Montana Current Market and Challenges:
Perhaps it would be wise for a little background on our motivation for moving before I begin this. I will also be using generalities throughout. YMMV
The last straw that motivated this search was our state and local school system. The amount of horror I witnessed over the last year was life changing for us. The home schooling via the districts remote online school was an opportunity to observe first hand to what is actually taking place in our schools. Actually, it goes back before this but that is another story.
The criteria for us are:
1.A solid school system. We used the ratings from a few sites to gather this information.
2. The number of stores along with the sizes to offer choices for our family to choose.
3. Topography of the area.
4. Layout of the town/city
5. Recreational activates
6. Internet connectivity
City Overviews
I’ll start this section to say that we visited Helena on a previous trip. On this trip we made the Kalispell are base camp for our outings.
Helena- See the previous post in this thread. I’ll add that most internet options in this area is provided via cellular from the local towers throughout the area. There are other options there but cellular is the most prevalent that would meet our needs. The housing market there seems more normal compared to the areas below.
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Flathead Valley Region-
The Flathead Valley lies between two mountain ranges in the Rockies. The terrain is flat in the valley with many trees and greenery. The mountain terrain is generally steeper than other areas we have been to. The opportunity to hike and drive forestry roads are nearly endless. The same can be said for any winter activities. Deer and turkeys were the prevalent wildlife we saw this area. We did see a small number of elk on our trip but the overall terrain would suggest this is not the ideal area for them. Any city you choose in this general area will require.....Drastic measures in order to purchase a home. Storage is none existing. Rentals are none existing. Housing we will says is none existing*. “In order to be competitive in this market you will be required to do one of two things.”
1.Sell your existing home and...
1a. Live with friends/family and travel to this area to visit homes while hoping it is still there when you arrive.
1b. You could live in a camper around the area in which you are looking. ( We meet someone doing this.) This would speed up the process of you actually getting to the home you are interested in viewing. (It may sell before you get there. It happened to us.)
1.c You could do the video walkthrough option but that is almost like buying it sight unseen. Realtors hate this option but it seems some people actually do this. (We meet a couple that went this route.)
2. Be able to pay cash outright. This is the preferred method. There is no appraisal so...Buyer beware! (An insane thought to me.)
Side notes:
If you are going to finance use a local bank. The local bank uses local appraisers. This may help the appraisal process. National lenders may have someone outside the area come in to appraise it. They would be less familiar with the local markets. If you think you are going to make a contingent offer you will be laughed at. It flat out will not be accepted. We had multiple standing offers for our home above listed price and it still put us at a disadvantage. Expect to put a large amount of earnest money down. 2%-3% isn't going to cut it.
If by some miracle you do finance and get your offer accepted brace yourself. It is doubtful it will meet appraisal and you will be expected to pay the difference out of pocket. OH, another little bonus, loan limits! For a conventional conforming the loan limit for that area is about $548,000. Anything above that and expect a min of 25% down and a higher interest rate.
Kalispell- This is the “major city” in this area. I actually didn’t mind the Kalispell area. The city offers us the store choices for our needs. It seemed to have most of what we would ever want. It seemed to be a normal city. It offered above average schoo l choices. If we chose to live here it would have to be on the very outskirts. It offers access to an international airport. It is a smaller airport with a surprising amount of air traffic. Nothing weird or out of the ordinary to report here. Seemed and looked somewhat conservative
Whitefish- This is a very nice-looking city. Many small shops and nice neighborhoods. Very clean in the areas we were visited. A very touristy feel about it as well. It seems like it would be quiet in the off season, if there is one. You would most likely go to Kalispell for your shopping needs. A spectacular dog park in this city, which we visited it numerous times. (a good place to gather intel) The area offers a really nice ski area. This is the area that is turning into the next Vail, Colorado. It is the playground for the rich and the home prices reflect it. The poos drive Land Rovers, BMW and Mercedes. It's not the place for us. A liberal hub which came equipped with its own one person raging lib sign in hand on the street corner.
Surrounding cities/suburbs-
Columbia Falls- more of an urban vibe to it. Nice in the outskirts
Lakeside, Somers, Big Fork- All lakeside towns each with their own vibe and character. Some more touristy of a feel than others. We would probably land somewhere in here.
The southern portion of the valley is an Indian Reservation. Polson, Ronan, Charlo etc.
Big trip 1
From Kalispell-Eureka-Libby through the Cabinet Mts and back.
Awesome drive to the small border town of Eureka. Eureka is what I would think a typical border town would be. I would not meet our needs but it was an awesome drive. We stopped along the lake by Rexford to let the dogs run some and stretch our legs. It was a camp site with some overgrown grass. There was no one there and it was very relaxing. We spent about an hour the letting the kids and dogs run around. Definitely a place I would boondock. Libby I can remember much about so I’ll assume average small town that is larger than Eureka. 4 national forests on that trip if I recall.
Big trip 2, The Last Ditch Effort
Kalispell-Big Fork-Polson-Ravalli-Shithole-Stevensville-Hamalton
Let's start “ No Go” zones for us. Southern flathead lake to the southern county line of Missoula County. I’ll just let it be at that.
Stevensville- It was ok but not what we are looking for. It has too much of a hustle and bustle feel to it. IE too close to shit central
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Hamilton- A return to a normal feel. A bigger small town. It felt like a scaled down version of Helena minus the oddness one could find there. And less stores of course. Terrain was similar to Helna in our views. We could make it work but was not the wife's first choice.
Probably more than what you were looking for but you asked a very broad question. I am sure I left a lot out but that covers much of the relevant information.