Town for Sale (Time for Facepunch to pool our money)
185 replies, posted
[url]http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/07/27/why-buy-a-house-when-you-can-own-a-town/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl10|sec1_lnk3|81958[/url]
[quote]It's a near-deserted town steeped in Wild West tradition, with two jails and a saloon of gun-slinging lore to show for it. And you can stake your claim for $800,000.
That's how much it costs to buy all of [URL="http://buyscenicsd.com/"]Scenic[/URL] (pictured above), a historic railroad town of nine residents located in the heart of South Dakota's legendary Badlands. The price is a far cry from its previous ask of $3 million -- a discount prompted by current owner Twila Merril's need to leave town for cancer treatment, according to her daughter, LeeAnn Keester.
For the money, you get a functioning gas station, convenience store, saloon, trading post and residence, along with a historic jail and 46 acres. The purchase price doesn't include full rights to the fire department and a few lots owned by long-time residents.
The chance to buy a whole town might strike you as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But as it turns out, entire towns hit the market more often than you might think. Just last year we wrote about Maddie and Neal Love, [URL="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/06/entire-washington-town-bought-for-360k/"]who bought Wauconda, Wash.[/URL] (pictured below) on eBay, having fallen in love with the place when they drove by it on their Harleys years before.
Usually located in remote areas, some for-sale towns, like Scenic, are sparsely populated residential communities. Others are tourist spots that leverage their rich heritages to attract visitors and lack any permanent residents beyond the operators of their museums. Most towns put on the market are unincorporated, meaning that they have no local government or public services besides lone post offices that lease land from town owners.
Take Garryowen, Mont., for an example. The town is the site of Gen. George Armstrong Custer's infamous – and ill-advised – attack in 1876 on a Sioux village, which resulted in his forces' annihilation.
On the market for $6.9 million (down from $7.4), [URL="http://town4sale.com/realestate.html"]Garryowen[/URL] (pictured at left and below) attracts 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a year, drawn by the spot's history, according to Chris Kortlander, the town's unofficial mayor (the town is unincorporated) and current owner.
He bought the property in 1994, when it contained only a rundown post office and uncared-for tomb.
Today, in addition to the P.O., it has an 18,000-square-foot museum complex which includes a convenience store and guest quarters.
Kortlander said that he has taken the town "as far as I can with the resources that I have" and is now seeking a buyer keen on further developing the museum. He hopes to find a philanthropist who will pay particular attention to displaying an assemblage of Custer family documents currently held there.
Sometimes buying a moribund town can have unintended consequences. Take the case of [URL="http://www.braselton.net/"]Braselton, Ga[/URL].
In 1989, actress Kim Basinger bought much of the town from the Braselton family for $20 million. The actress, who appeared in "Never Say Never Again" and "Batman," didn't technically own the whole town, but according to town manager Jennifer Dees, "she probably owned everything anybody ever thought of as Braselton."
Basinger planned to convert the town into a tourist hot spot and movie-set haven, but the actress went bankrupt, leading to the purchase of the town by developer Wayne Mason, who sold off parcels that were later developed, luring more residents and leading to a revival of sorts.
As for Scenic, its future remains uncertain.
The current owner just wants the town to escape the fate of some of its historical peers: becoming a ghost town.
"If I don't sell it, and it [the town's establishments] don't open, it's done," Keester said.[/quote]
I vote Hezzy for sheriff.
can we do kinky things with the jails
If every member chipped in around $8 we could do it. With active It'd be around 20.
Alright Facepunch, time to create our bizarre Communist utopia we've all dreamed about.
[QUOTE=Sir Colton;31402160]If every member chipped in around $8 we could do it. With active It'd be around 20.[/QUOTE]
OK guys just send the money to me. I promise I'll buy the town.
Okay, I have a plan:
Tell Garry,
Buy lots of titles without paying the mods,
Bitch at him when he refuses to buy the town,
Bitch some more,
Bitch at eachother,
Bitch at me,
Garry buys the town and we all begin our own country.
lol what if we all actually did this...lol.
Okay, I have a plan:
Tell Garry,
Buy lots of titles [SUB]without paying the mods,[/SUB]
Bitch at him when he refuses to buy the town,
Bitch some more,
Bitch at eachother,
Bitch at me,
Garry buys the town and we all begin our own country.
Damnit I am getting tired of this happening.
Go google pictures of the "town". Most of the buildings are only good for scrap, it'd be cheaper to buy a plot of land and build anew.
That being said, we should pool our money, buy a plot of land and start anew.
If I had a billion dollars, I would buy this, make a bunch of crazy wild west videos.
I WILL MOVE TO SOUTH DAKOTA IF YOU DO THIS
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY
My friends, it is time to begin our lives anew in [B]Facepunchia[/B].
I see a problem with this, there aren't enough females to create a stable population.
I'll throw in 20 bucks. Dibs on a house in Main Street.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;31402155]can we do kinky things with the jails[/QUOTE]
We can take over the town like in House of Wax and abduct anyone who passes through. Then dress them up in funny clothes and hats and take pictures of them to post here and elsewhere on the Internet.
We shall call it... Facepunchopolis. And there shall be much rejoicing from the townsfolk.
Facepunchopolis, STRIKE THE EARTH!
[editline]29 July 2011[/editline]
I'll chip in $50.
I'll throw in 20 bucks too, as long as I get to make a bar out of one of the houses.
Yes I've always wanted to be a cowboy so badly.
[QUOTE=shatteredwindow;31402861]Yes I've always wanted to be a cowboy so badly.[/QUOTE]
I am a cowboy.
Livin the dream.
If I pitch in $20, I want to have a statue of me built in the town square.
Out of solid gold.
Facpunchers let's do this.
As good as the idea sounds, I can't imagine a town ran by Facepunchers to be anything close to normal.
No furries.
No MLP fanboys.
No 10 year olds.
Its like a paradise.
Until you get there and everyone that shows up is a 300 pound virgin.
The city's major export can be sweat and garrysmod addons.
We need a way for members to pledge the money, then we can see if its worth going for it. We can do it.
Who's going to be the police? Mr Gestapo? Hezzy? Also, the elder can be that old mod who said something about living in a sea of piss
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;31403432]Who's going to be the police? Mr Gestapo? Hezzy? Also, the elder can be that old mod who said something about living in a sea of piss[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't trust any Facepuncher to be a cop.
Let's just form a brute squad.
Can I be the town drunk?
Oh America, how far you have fallen.
Buy an American town for the cost of ten standard Australian houses.
[QUOTE=Contag;31403809]Oh America, how far you have fallen.
Buy an American town for the cost of ten standard Australian houses.[/QUOTE]
A house in Australia only costs $80,000?
[QUOTE=jaredop;31403884]A house in Australia only costs $80,000?[/QUOTE]
It costs $800,000 to make a bid, and it's going for about
[quote]On the market for $6.9 million [/quote]
[editline]29th July 2011[/editline]
Wait, maybe I'm wrong. Badly written article.
[quote]The price is a far cry from its previous ask of $3 million[/quote]
So a town for the price of one reasonable Australian house.
[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;31403164]No furries.
No MLP fanboys.
[B][I][U]No 10 year olds.[/U][/I][/B]
Its like a paradise.
Until you get there and everyone that shows up is a 300 pound virgin.
The city's major export can be sweat and garrysmod addons.[/QUOTE]
D:
I vote we buy the town, inherit the ideas of Communism, and become isolationists :v:
[editline]29th July 2011[/editline]
I'll set up the paypal account
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