If you put the words BUY LAND ON THE MOON into a search engine, a few enterprising businesses pop up that will facilitate the transaction for you. Some of the services they offer are Gift Packages, Moon Land Certifications, and Press Releases.

That sounds like the perfect gift for the person who has everything, and you are struggling to find a birthday present for them. But when we start habiting the lunar landscape (which we will in the next few decades, no doubt about that) will these lucky people turn out to be our landlords? If this is the case, is buying land on the moon a better investment than purchasing some property in the United States?

Land Legal Issues

Believe it or not, there is a legal precedent in place that deals with the likelihood of such an eventuality. The International Outer Space Treaty actually prohibits anyone or any nation from claiming sovereignty over any planet. This doesn’t stop a person from trying to make a private land claim, but the legal precedent for being able to do so is a tricky one.

In order to be able to set up as a land baron on the Moon or Mars means you have to live there. Remember those movies about outdoorsmen on horseback galloping like mad to make a land claim when the mid-west was opened up for settling? All they had to do was dash faster than the rest of the pack, jump off when they saw good soil or a freshwater creek, and pile drive poles in the ground around the area they wanted to claim.

The equivalent of this would be someone riding an ATV on the Moon and driving poles in the ground when they saw an invitingly dusty crater.

Land is Cheap on the Moon

An acre of moon dust is currently selling for USD19.99. If you wanted to have a dusty crater on earth, you would have to pay in the region of $900. If this has whetted your appetite for a little piece of heaven on earth, here are the prices of land in the parts of the United States where it’s considered cheap.

• 16 acres of desert in Arizona: $999
• 5 acres of rock and desert in New Mexico: $895
• 09 acres of swamp in Arkansas: $795

My favourite is 0.25 acres of desert in Los Lunas in New Mexico for $895. They haven’t even tried to hide the fact that the land is like living on the moon (Los Lunas – The Moons).

Side by side, it is plain to see that land is cheaper on the moon. It’s cooler there as well, compared to New Mexico.

If You Do Decide to Set Up as a Property Developer on the Moon

Alright, so if nothing is going to discourage you from trying to become a moon tycoon, you should start planning to be part of the first settlement. There will probably be a lunar equivalent of the mid-west land grab, so travel there with a high-power ATV in your luggage. If you manage to claim the moon-land equivalent to California, your $19.99 per acre will turn out to be the best investment you have ever made. The $20 million plane ticket included.

Will Property Become Cheaper in the United States When We Can Live on the Moon?

The whole of the earth will depreciate in value once we can settle on the Moon and Mars. When terraforming begins, the people who live there will make sure that their new planets are not abused the way Earth is and was. They will exist using solar and wind power and recycle the heck out of everything.

You may even be lucky enough to claim land that has rich mineral rights. The future will be much brighter when the inhabitants are careful not to abuse their new home the way Earth has been. Planet earth has the disadvantage of being a stepping stone in humankind’s development towards higher ideals. Everything here will become useless when pollution, resource depletion, and overpopulation take over.

Buy your acre of moon land the minute you arrive there while it’s still cheap.

References:

https://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/for-sale-moon-and-mars/

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/sale-real-estate-moon/story?id=19068377

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/generalmoney/what-us-land-is-really-worth-state-by-state/ar-BBkTfZS

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/generalmoney/what-us-land-is-really-worth-state-by-state/ar-BBkTfZS

http://www.lunarland.com/moon-land