But as many current and former town owners can attest — the reality is harder than the allure might betray. She ended up selling it five years later at a huge loss due to financial problems she was having. He has since died, and the project is now on hold. The moral: proceed with caution. Whatever your reasons for buying a town, much of the challenge is not in the cost — but finding one for sale to begin with.
So, where do you start? Narrow down the geographical vicinity where you would like to purchase a town and then contact real estate agents in the area. Also, because of their novelty, towns that are listed for sale are often covered by the media, and many buyers find out about them that way. That was the case for the Valle Piola, which is currently for sale on eBay and has been featured in numerous European publications. On the market since , the village has piqued the interest of a number of prospective buyers, according to Fabio Pisi Vitagliano, a member of the four-person, private Valle Piola Rebirth Team, which owns Valle Piola.
Credit: Alessandro de Ruvo. Vitagliano and his team believe it would work best as a tourist destination with accommodations that are spread throughout the village but are interconnected, much the same way Sextantio Albergo Diffusio works. It's been a labour of love to piece the town back together. Three of the four team members grew up in the area and decided to buy the abandoned village with the idea that they could sell it to investors.
While Vitagliano is confident Valle Piola will sell, for now, the building village is deserted, and parts of it are crumbling. While not an official municipality it is located in the town of Moodus , Johnsonville still feels complete, with a general store, chapel, meeting house, school house, barn, tavern, office, and a covered bridge.
So what is? The whistle stop of Mowbray, Man. The town holds a Canadian Pacific railway station, a schoolhouse and a community hall, based on photos from the Manitoba Historical Society. Meanwhile, the town of Sandon, B. Lovelace himself now owns a collection of 44 properties, including a saloon and horse barns, called the Flying U Ranch, northwest of Kamloops, B. Since retiring from real estate, he has turned the ranch into a destination for horseback riders and hobby pilots from as far away as Switzerland.
Although Lovelace is responsible for the sewers, wells and roads, he does not consider the ranch a town, and he does not call himself mayor. Town of Kitsault, BC. Related: How to make lots of money as an Instacart shopper. When you purchase a town, you often own the land along with buildings. Just check eBay and Craigslist periodically for town listings. This is known as municipal incorporation. You also need s surveyor who can draw up the town boundaries. Once your paperwork is submitted, you will need approval from a judge or state official before your town becomes incorporated.
There are laws governing the creation of new towns or incorporated communities. There may be restrictions around the size of your town, how far it is from other communities and other requirements. Starting a town can be very expensive, depending on how large it is.
All of these expenses can add up to millions of dollars. Related: The 10 highest-paying jobs in America. While it's not far from the California-Nevada state line and the bright lights of Las Vegas, this small town is a world away from the glitz and glamour of the strip. The settlement hit the headlines a few years ago when a cannabis company reportedly bought the estate with plans to turn it into a marijuana-themed retreat.
However, their plans fell through and now Nipton is back up for sale and looking for a new mayor. With some development work having already been carried out by the previous owners, the small town boasts five eco-cabins and 10 tipis — perfect for hosting guests. A restoration project has also been carried out across some of the town's historical buildings, giving the outpost a new lease of life. For the sale price, the buyer will acquire 80 acres of land, which include a general store, a haberdashery store, a cafe and a hotel with five rooms.
There's also a unit trailer park, a schoolhouse, haybarn and a number of art exhibits with links to the renowned Burning Man festival.
Nestled in the arid desert of Yavapai County, the town of Cleator was founded in the late s as a gold-mining outpost. Once flanked by mining camps and the Prescott and Eastern Railroad, the settlement bustled with workers and their families in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, by the s, many of the town's mines had folded — the final blow came a few years later when the railroad closed. Home to around 1, people in its heyday, the outpost was all but deserted. While some consider Cleator a ghost town, it's still home to a handful of people who've formed a small, tight-knit community.
Left to languish for years, Water Valley is an abandoned town with plenty of potential. Spanning seven acres close to Williamsport, Tennessee, this former community has a rich history and an array of characterful extras that were hastily left behind when the town was abandoned in the mid 20th-century.
Named after its flooding waters, caused by the town's proximity to Leiper's Creek, Water Valley was established when a new post office opened its doors in Formerly known as Spencer's Mill, the community was once a busy stop for the Middle Tennessee Railroad , but when the line closed in the early s, the community began to decline. Yet before the residents upped sticks, Water Valley was thriving. A school was opened in but it closed 10 years later, which marked the beginning of the end for the town.
Step inside the town's historic buildings and you'll be transported to another time. Although the shelves of this store are empty, it isn't difficult to imagine it bursting with life.
There are endless period fixtures around that could be salvaged, too, including old metal advertising signs, antique furnishings and rusting milk churns.
Yet much work would be needed to render the town's buildings habitable, so if you're keen to take on an extreme fixer-upper , Water Valley might just be the place for you A stone and wood building, the main property is fully habitable and encompasses 1, square feet spread over three floors.
Outside, there's a pretty garden with a hammock overlooking spectacular views of the surrounding hills and mountains. Xerdiz is the ideal property for those yearning to escape the rat race in favour of a more self-sufficient lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. A business-savvy buyer could even transform some of the structures into holiday lets, providing a rural spot for visitors to reconnect with nature.
Featuring stylish wood-clad interiors, each residence has two air-conditioned bedrooms as well as a private cabana — the perfect spot to soak up the tropical sunshine. With its dazzling white-sand beaches and azure shoreline, this paradise island for sale is primed to continue its success as a profitable luxury community.
Just one hour east of San Diego, the town comes with 28 buildings and is ideal for someone looking to take on a town that's already up and running.
Not quite a ghost town, Campo is currently home to around people and comes with working buildings including a post office and church. However, the current residents are looking for the new owner to expand the town, adding facilities such as a gym, laundromat and recreation centres.
Spread over 16 acres, the small community is peppered with abandoned clapboard homes like this one. With a little work, these neglected structures could provide charming houses for new residents looking to relocate to the town.
Located within the unparalleled rural idylls of Tuscany's Val d'Orcia region, this small historic hamlet offers a picturesque slice of Italy's rich past. Once a bustling agricultural hub, it's since been left to languish and its buildings, including a cheese factory, dining hall, residential apartments, office, barns and pigsties, are now in need of restoration.
Elsewhere in the village, there's also the ruins of an old furnace, which includes permission to rebuild the structure for residential use.
With accommodation spread across three vast floors, the grand stately home has been in the same family since the s. Aside from some restoration work required across the attic and roof, the property is resplendent, with stunning coffered ceilings, antique flooring and fixtures and elegant double-height living spaces, while a swimming pool is also situated in the grounds.
This unique business opportunity could be a real passion project for an investor with a penchant for history. Developed as a resort town in the s, its amenities may need a little updating, but the self-contained community has everything in place to become a flourishing destination for homeowners and holidaymakers once more. However, the significant sum isn't without justification — in addition to the commercial facilities, there are two dazzling beaches on the east coast of the island and one on the north side, as well as a wharf and jetty that allow easy access to the mainland.
Located on the slopes on the south side of the island are an array of self-contained residential chalets. With power, water, sewage and connections in place, all the enclave needs is a buyer to take this former resort town under their wing.
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