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We Bought A House For $17,500
Good Homes Under $50,000?
My wife Ana and I found cheap homes for sale all over during
a seven-week cross-country trip, and we even bought one in a
pretty little town in the mountains of western Montana. We
paid $17,500, spent almost $2000 to fix it up the way we
liked it, and lived there for several months before selling
it for $28,000. You can see a photo of our little pink house
on our website http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com. This
wasn't a fluke. There really are great towns where you can
still find cheap homes for sale.
Cheap Homes, Nice Town: An Example
In Anaconda, Montana you can fish for trout, go to a
three-dollar-movie in a beautiful old art-deco theatre
(named the 5th most beautiful theater in the U.S., according
to the Smithsonian), drop some nickles in a slot machine (a
dozen casinos), eat at a fine restaurant, stop by the bar
for a dollar beer, and buy a house for less than $30,000 -
all within a four block area! There are good schools and
churches, a library with fast internet service, and wildlife
(including bears and mountain goats) a few hundred yards
from downtown.
Why There Are Cheap Homes For Sale
The reason there are so many cheap homes for sale in Butte
and Anaconda, is simple. There aren't many good jobs left. I
personally found jobs in Anaconda easily-but not good ones.
People left the area in the 80's especially, after the mines
and smelters closed. This exodus has left one-in-seven
"housing units" in Anaconda vacant, according to the 2000
U.S. census. This has driven down the prices of houses
dramatically. Since both towns still have all the basic
ammenities, are cleaner now, and are recovering, they are
great places to retire to, or to move to if you have an
internet or other non-location-based business.
The economic situation is the primary reason you can buy a
cheap house in many parts of the country. These are towns
that have seen troubled times, but are often recovering, and
with good reasons. Anaconda, an example we know well, now
has a ski resort, a Jack Nicholas golf course, and beautiful
scenery. The houses cost four times as much if you go an
hour in any direction, and those higher prices are will
reach Anaconda eventually.
Cheap Houses You Don't Want To Buy
On the other hand, there are towns like that one in South
Dakota where we stopped for lunch. The bulletin board had
ads for cheap homes for sale, placed there by desperate
home-sellers, each trying not to be the last to leave town.
There was a photo of a beautiful old five-bedroom farmhouse
for $11,000. We looked up the deserted street as we ate, and
noticed that most of the buildings were boarded-up. This
town was (is) clearly dying, and didn't have anything to
help revive it. Inexpensive homes are easy to find here, but
I wouldn't take one for free.
Cheap Homes For Sale In Paradise
Maybe paradise is too much to expect, but there are many
wonderful towns, from Florida to Oregon, where there are
cheap homes for sale. So what does a town need in addition
to inexpensive houses in order to make our list? Well, the
criteria are certainly subjective, but include at least the
following:
1. Population between 4,000 and 80,000.
2. A good library.
3. A good grocery store.
4. A movie theatre.
5. Cheap houses: at least six for sale under $50,000.
6. The town "feels" good.
When we researched and built our website, we broke the towns
up into two pages. One is for the towns with houses for sale
for less than $50,000. The other is for the towns with
really cheap homes for sale - under $30,000! Yes, they are
still out there. Using a phone and the internet, searching
for your affordable dream home is easier than ever.
About the Author
Steve Gillman and his wife Ana Blum traveled the country
exploring beautiful towns that still have affordable homes
for sale. The result of their research, and their experience
buying their own $17,500 - dream home, is the website:
www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com
Written by: Steve Gillman
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