I must agree with Buckleboy, we need to talk with the oldtimers...there's always some truth to all rumors.
Rumors such as some old miser never noticeably spent any money so he must have amassed a small fortune. And since his heirs walked away penniless, the old fart must have buried his loot.
If you don't take the opportunity to look, you lose out!
However, if you look and don't find anything, you can walk away having proved a rumor as a rumor, and nothing else. Or, on the otherhand, you didn't look in the right places.
And as Jeff stated, you need to put yourself in the shoes of person burying his cache. Depending on the situation, look for the obvious first such as root cellars, basements, cisterns, wells, fireplaces, tool sheds, barns, chicken coops, and the like. If that comes up dry, look around for obvious landmarks. Its there somewhere, you are just not in sinc with his head yet.
Interesting enough, I just thought about a personal situation. When my parents died, my Mothers Sister told me about a 'Safe' that my Dad had built under a corner drainboard...If I hadn't been told, I would have sold the house without ever knowing what was stashed. Surprisingly enough, there were Title Docs for other properties which we unaware of, insurance papers, bank books (19), and a coin collection.