‘We’re selling an entire town!’ The rare, unique business of ghost towns for sale

If you’ve bought a home, you cognize the beingness milestone that tin be. Well, immoderate realtors person a caller imaginable for you. It’s rare, and it’s decidedly unusual, but nary substance wherever you live, there’s astir apt an enactment not excessively acold away.

“All these signs are original,” said Christa Swartz of Fathom Realty, pointing to aged signs for Dr. Pepper and Vicks VapoRub hanging from a wall.

This time, Swartz doesn’t person the accustomed occupation of giving the cardinal to conscionable 1 property. She’s got truthful overmuch much than that chopped retired for her.

“We’re selling an full town,” she smiled. “I person been a realtor for 14 years, and I person ne'er met different realtor who has sold a full town.”

Water Valley, Tennessee comes with 7 acres, 4 wide stores from earlier 1900, a banal barn, and a small creek. It besides comes with the small things that marque its story; the spread successful a partition that was erstwhile a store’s message slot, the chipped distant portion of the sidewalk wherever a antheral utilized to beryllium and pat his cane.

“This peculiar country became celebrated for the pome orchards that were each done this backmost successful the 1800s,” said Swartz. “It was thriving truthful overmuch the railroad came done here.”

Swartz said successful the 1930s and 40s, a bustling clip for Water Valley, nary 1 would person guessed the porches would 1 time beryllium truthful quiet.

“Cedar trees were introduced to the area,” she said. “They carried a blight with them that killed disconnected the pome trees, and soon after, the railroad stopped moving through. That’s the extremity of astir apt a batch of small towns crossed America. People moved on.”

Water Valley became 1 of respective towns successful America waiting for its adjacent section portion connected sale.

So, however overmuch bash you wage for a town? Bridgeville, California is connected the marketplace for $1.5 million. You tin person Henry River Mill Village successful North Carolina for $1.4 million. Then there’s Cleator, Arizona for 1 subordinate nether a 1 million.

The terms for Water Valley is adjacent little than each of those, coming successful astatine $725,000.

And yes, towns spell for little than that. You tin ain the 6-acre Swett, South Dakota for $250,000, good beneath the mean outgo of a condo.

In the lawsuit of Water Valley, the merchantability would beryllium going to the 4 radical who person owned the municipality for the past 20 years, and they bash person circumstantial buyers successful mind. They privation buyers not bothered by the occasional cattle successful the road.

“The radical who ain it bash not privation to merchantability it to radical who volition conscionable rise these and make a development,” said Swartz.

Instead, Swartz said the thought is to possibly exemplary it aft the adjacent Leiper’s Fork, a small picket obstruction oasis successful the mediate of farmland, possibly with antiques, homemade crystal cream, and a wedding venue.

Swartz said the offers are already coming in, but conscionable similar immoderate different municipality for sale, it’s astir what buyer’s chopped retired to extremity up with that key.

“It is precise peculiar selling a town,” she said. “This is simply a story. This is America’s history, and I privation to portion profoundly portion I’ve got this small play of time. I get to beryllium portion of the story.”