We found cheap houses for sale all over the country. My wife Ana and I were on a seven-week drive around the country. It was a vacation, but we looked at houses too, and bought one in a great little town in the mountains of western Montana. It cost $17,500, and after $2000 to fix it up, we lived there for several months before selling it for $28,000.
We loved Anaconda. Where else can you fly fish, go to a three-dollar movie in a beautiful old art-deco theatre (the 5th most beautiful in the country, according to the Smithsonian), drop some nickles in a slot machine, eat at a fine restaurant, stop by the bar for a dollar beer, and buy a house for under $30,000 – all within a four block area! There are good schools and churches, a library with fast internet service, and wildlife (including bears) a few hundred yards from downtown.
Why Are There Cheap Houses For Sale?
There are cheap houses in Anaconda, and nearby Butte because there aren’t many good jobs. I easily found jobs in Anaconda – but not good ones. This explains why people left the area in the 80’s, after the mines and smelters closed.
Thirteen percent of the...