from Hacker News

Want to buy a West Texas ghost town? Now’s your chance

by lode on 5/26/23, 12:44 PM with 66 comments

  • by mikeshafer on 5/26/23, 7:28 PM

    I just came from Lobo a few days ago, checking it out. The owner is very nice and very German, the land has plenty of electricity and now a working well + pump, but if you wanted to actually build anything here, it's going to be a massive amount of work. There are also lots of bees to avoid!

    The biggest issue for me, other than the massive amount of work and capital required to build something here, is that you are RIGHT on the highway. It's not a freeway, but there is enough traffic on that Big Bend route to Marfa that every minute or two during the day, you'll have some truck hauling it at 75mph past you.

    I think you could demo most of the land and turn it into some fun outdoor concert venue with food trucks and bathrooms, but you won't be able to draw more than 100-200 people max because you would have to eat up so much of the land for parking.

    I really can't think of any killer use case for Lobo, which is unfortunate because it's actually quite gorgeous there. You can see the mountainous border with Mexico in the distance and I'm sure it's stunningly beautiful at night.

  • by slillibri on 5/26/23, 6:44 PM

    There is an entire YouTube channel about someone who bought a ghost town in California (Cerro Gordo) - https://www.youtube.com/@GhostTownLiving. Pretty interesting stuff.
  • by grumple on 5/26/23, 7:16 PM

    This seems like a terrible idea for anyone.

    I own a decently sized house in a major city. It's about 100 years old but in above average condition. It still requires considerable time and maintenence. Fortunately I have water, gas, electric hookups from the city. They pick up the trash and maintain the roads too (not well, but they do it).

    Now imagine you have to do all your regular maintenence, but on 30 buildings. And there are no contractors willing to come out. And the nearest hardware store is 100 miles away. That sounds like several full time jobs. Now let's make it worse. You also need to manage the electricity, water, gas, trash, road maintenence, and anything else that comes up. Awful. Another couple of full time jobs. Only all these jobs you now have produce no income.

    Want a place to throw weird parties? Get a field somewhere with water and electricity and build a small structure for bathrooms and storage. Don't plague yourself with endless maintenence of ancient buildings.

  • by adamredwoods on 5/26/23, 6:15 PM

    It needs so much work that you are better off buying land and building your own ghost town.
  • by keiferski on 5/26/23, 5:48 PM

    Site made by the sellers: https://property.lobo-texas.com/forsale/doku.php/start

    It's only about 50 miles north of Marfa, which has a lot of art world stuff going on.

  • by chasd00 on 5/26/23, 7:24 PM

    I've been there, my wife and I have a real affinity for that region of Texas. We were married in Marathon and make the trip out there from Dallas a few times a year. Sometimes Marfa sometimes Marathon sometimes Alpine etc.

    It's definitely a unique area, the people who live there either have lived there for generations or live there because they don't want to be found (for various reasons). Marfa gets especially strange because it's full of rich people, artists, and grad students but also literal cowboys and bandits.

  • by sklarsa on 5/26/23, 5:54 PM

    This is literally the plot of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre... no thanks.
  • by jdwithit on 5/26/23, 6:35 PM

    I know it's a different company, but after SpaceX's most recent launch spewed debris 10+ miles, I wouldn't be thrilled about being in close proximity to a Blue Origin launch site.
  • by koolba on 5/26/23, 6:23 PM

    If I buy this can I issue my own tax free municipal bonds?
  • by friend_and_foe on 5/26/23, 11:20 PM

    It's great to see someone selling with some consideration of the intentions of the purchaser rather than just to the highest bidder, there's not enough of that going on in America. I know it's not exactly prime real estate, but still.
  • by jmspring on 5/26/23, 8:12 PM

    Seneca, a ghost town originating in the gold rush, was for sale a decade or so ago here in Plumas County - https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-northern-califo...

    That said, I haven't been in awhile and I hear it was impacted by the recent fires.

  • by beautifulfreak on 5/26/23, 10:05 PM

    DailyMail says the asking price is $100,000. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081261/West-Texas...
  • by qwertox on 5/26/23, 8:34 PM

  • by zdms on 5/26/23, 8:48 PM

    I'm going to be driving through that area on Memorial Day weekend. The article mentions there is going to be an event - anyone know what time/day that's going to happen?
  • by BeetleB on 5/26/23, 10:55 PM

    > Lobo, Texas, has gone through more transformations than Madonna.

    If there is a museum of bad writing, this belongs there.

  • by expertentipp on 5/26/23, 9:47 PM

    Cunning marketing! Ain't no one buying a piece of desert though.
  • by Rebelgecko on 5/26/23, 10:24 PM

    It'd be convenient for launching expeditions to the clock
  • by wolverine876 on 5/26/23, 8:42 PM

    Musk is selling already?
  • by 0zemp2c on 5/26/23, 6:07 PM

    that general region has lots of land for sale and its CHEAP

    there is at least one county out there that doesn't have ANY building codes...you can build whatever you want

    forewarned, it is expensive to get anything done in the middle of nowhere