BUY A TOWN: Two of the houses in the village of Otira that is for sale, pictured in 2010.

As real estate listings go, it's one of the more unusual ones.

The tiny West Coast town of Otira is up for sale. Again.

Owners Bill and Christine Hennah bought the township in 1998 but the couple, now in their 60s, no longer have the energy to run the hotel while maintaining the building and the township.

The village was first put up for sale in 2010 but "nobody ever gave us an offer", Christine Hennah said.

She estimated the township - that includes 18 houses, a hall, the hotel and the fire station - was worth $1 million.

Price is by negotiation. The listed rateable value is $750,000.

Hennah and her husband intended to stay in the town and had bought the former school.

"We've been living at the school for a while now and it's OK but I'd like to get rid of the blackboards and maybe build some more walls."

Bill suffered a heart attack last year and high winds and storms had "caused us serious work this year", she said.

Two of the township's houses were uninhabitable and would need a lot of work to bring them up to scratch.

"But it's definitely a good opportunity for someone," she said.

"You could use the hotel as a hotel or you could have it as a pub and use the bedrooms for a large family."

The Otira Hotel, originally a Cobb & Co coach stop, has been on the same site since the 1860s.

The town has long been a base for railway and road workers, but many of the houses, dating back to the 1920s, have been moved to new locations on the West Coast. The town has a population of about 40.