When I attempted it on a different continent, I think I remember the description you get was informative enough that if time was against you, you should buy the region now. In this recent situation, I would have to agree that you should have bought the region now and not the other option. I forget exactly how the description was worded but I understood it enough to come to that conclusion. If it's not clear enough to others then maybe it should be changed. Can someone post the actual words of the action here to examine?