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Anaconda houses used to be really cheap. Here is what you could buy in 2002 for less than twenty thousand dollars. That's my wife and I and my parents on the porch, by the way.
Our house had two bedrooms, a full partially-finished basement, a large kitchen, hardwood floors, a sun room and a garage with a garage-door opener. The lot was small, as most lots are in the central area of town. That was fine for me - I don't like a large lawn to care for.
Looking back on it, we probably should have offered full price rather than risking losing the home. Fortunately for us, with 17% of the homes in the county empty, the bank felt they had to get rid of it at any price. We did end up fixing the bathroom up and repairing the heater. We lived there for a few months and sold the home for a small profit.
Anaconda houses have gone up in price of course. A lot, in fact. But even a doubling or tripling of prices leaves them more affordable than in many areas. When we traveled to the area in August of 2007, this was the best deal we found at the time:
This had three bedrooms, and to be honest, there aren't many left under $100,000 that have three bedrooms. One local who was renting and looking to buy told us that there was nothing decent for less than $150,000 - even with two bedrooms. This was an exaggeration, we found.
The west side is the nicer area of town as far as my wife is concerned, but I liked the east side because of the proximity to the stores, casinos and library (and the bars). Most people seem to agree with my wife, however, since homes on the west side are noticeably more expensive. The home shopper we talked to may be right about that $150,000 cost for nice west side homes. All the best deals we saw were an the east side.
See the page Anaconda Montana for general information on the town.