| We found cheap houses for sale all over the country. | | | | in addition to it's beautiful mountain scenery, a ski |
| My wife Ana and I were on a seven-week drive | | | | resort and a Jack Nicholas golf course. Houses cost |
| around the country. It was a vacation, but we looked | | | | four times as much an hour in any direction, and |
| at houses too, and bought one in a great little town | | | | those prices are bound to reach Anaconda |
| in the mountains of western Montana. It cost | | | | eventually.Cheap Houses You Don't Want To |
| $17,500, and after $2000 to fix it up, we lived there | | | | BuyThere are towns like the one in South Dakota |
| for several months before selling it for $28,000.We | | | | where we stopped for lunch one day. A bulletin |
| loved Anaconda. Where else can you fly fish, go to a | | | | board had ads for cheap houses for sale by |
| three-dollar movie in a beautiful old art-deco theatre | | | | desperate people trying not to be the last to leave |
| (the 5th most beautiful in the country, according to | | | | town. There was a photo of a beautiful old |
| the Smithsonian), drop some nickles in a slot machine, | | | | five-bedroom farmhouse for $11,000. As we ate, we |
| eat at a fine restaurant, stop by the bar for a dollar | | | | looked up the deserted street and noticed that most |
| beer, and buy a house for under $30,000 - all within a | | | | of the buildings were boarded-up. This was a dying |
| four block area! There are good schools and | | | | town, with nothing to help revive it. A free house |
| churches, a library with fast internet service, and | | | | wouldn't be a good enough reason to move |
| wildlife (including bears) a few hundred yards from | | | | here.Cheap House For Sale - Our CriteriaThere are |
| downtown.Why Are There Cheap Houses For | | | | many wonderful towns, from Florida to Oregon, |
| Sale?There are cheap houses in Anaconda, and | | | | where there are cheap houses for sale. After our |
| nearby Butte because there aren't many good jobs. I | | | | Montana experience, we started a website about |
| easily found jobs in Anaconda - but not good ones. | | | | them. What does a town need in order to make our |
| This explains why people left the area in the 80's, | | | | list? The criteria are certainly subjective, but include |
| after the mines and smelters closed.Thirteen percent | | | | at least the following:1. Population of 4,000 to 80,000. |
| of the "housing units" in Anaconda are vacant, | | | | 2. Decent library. |
| according to the 2000 U.S. census. This has driven | | | | 3. Good grocery store. |
| down the home prices dramatically. Since it still has all | | | | 4. Movie theatre. |
| the basic ammenities, is cleaner now, and is slowly | | | | 5. At least six houses for sale under $50,000. |
| recovering, it's a great place to retire to or to move | | | | 6. The town has a good "feel" to it.After much |
| to if you have an internet or other | | | | research, we found a number of towns that met our |
| non-location-based business.A poor local economy is | | | | criteria, including some with homes for under $30,000. |
| the reason you can buy cheap houses in many parts | | | | There really are nice towns out there where you can |
| of the country. These are towns that have seen | | | | find cheap houses for sale.Steve Gillman has invested |
| troubled times, but are often recovering, sometimes | | | | in real estate for years. |
| with good reasons. Anaconda, for example, now has, | | | | |