Entire Montana Town on the Edge of Yellowstone Is Listed for $2.6 Million—and It's a Potential Gold Mine for Savvy Investors

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Kevin Costner's John Dutton might have left our screens for good, but the fascination with his rancher lifestyle lives on—particularly in and around Yellowstone, where one deep-pocketed investor is now being given the chance to create a personal land legacy.
On the edge of the storied national park sits the small Montana town of Pray, which has just been put on the market in its entirety, with an asking price of $2.6 million, a sum that would likely be chump change to someone of Dutton's wealth.
In a very telling sign of Yellowstone's soaring popularity, that ask represents a 441% increase from the last sale price of the property ($480,000) in 2018.
To be fair, much has changed since the town of Pray last came on the market—particularly the number of celebrity residents who have flocked to Yellowstone in recent years, snapping up second (or third) homes around the historic park, from Dennis Quaid and John Mayer to Jeff Bridges and Tom Brady.
A-list arrivals in the area, coupled with the extraordinary success of showrunner Taylor Sheridan's Western TV hits like 'Yellowstone,' '1883' and '1923,' have sent prices in Big Sky County skyrocketing—and introduced a whole new group of fans to the area's natural beauty, abundant outdoor activities, and breathtaking scenery.
Adding to Pray's value are some updates made to the town's infrastructure, including the construction of three modern short-term rental cabins and a septic system. In addition, the property owner laid out plans and got approvals to build eight more dwellings.
The savvy seller revealed in the listing information that the property brought in a staggering $300,000 in 2023, with 'a higher projected income' for 2024 and $100,000 in rentals already booked for 2025.
One might wonder why anyone would walk away from such a lucrative business.
But the last Pray purchaser recently moved out of state, forcing the town back on the market.
Pray already has an unrivaled location: It's situated near the Yellowstone River, in the heart of Paradise Valley, and boasts proximity to the national park's only year-round entrance.
Metropolitan comforts like shops, services, dining, and an airport in Bozeman are just 48 minutes away.
Pray also has sweeping views as it's nestled near the foot of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness with a dozen or more mountain peaks over 10,000 feet high.
The town also offers human-made assets as well, some of which need some updating. Chief among them is a functioning U.S. Post Office, which draws traffic to the location and has a government lease, which renews every five years. The original bronze post office boxes add historical charm.
The Old General Store has seen better days, but there's a lot of potential, according to listing agent Michael Rutkowski.
'This used to be the spot where people would come shopping, and they would weigh their babies on the meat scale,' he says.
A new owner could easily revive the store and sell all manner of goods, since the town is one of the last stops before the park entrance. Also, people travel from around the area to use the post office.
Rutkowski is even willing to lease it himself and is dabbling in remodeling it into a multipurpose gathering place, bookstore, and gift shop with coffee service.
The property includes a newly renovated duplex, which is ideal as a long-term rental or staff accommodations.
The town of Pray was founded in 1907 by a man called Valentine Eggar, who named it after Congressman Charles Nelson Pray.
From 1907 to 2018, only one family ran Pray. The last family member to inherit the town was Barbara Tims Walker, who was the town's mayor, rent collector, head maintenance engineer, and chief gardener until she sold it in 2018.
Rutkowski represented Walker in that sale.
With all the high net worth individuals moving to the area and building megamansions, plus the tourist traffic heading to Yellowstone, the town has unlimited potential, Rutkowski says.
'I have laid out a plan which any investor could capitalize on,' he says. 'I have spoken with hundreds of investors about this property, literally, as this listing has officially gone viral.'
He continues, 'This property will require a hands-on, boots-on-the-ground type of effort. We have young folks ready to work, and new machines ready to dig in and build whatever it is the new owners dream of.
'I have been an investor myself, in the Valley since 2018, but my wife and I got our start here in Yellowstone in 2002 as seasonal workers at Lake Hotel.'
The new buyer could well benefit from the state's recent move to cut property taxes for regular homeowners.
For years, rising home prices across Montana have translated into painful property tax hikes for full-time residents. But a simple, across-the-board tax cut would have gutted funding for schools, emergency services, and local infrastructure. That dilemma fueled months of heated debate in Helena, with at least 47 competing tax proposals floated this session alone.
On April 30, lawmakers passed the final two-bill package aimed at resolving that crisis—shifting the tax burden away from primary residences and onto Montana's biggest landholders and absentee owners.
In the end, it was Gov. Greg Gianforte's preferred legislation that prevailed. House Bill 231 and Senate Bill 542 passed in the final hours of the legislative session, delivering long-promised property tax relief.
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