Estate Living Magazine Develop - Issue 44 August 2019 | Page 8

I N V E S T
There is nothing in the treaty that says an individual can’t claim the
moon – and, because it never considered the possibility, it doesn’t
set out what sort of criteria would have to be met for someone to do
so. So, much like Cecil and Leo before him with Rhodesia and the
Congo, Hope said: ‘The moon is mine.’ And so it was.
He sent the UN a letter to that effect, and also a notification of intent
to develop, making it clear that he intended subdividing and selling
plots. This was in the early 1980s, when just about anything was up for
grabs. He wasn’t the first to claim the moon, and he almost certainly
won’t be the last, but he has – so far – been the most persistent, the
most creative, and the most successful.
Marketing
&
d e v e l O P
Cashing in
According to an article on USNews.com, by 2013, Hope had sold
611 million acres at $36.50 an acre – the price includes tax and
shipping (of the title deed, obviously!). Do the maths – that makes
him possibly one of the most successful developers on earth
considering that his initial investment was the cost of printing out
and mailing one letter. He claims that his customers include the
late Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and former US
presidents Jimmy Carter, George W Bush and Ronald Reagan.
Hmm, I wonder how many plots The Donald has bought.
So, yeah. Laugh if you like, but Hope is laughing all the way to the
bank.
Like any development, getting those sales and closing those deals is
all about marketing and market segmentation. Hope has divided the
moon up into 15 sub-developments, each with its own appeal. What
follows is just a sample, so you’d best check the prospectus in more
detail before making a purchase.
The romantic Bay of Rainbows is perfect as a Valentine’s gift, the Sea
of Serenity and the Sea of Tranquillity both offer great earthrise views,
and the Sea of Vapours is ‘breathtaking’. Adventurous investors may
be keen on the Sea of Muscovy, which is described as ‘one of the
most unusual locations in the Universe!’ with ‘an exclusive setting
unmatched anywhere!’.
But the true lunar property connoisseur, or a truly savvy investor,
would not consider buying anywhere other than The Lunar Alps,
which ‘feature views more exotic than their earth-bound Swiss
equivalents’. Yes, more exotic than Switzerland. Eat your heart out,
George Clooney with your pathetic little mansion on Lake Como!
But it’s not all plain sailing
A problem common to pioneers in most fields is that, having taken
advantage of somewhat dodgy legislation in order to gain a foothold,
there is little recourse to legal protection of their assets. So there’s
not much Hope can do about Johnny-come-lately pretenders
trying to muscle in on his ‘territory’. Other than appeal to the Lunar
Embassy (Corp), which he owns, or refuse to recognise purchases
that are not registered on the official Lunar Registry, which he owns.
Do a web search, and you will find more than one ‘development’
selling land on the moon – and also on a host of other planets and
heavenly bodies. What none of them has done, though, is the
spadework. No civils, no roads, no water reticulation, no power grid
and no 5G network. So, really, what kind of idiot would buy from a
developer who hasn’t even got a demo house up?
Quite a few, as it seems.
Before you get any bright ideas
If this has inspired you, don’t get any bright ideas. Hope has
already claimed (and is selling plots on) Pluto, Mars and a whole
lot of other planets you’ve probably never heard of. Although …
his ownership of Mars is being contested by three Yemeni men,
who tried to sue NASA in 1997 for trespassing, claiming that the
red planet had been in their family for thousands of years.
And before you get an even brighter idea, the Sun belongs to
Maria Angeles Duran, a Spanish woman who had the foresight
to claim ownership in 2010, but then spoiled it all by mawkishly
copying Hope and selling pieces of it on eBay. Silly woman. If
I’d had the foresight (or – like the Yemenis – the luck) to own the
sun, I’d be claiming royalties on solar energy.
Jennifer Stern