How to Buy a Ghost Town
Visiting a ghost town is one of our closest time travels. If left alone, the city remains suspended in time; forever stuck in a year, it was abandoned. Fortunately, some ghost towns have been incorporated into state and national parks, which tend to leave them in a state of natural decay – the most famous example being the former gold mining town of Bodie, California .
But there are at least 3,800 ghost cities spread across the United States (in a wide variety of settings), and sometimes entire cities are up for sale. While owning your own ghost town may sound great in theory, in practice it can be a completely different story (depending on what you want to do with abandoned property and buildings).
Before even moving on to this part, you have to go through the process of buying a ghost town, which turns out to be a little different from buying a regular, uninhabited house. Here’s what to keep in mind if you’re looking for a ghost town to call your own, from Joe Pye ‘s article on Debt.com .
This is more than just a home
Eye-catching headlines about ghost towns selling at shockingly reasonable prices can give the impression that as long as you have the money, you can relatively easily become the proud owner of your abandoned mining village.
But of course this is not so easy, due in part to the fact that these cities are considered “unincorporated” and therefore not part of the local government. “This means that even at a good price, the unique nature of the area makes it more difficult to buy than most homes,” explains Pai.
Good luck in getting a loan
While it may seem financially feasible for you to make a $ 200,000 mortgage payment in a ghost town, that does not mean you will get a loan. “Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac and FHA are not involved in this property,” Utah-based real estate broker Mike Metzger told Debt.com .
“It is very difficult to get a loan for such properties,” continues Metzger. “In most cases, this will be a private type of banking, with loans based on the individual and the relationship he has with the bank, rather than your traditional ‘square funding’.”
Most likely lacking basic amenities
Potential ghost town buyers (hopefully) know there is a lot of work ahead of them, but they may not be fully aware of it. For example, an abandoned city may not have running water, electricity, or other major communications. And it’s not just about installing them and connecting them to existing power supplies – sometimes the nearest running water or electricity is miles away.
Then there is the security issue. “Most structures in ghost towns don’t meet the code requirements,” Metzger says. “They were created before the code was invented. This is probably the reason the reason code was invented because when they were finished they ran out of materials. “
Ghost towns for sale
While Pai’s article on Debt.com does provide interesting information on buying a ghost town, it also lists several examples of properties allegedly for sale. But before you get too excited, you should know that none of these cities are currently for sale, and some were sold years ago. (Including St. Elmo, Colorado, which is shown in the image at the top of this article.)
But this does not mean that there are no other options. For example, Pierce, Arizona is currently up for sale for $ 944,000, although this is more of a turnkey living history museum than a true ghost town. Like Cleator, Arizona , which is listed for $ 999,000, still has some remaining residents and operating businesses, bringing it closer to the Schitt’s Creek scenario . But you never know when your dream ghost town will hit the market.