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.

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 item, not as an investment.

By Kenneth J. Souza

Edition Date: 09/01/07

THE IDAHO STATESMAN

Buy a square inch of Idaho for $3.95

Four dollars can't get you much these days. You are likely to shell out more for a venti mocha frappuccino at Starbucks or an adult matinee ticket at Boise's Edwards 21 and IMAX movie theater.

But a New York entrepreneur is selling legal, full-sized land deeds in all 50 states for $3.95 each. For three crisp singles, three quarters, and two dimes anyone can buy a one-inch square parcel of land in any state in the U.S.

Even in Mountain Home.

A one-inch square?

There are more reasons to purchase a square inch than Scott Moger, president of American Acres Marketing Corp., said he can count on his hands.

"A mother sent a piece of America to her son in Iraq," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of people know it's a fun, unique gift."

The most requested state is Hawaii, with 6,873 square inches sold. Idaho has only 343 square inches sold. Moger's Mountain Home parcel is dry, desert brush.

The deeds are big sellers among retirees and people looking for unique presents for Father's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas, he said.

Moger, 60, said the idea to sell inches of land came to him in 1955.

"My parents were moving from Brooklyn to retire in Florida, and when they cleaned out the house they threw away all my baseball cards," he said. "And all my memorabilia was gone too."

The only keepsake he managed to salvage from the trash pile was a deed to a one-inch parcel of land in Canada's Yukon territory. He had retrieved it from the bottom of a Quaker Oats cereal box during the 1955 "Klondike Big Inch" promotional campaign.

After graduating from a campus of the City University of New York — now Hunter College — he stumbled across his deed to the Yukon. Using his marketing and advertising skills, he set his "fantasy dream" in motion.

In 1981, Moger bought his first acre of land in Mountain Home, Idaho. By 1984, he had purchased 50 acres of land, at an average cost of $600 each, with his own savings. He then looked to local businesses to help promote his idea.

In 1992, to help commemorate the 500 years since Columbus had sailed the ocean blue, Moger established American Acres Marketing Corp. with a handful of contracts with local businesses. He said local car dealerships agreed to award each customer a deed to a square-inch of land with every vehicle purchase.

But word of mouth was not enough to sustain his small company. In 2006 he created his own Web site, www.OwnaPieceofAmerica.us, to sell land directly to customers. He kept his overhead low by hiring only a Web designer and another employee to help him create the land deeds.

The deeds include the buyer's name and a description of their square inch. Customers can choose to have their deeds e-mailed or mailed with or without a frame.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the deeds are not intended for investment purposes and cannot be sold by owners for profit. They are novelty items.

The "mini-estates" cannot be lived or retired on, Moger said. Landowners cannot drill for oil or build apartment complexes, and must grant rights of ingress and egress over their parcels. But landowners are completely free of responsibilities and obligations, and do not pay taxes on the land. Moger pays them.

He said the most popular type of deed is the Deed to the United States. For $19.95, a customer can purchase a one-inch square parcel of land in each of the 50 states.

Most purchases come from within the U.S., closely followed by England and China, he said.

"My friends love it. And if it is asked of me when I'm with friends in the know, they jump up and say, ‘Oh, he's the mini-land baron who thought up the idea of selling little pieces of land and will make a fortune," he said. Each acre contains 6,272,640 square inches. At $3.95 per square inch, Moger said he could make about $25 million in each state if he sells every square.

Moger said he pays about $20,000 in land taxes each year and is making enough money to meet his expenses. He said he doesn't know how much money he has made since he created his Web site. But he's not likely to make his $25 million.

"It's financially unsatisfying," he said. "But it's very gratifying."

So: what can you do with a square inch of land?

"Occasionally, (my friends and I) discuss what they would do with their land, like erecting a tiny little fence around the property, building a spaghetti factory, placing an American flag on it," he said. "They talk about combining their holdings so they'd have a square foot, at least."

New York City Company Practically Giving Away Land in Nebraska

10.09.2008 13:42:21 A New York City company, American Acres, Inc is selling land in the town of Albion located in Boone County for as little as $3.95. Sure, it’s tiny in size (only 1 square inch), but buyers officially own the land and they’ll get full-sized legal deeds to prove it…and that’s big.

(live-PR.com) - New York, NY, September 10, 2008 -- So, you want to own land in Nebraska but don’t want to travel there in the heat of the summer or the dead of the winter to check out property? Well here’s news for you: you can now buy land in Boone County, Nebraska without seeing it, without using a real estate broker...without taking any significant financial risk at all.

Hawaii is Most Popular State. Makes the Perfect Gift.

Aloha! Are you interested in living or visiting the beautiful State of Hawaii? Well someone’s going to have to make room for you because Hawaii is the most popular state in the United States. This is fact according to American Acres, Inc., a New York City based company which owns one acre of land in every state and is selling parcels state by state on the Internet. Hawaii has been the most sought-after of all states in which to own land. Within the past several months, thousands and thousands of people have plunked down payments-in-full for their properties all across the America in all 50 states, but the ocean view property on the Big Island of Hawaii is by far and away the most popular.

