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[Land, from Page B8] A t first he w as skeptical. “It’s pretty remote country. It’s, like, ‘Wow, who lives there?’ ” B ut af­ter seeing prices soar in the m onths since his first purchase, he’s looking to buy more. Although local brokers esti­m ate that prices have doubled or tripled in the last 20 months, the far-out desert remains inexpen­sive by California standards. A n acre in Fontana can run $700,000. In New berry Springs, it’s going for the price of a used car. “The developers haven’t hit yet. Right now, it’s the investors who are scarfing up the land, and w e’re just holding it and wait­ing,” said Wesley Sperry, who grew up in New berry Springs and has m ade enough money on desert land deals to retire at 43. “People will eventually come this way?’ Sperry, who dropped o u t! o f high school, taught him self the real estate game. First rule: Play w ithborrow ed money. Fresh out of the A rm y in the 1980s? he borrowed money for his fitst^property and built a home. H e borrowed off the home, scrimped, saved, borrowed more and developed two gas station/ m ini-m arts on Interstate 40. In tl|# |990s; he sold them and re­invested in other property. ; A m on g his holdings are rental homes, the land where the local post office sits and 30 va­cant tracts in New berry Springs, according to public documents. I “Ever play Monopoly? It’s like tljiat. B ut it ain’t that simple,” said Sperry, who lives in his origi­nal home but owns a BM W , a M ercedes-Benz and a Cadillac Escalade and logs a lot of time traveling with his family in a 40- foot-long recreational vehicle to escape the Mojave heat. Local real estate broker San­dra Brittian says she suspected the expanding edge of Califor­nia’s real estate boom w as finally reaching New berry Springs when she saw Sperry buying. The m arket took off soon af­ter, in January 2005, after 15 years in the dum ps. Since then, by Steam ’s count, about 500 p ar­cels have sold. It w as as sudden as flipping a light switch. i “I couldn’t believe it,” Brittian said. “I had land that had been sitting on the market for a long time, and people started calling me arid just grabbed it. N ow it’s difficult to keep [properties] on the market. They’re gone as soon as they’re listed.” ! Five acres with a mobile home Photographs by M a r k B o s t e r L os Angeles Times T H E M A I N D R I G : National Trails Highway — old Route 66— bisects New berry Springs. One 5-acre lot with a mtbilehome that sold sight unseen in late 2004fo r $78,000 recently fetched $180,000. *L t’sdifficult to keep [properties] on the market. They’regone as soon as they’re Sandra Brittian real estate agent A B E L I E V E R : BerniVdiga, at home in Carlsbad with Simba, has seen prices soar sinc\ his first purchase in New berry Springs. that Brittian sold to a Washing­ton state wom an sight unieen in late 2004 for $78,000 reently fetched $180,000. M any dients pay cash for their slice o! N ew ­berry and negotiate via fbone, fax and e-mail. Brittian never meets them. 1 “They all come into the office with cash. They’re insultedf you bring up term s,” said Sfeam, who maintains a giant back-board in front of his office oi old Route 66 on which he pri&s a m enu of offerings. A sh raf Fahim insists he s in New berry Springs for the bng haul. Still, he recently tried tdsell otfe o f his holdings near wlere the owners o f a failed w ater park w ant to build 1,400 senior hous­ing units. The project has yet to win county approval, and its fi­nancing is “convoluted” and “confusing” and involves a law­suit settlement between form er partners in the w ater park, said Spike Lynch, the developers’ government coordinator. Regardless, the proposal has sparked rum ors • untrue, Lynch says — that a nationally known home builder is close to paying $25 million for 3,000 near­by acres the developers have an option on. Believing he could cash in, F a­him listed his parcel for $4 mil­lion— 57 times w hat he paid less than two years ago. H e didn’t get a nibble and pulled it off the m ar­ket. Meanwhile, Fahim ’s home equity loan is burning a hole in his checkbook, requiring him to work extra hours. B ut he takes solace knowing he placed each purchase offer on the altar of his church and prayed before buying “to see if there’s som ething from G o d or not.” “It could be a stupid thing. It could be a good thing,” he said. “W hen you have faith, you don’t get nervous.” v mike.anton@latimes.com