Mr. Moger said. "I thought it would be a great promotion. That's why I put it together. I didn't hit a home run, but I came close. Cracker Jack was very interested in putting a little deed inside every box, but that fell through. So I decided to put the idea aside for a while. When the internet started booming, I thought that would be the ideal way to sell this idea. I set up the website about two years ago and it's been doing very well ever since."
As if to stress the clear novelty of the notion, Mr. Moger notes how he tries to make light of the item on his website. Among the property restrictions listed under the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the site is this disclaimer:
You cannot live on the land (hard to believe, huh?). You cannot make any improvements to, or develop the parcels. You must allow rights of ingress and egress over the parcels and very importantly, the deeds cannot be sold by the owner for a profit and owner shall not receive any income or derive any other financial benefits whatsoever from the parcels or any or all portions of the property.
"Most people are pleased to know they don't have any financial obligations -- it's clearly a novelty item," Mr. Moger said. "I do get questions quite a bit. I try to keep it light and make sure everyone knows it's light. I'd say 90 percent of the people who hear about it love it. Then there's 10 percent of the people who seriously ask: 'Why would anyone buy a one-inch piece of land?' Most people buy the deed to all 50 states. It's a bigger novelty to own."
Noting that American Acres, Inc. retains the full ownership of the overall parcel and, in turn, is responsible for paying all property taxes -- which Mr. Moger claimed was his biggest expense -- he still thinks offering deeded one-inch portions is a great and unique novelty idea ... not unlike the recent push to have a star named in someone's honor.
Of course, those thinking about spending $19.95 to buy the deed for all 50 states in an effort to give them the chance to vote 50 times for either McCain or Obama in the upcoming presidential election will be disappointed to learn that ownership of a one-inch undeveloped piece of land does not come with any voting rights.
"Technically you have to be a resident of a community to vote in town," said Rochester Town Clerk Naida Parker. "It has to be a house and it has to be their legal place of residence. Massachusetts General Laws stipulate you must have a residence ... and they're not going to be able to prove to me that they have a house on that one-square-inch."
"It's very exciting and it's been successful," Mr. Moger said. "I get comments all the time, saying how unique it is and how much they loved it. It's been gratifying."
The land is available exclusively at www.ownapieceofamerica.us and has been approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for sale as a novelty gag gifts, not as an investment.
By Kenneth J. Souza
Unusual, Unique Retirement Gifts
Patriotic Gifts
New Citizens and New Immigrants Gifts
Last Minute Gifts
Gifts for a Woman/Mother's Day Gifts
Gifts for a Man
Personalized Gifts
Anniversary Gifts
Graduation Gifts
Christmas Gifts
Unique Birthday Gifts and Presents
Gag Gifts
Corporate Premiums and Sales Promotion Campaigns
Citizenship Gifts
Unusual, Unique Clever Gifts for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas for him or for her
posted by Sandy @ 8:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home