Oh, by the way, the land being snapped-up so fast (referred to as “mini-estates” by American Acres), is only one square inch in size. That’s right!  One square inch!  So with parcels being that small, anyone who visits the Own a Piece of America website, http://www.ownapieceofamerica.us, can become the proud owner of land in the community of Hawaiian Ocean View Estates for as little as $3.95.

Buyers get legal Land Deeds to property in any state of their choosing or can even buy a Deed to all 50 states on one individual Deed. The colorful Deeds indicate where the land can be found and have the owners’ names inscribed, with an individually numbered lot designation. This has to be one of the most unique gift ideas since the pet rock.

American Acres, on its website, is quick to emphasize that “these coveted parcels can't be built on, lived on or retired on. Owners cannot make any improvements or develop the parcels. Owners shall not occupy the parcels and must grant rights of ingress and egress over their parcel.   But they are completely free of additional responsibilities and obligations. And the fun of bragging about owning land is priceless, to say the least.” Isn’t this one of the most unusual gifts ever?

These legal, personalized land Deeds are great for holidays like Christmas, Chanukah, Valentine's Day and of course as birthday gifts. They also make a wonderfully present for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even the Fourth of July. The Deeds are the perfect personalized gift idea.  One only needs to go to the Own A Piece of America website to learn more about the offerings.  In fact also being sold is a Deed to the United States - one Deed that entitles ownership of one square inch of land in all 50 states at once on one Deed.

Although use of the land may be limited, the responsibilities (as one would hope) are equally minimal. No paying taxes of any kind…ever!  Owners need not mow their lawn, take out the trash, throw away junk mail, participate in local jury duty, or endure any other daily adversities associated with being a land owner.  

Those who do love Hawaii and manage to get a Deed to Hawaii for themselves, no doubt will want to know that the state capital is Honolulu, that according to the 2000 US census the population of Hawaii (all islands) is 1,211,537, that the state bird is the Nene (Hawaiian goose), that the Yellow Hibiscus is the state flower, and that the state tree is the Kukui.

Other popular states, as determined by the number of new mini-land barons in American Acres’ online database, include California, New York, Florida, and Alaska in that order.  Landowners come from many countries as well including Canada, Great Britain, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, Spain and in China the Chinese have already purchased more than 100,000 square inches of the good old U.S.A. Although the buyers realize their tiny plots don't qualify them as American land citizens, deeds for the patches of earth—which are lacquered onto impressive wooden plaques—have become hot gifts and collector's items all over the Far East, and especially in China. 

New York City Company Selling Land in Massachusetts for Only $3 95

Released on: August 21, 2008, 2:36 am

Press Release Author: Sandy Cannon

Industry: Advertising

Press Release Summary: A New York City company that purchased an acre of land in
Rochester, Massachusetts for $1500 in 1982 is looking to turn their investment into
$25,000,000 by selling one square inch parcels of land for $3.95 each.

Press Release Body: New York, NY, August 21, 2008 -- American Acres, Inc., a New
York City company, is hoping to sell their real estate holdings in Massachusetts
“inch by inch” in the truest sense of the words. In 1982 they purchased an acre of
land in Rochester, Massachusetts for $1500 and is looking to turn their investment
into $25,000,000 by selling small parcels of land for as little as $3.95 each.

A visit to their website www.OwnaPieceofAmerica.us reveals how American Acres is
going about amassing their fortune by selling postage-sized lots in Rochester
County, Massachusetts. The method to their madness? Well, the land is small…only a
one square inch of land per parcel, but purchasers will have their name on a legal,
full-sized deed…and that’s big.

Although property owners are not able to do much with their Plymouth County land,
they are also not subject to the difficulties that most land owners face. NO TAXES!
That’s an American dream in itself. There also will be no taking out the trash, no
mowing the lawn and no local jury duty.

American Acres, Inc. purchased the acre of land located in Rochester, Plymouth
County in January of 1982 for $1500.00 with the express purpose of buying 49
additional acres, one in each of the other states in order to create the Own a Piece
of America program. An acre contains 6,272,640 square inches and at $3.95 per inch,
an acre is worth approximately $25 million dollars…if they sell out. Also, with
there being 50 acres in all 50 states the total “parcels” available for sale number
well over 300 million.

And in fact, besides being able to get a one-square inch parcel in any single state
in the country, you can buy their most popular offering, a Deed to the United
States, which certifies ownership to one square inch of land in each and every state
in the USA.

Never before has something so small become so big. Land from the Own A Piece Of
America program has been sold around the world in China, Japan, India, Germany,
Spain, The United Kingdom, Canada, but of course Americans purchase the most. And
Americans have been purchasing the Deeds to the United States, not only as unique
birthday gifts and unique Christmas gifts, but have been sending them overseas to
servicemen and servicewomen currently fighting the war on terror in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

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 item;
not as an investment.

