Vic country pubs on sale for as little as $75,000

Samantha Landy

First published 15 July 2019, 2:45pm

The Macarthur Hotel is on the market asking $299,000.

Publicans are calling last drinks on watering holes across country Victoria, offering opportunities for entrepreneuring city folk to make tree changes with a twist.

Those tired of the rat race can swap their city jobs for a life behind a bar in the state’s regional and remote areas — often for less than Melbourne’s median house price.

A bluestone pub in Macarthur, 300km west of Melbourne, is being marketed to buyers as “one of Victoria’s oldest hotels” with a $299,000 asking price.

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Aspiring pub owners on even more of a budget can buy the licence to run Stawell’s National Hotel for just $140,000 or the historic Elphinstone Hotel, between Kyneton and Castlemaine, for just $75,000.

Publican Mani Heck at the historic Elphinstone Hotel, which she’s run since 2013. She’s now selling the licence for just $75,000. Picture: Ian Currie

Stawell’s striking National Hotel is also seeking a new owner.

The former, aka “The Nash”, attracts loyal “regulars on a Friday and Saturday night”, but is mostly being eyed by out-of-town buyers, Monaghan’s agent Matt Monaghan says.

Mani Heck has run the Elphinstone since 2013.

She’d moved to the small town, while on a break from her PhD, with her then-partner, who’d worked in IT in Melbourne. Both were new to the pub game when they took over the 1870s-built hotel, which had been closed for two years after being gutted by fire.

“The community missed it so much there was a petition to find out why it wasn’t open,” she says.

Heck and the property’s landlord thoroughly renovated the pub, and it’s now part of the town’s fabric again.

Heck inside the Elphinstone Hotel, with Kerri Anne Schnoor helping out behind the bar. Picture: Ian Currie

She says being the publican in a town with a population of just 555, according to the latest census, has been challenging but rewarding.

“You become an integral part of the community. You have to be prepared to get to know everybody, and have everybody get to know you,” she says.

“We’ve held baby showers, wakes, birthdays, wedding receptions — you name it.”

Heck is selling to move closer to family in Queensland, and reckons the Elphinstone would make a “perfect family business”. It had been that for her — both her children had worked with her in the kitchen and her staff, most of them locals, had become family.

Hutchinson & Co selling agent Blair Hutchinson says whoever bought the Elphinstone will have the chance to run a business in a developing “foodie hub”, but still enjoy “a quieter life”.

In Elaine, the retiring longtime owners of The Railway Hotel, on the Midland Highway, are also selling up for $749,000.

The Railway Hotel at 5280 Midland Highway, Elaine is on the market for $749,000.

Stockdale & Leggo Bannockburn selling agent Dean Wilson says the establishment has benefited from being on the main road between Ballarat and Geelong, but also served a growing crowd of locals.

“There’s no footy club here, so the pub’s the place to meet,” he says.

Buyer’s advocate Cate Bakos says anyone considering sinking money into a country pub needs to research their target area and possible clientele, and be aware adopting the lifestyle is a “real commitment” that could be expensive to back out of.

“If you’re good with people and at running a business, it could be not only lucrative but also make a good sea or tree change,” Bakos says.