General thoughts on buying land?

[Sam Guertler]

What are everyone's thoughts on purchasing land where city development is scheduled to occur? For example, a downtown park is scheduled to expand in a few years and there's a house within a few blocks of the expected development for sale. The house on the lot needs a tremendous amount of work, so it seems like the value is in the land. I'm under the impression it's not a sound strategy to buy and hope for appreciation, but I wanted to get other's thoughts.