All across the nation, there are places where historic old buildings have been sitting peacefully for a century or more. Unfortunately, progress marches on, and the government wants to either demolish these buildings or uproot them from their original land. Historic societies race to the rescue, to get a stay of execution.

The result is that they save the building for a short time, but only if they can sell it and get it moved to another location. If you want to buy a historic building for a dollar, you will need the help of special moving services. Here is how it works:

Provide a Moving Plan and Pay the Dollar

Before you can buy a historic home for a dollar, you have to hire the moving company and provide a moving plan to the city/county in which the house currently resides. Most of the time, you are free to move the house, in its entirety, to any location you own and choose. At other times, the city/county and/or the historical society request that the property remain within the same county lines for historical reasons. Be sure to check before you file your plan and pay the dollar.

Request, Pay for, and Reserve Several Flat Bed Moving Trucks

To move an entire historic home, you have to figure out if you can move it in two or three large pieces, or if you have to move it as one large object. A historian can tell you whether or not certain sections of the home can be restored if you "unzip" the house at a couple of key seams, or if the structure of the home will not allow dismantling.

Either way, you will have to reserve several flatbed moving trucks to help move the house. Air jacks will lift the house up off its century-old foundation, and onto the backs of the trucks. Then the trucks will need to carefully and slowly move the distance over the ground until the new location for the house is reached. Then begins the slow, tedious process of placing the house over a new foundation and reconnecting all of the plumbing and electrical work in the house (if applicable).

What You Can Expect from These Special Moving Services

You can expect to pay the moving company the standard daily rate for every truck you rented, plus all gas to keep the trucks running and moving together at a snail's pace. There is also the rate of pay for moving oversized items, and possibly some freight charges as well. In order to protect the integrity of the old home's structure, this moving project could take one to three weeks, depending on how far away the new plot is for the house. Additionally, the air jacks and construction contractors will round out your costs to above a couple hundred thousand, but you will own a piece of history.