I remember when 1 acre was commonly under $1,000. The problem with buying land is what you want to use the land for. If you want to put a home there then you have to have a house built or a trailer put there, both of which are major expenses. Then the septic, water, power pole, etc has to be done and septic and water alone can cost $20,000 on top of whatever the cost is for the home.

It's difficult for a normal person to get multiple large loans to cover those different expenses which is why people typically go after a home with everything already there. If you can afford it, you can make land arable though but it would involve a lot of work and possibly more money than it's worth. You can have several feet of soil and dirt/clay removed and replaced with top soil that would be arable. The problem would be the cost because top soil takes up to 5 years to create.