4 Fun Christmas Gifts

Wouldn't it be nice to own some of your own land, maybe even in Hawaii? We can all dream, but now you can bring your dreams one step closer to reality...in a small way anyway. And if you're looking for an unusual and unique Christmas present (or for any occasion), you can even pass the dream along and give gifts of land in America in every one of the 50 states.

Yes, this really is a fun novelty item which is truly novel, and provides the gift recipient with, in addition to the tiny parcels of terra firma, bragging rights. What could be any better than boosting someone's ego with this truly remarkable gift? Land comes in postage-stamp sized parcels (1 square inch) and is the best Christmas gift for the person who has everything. Imagine being compared to Donald Trump in how much land you own!

While the tiny land parcels may provide a good laugh under the Christmas tree, you should also look at the Mini RC Helicopter. Why not glide your mini-helicopter through the cold chilly days of Christmas and annoy that next door neighbour you can't stand? This one is for those who love getting out and playing with remote controls. While it may look childish, give this to supposedly mature adults and they'd find themselves playing like school kids seeing who can do the best "stunts" in this small but strong Remote Controlled Helicopter, The Hoverfly.

If by chance you're buying a gift for someone who enjoys a nice cold alcoholic beverage, then why not purchase them some form of drinking game? These are relatively common and easy to get hold of and can provide great entertainment all night long. A personal favorite is the Noughts Shot Game which is the ideal way to liven up an evening with friends. The Noughts & Crosses shot glasses can be filled with your favorite liquor, adding a whole new dimension to the game. The board is transparent white and is made from glass. The set includes 9 shot glasses. What fun.

Now a 4th and final idea for a Christmas gift, is a cheap but effective one at that; take two pieces of wood, a small piece of string and a bit of moulded plastic and you have The Diablo. It'll be sure to provide fun, a challenge and lots of laughing at a party. The great thing about The Diablo is its durability and the countless tricks you can try to master. Go ahead; try to catch it on the string.

Well now you have four ideas for a unique, fun, and challenging Christmas present. Christmas shouldn't be remembered for the price of a gift, but for the fun and appreciation it brings.

Unique and Unusual Valentine's Day Gifts For Your Wife

January 20, 2009

This year instead of waiting until the last minute and then buying your wife the same old heart shaped box of chocolates; get her a unique gift that will really surprise her.

If you're looking for something really unusual for your Valentine, consider giving her one of the many unique gift experiences that you can find with a little research online. If your wife works hard and long at taking care of everyone else, this year let her Valentine's Day gift take care of her. For total relaxation and rejuvenation consider giving your wife an invigorating body wrap or massage at a wonderfully luxurious spa either near home or to a weekend spa retreat perhaps somewhere far from home. If she's into fitness you can give her a yoga experience or even the gift of a personal trainer.

If your wife loves to cook, any one of our culinary experiences are sure to please her. You can give her the gift of a private cooking class either in home or at one of several very special culinary schools, a home wine tasting party or a chocolate workshop that will delight any chocolate lover.

For a Valentine's Day gift she will never forget, sweep her off her feet with a Bed & Breakfast experience where the two of you can escape to any one of America's finest bed and breakfasts for fun, relaxation and romance. A B&B experience can be found throughout the United States so there is sure to be location that you will want to visit.

For a romantic and unique Valentine's Day gift for the outdoors-type woman, you could also purchase for her the experience of a hot air balloon flight where she and you can soar through the sky, enjoying panoramic views of the landscape. It's an unforgettable gift experience she can share with you. If the sky isn't her scene, then consider a white water rafting gift experience where she can ride the most challenging rivers in the U.S.

If you really want this Valentine's Day to stand out from the rest, buy your wife a little bit of America by purchasing a deed to all fifty states. With a land deed your wife will be the legal owner of a square inch of land in each of the fifty states. This gift will be one that she'll be talking about to her friends and co-workers for months to come.

These deeds can be bought online, printed and framed or if you're running late and need a last minute Valentine's Day gift you can order online and she'll receive it immediately via email. The deed you purchase for your wife is an individually numbered deed giving her ownership to a little bit of America without her ever having to make a trip. Though she won't be able to build a getaway home on her land, she won't have to worry about paying taxes or any upkeep. What can she do with her deed? Not much more than mount it on a plaque and hang it on the wall at home or in her office. It's a gift for Valentine's Day that as unique as your wife and sure to bring a smile to her face.

This year instead of grabbing the usual heart shaped box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers like the ones you bought her last year, knock her off her feet with a unique gift experience that you can easily find online. No trips are necessary to a store to stand in line and wait to buy the perfect Valentine's Day gift. The best part of any gift experience is that they can be scheduled by your wife according to her schedule and at her convenience.

And you won't have to worry about finding a special gift or even a last minute gift for Valentine's Day for your wife. Get her a piece of America she'll talk about for years to come or an adventure she'll never forget.

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