For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town • Hacker News Board

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#51

Post by randomdata » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:44 PM UTC

ctdonath wrote: post #22

With the onset of Starlink, I expect such locations could experience a population boom. With urban housing prices skyrocketing (demand exceeding supply = bidding war), many are discovering the only thing they need to live where they actually want to is reliable high-speed low-latency internet. The land is cheap ($150,000 for 321 acres in Ingomar, Montana), the region attractive (drove around there this summer, very n…

While not Montana, I can get gigabit internet service [~10-30ms latency to Google servers] on my farm. I like it here, but I don't see the masses flocking to live here because of the internet service.

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#52

Post by Reedx » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:50 PM UTC

ewhanley wrote: post #15

edf13 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your paying for the business + history

In Montana, you're paying for the liquor license. It's not uncommon to see hole-in-the-wall bars in 2000 person towns go for $1 million. They are quota-ed and similar to the NYC taxi medallion system.

Does that actually recoup? Or are they buying those licenses to use in more populated areas? (curious if they are tied to the town or not)

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#53

Post by ben174 » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:50 PM UTC

ben174 wrote: post #49

Looks like it also comes with a sweet little penthouse: http://www.jerseylillysaloon.com/whiskey-row-penthouse.html

My bad, can't edit the above comment but I seem to have mistaken it for another saloon in Arizona.

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#54

Post by Twixes » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:51 PM UTC

pgrote wrote: post #47

I've always wondered about the data missing in Google Maps. For instance, when you go to Ingomar, MT and look at street view, the car got to the entrance of the town and the data just stops. https://goo.gl/maps/WVTAChPsBUiRjnoX9 Did the camera die? Did the car get a flat? Did someone forget to turn something on?

It was them.

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#55

Post by ben174 » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:51 PM UTC

pgrote wrote: post #47

I've always wondered about the data missing in Google Maps. For instance, when you go to Ingomar, MT and look at street view, the car got to the entrance of the town and the data just stops. https://goo.gl/maps/WVTAChPsBUiRjnoX9 Did the camera die? Did the car get a flat? Did someone forget to turn something on?

Maybe they stopped at the bar and got inebriated and forgot to complete their mission :)

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#56

Post by abruzzi » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:52 PM UTC

ewhanley wrote: post #15

edf13 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your paying for the business + history

In Montana, you're paying for the liquor license. It's not uncommon to see hole-in-the-wall bars in 2000 person towns go for $1 million. They are quota-ed and similar to the NYC taxi medallion system.

New Mexico is similar. Incorporated Towns and Cities as well as Counties can issue beer and wine licenses, a generally issue them frequently and cheaply, but hard liquor is only issues by the state there are limits, and they are transferrable, so the license itself can easily sell for a million depending on the license. Recent sales prices in NM: https://bit.ly/2YyzzWf (PDF)

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#57

Post by mcherm » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 9:54 PM UTC

kempbellt wrote: post #36

CharlesColeman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Spending a quarter million dollars on a four wood walls and a door in a podunk Montana town that is about a 100 mile drive to the nearest town From the OP: > The Jersey Lilly was the town’s first brick building , built in 1914 as the first bank of a very different Ingomar. > The nearest town, Forsyth, is “only” 44 miles away . “That’s really close in Montana, trust me.” If you want to write a dismissive comment, go…

Having lived in Montana for 2 years myself, I don't consider Forsyth a town worth noting. Billings is the closest town that has a decent population, and it's 110 miles away by car. Brick or wood (fixed my original comment for ya), my point was it's a simple building in a tiny "town". It's not worth the money as a business purchase, but would be a pleasure buy. Not sure why my comment needed to be pedantically torn ap…

Because IF you are going to be sarcastically dismissive you ought to at least get the details right.

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#58

Post by MaysonL » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 10:04 PM UTC

MS90 wrote: post #34

Merrill wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all depends on your point of view. I have a nephew who lives outside of Roy, population 108. He grew up in central South Dakota but moved to Montana because South Dakota was getting way too crowded.

Ha! It is crazy how different perspectives can be depending on where you're from. When I moved up to Montana in 2011 they had just broken 1,000,000 population for the first time in the state's history and all the locals were talking about how crazy it was. Meanwhile I also thought it was crazy, because I had just moved from a place where there were a million people within five miles of me. A quick google shows that M…

I wonder how my mother did it: she was a one room school teacher during the Depression and moved to Manhattan for WW II after getting divorced (where she met and married my father).

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#59

Post by mywittyname » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 10:10 PM UTC

floren wrote: post #9

stevehawk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I gotta assume in this case you're more paying for the history.. can't imagine there's as lot of business with 13 residents and nearest city being 45 minutes away.

It sounds like they do fine; only beer in 100 miles is a pretty good business proposition. They also go through 1200 pounds of pinto beans a year, so somebody's buying food there.

That's about 3.5 pounds of beans a day. Which would make maybe 4 or so gallons of soup, that's 512fl oz or 32 16oz portions.

Re: For Sale: The Only Bar in a 14-Person Montana Town

#60

Post by ewhanley » Mon, Dec 09, 2019, 10:10 PM UTC

Reedx wrote: post #52

ewhanley wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Montana, you're paying for the liquor license. It's not uncommon to see hole-in-the-wall bars in 2000 person towns go for $1 million. They are quota-ed and similar to the NYC taxi medallion system.

Does that actually recoup? Or are they buying those licenses to use in more populated areas? (curious if they are tied to the town or not)

If I remember correctly, it depends on when and by what authority they were issued. I think some are specific to a town whereas others extend to the whole county.