Ok...Time to buy! Now what? (Hayden, Sandpoint: real estate, for rent, insurance)

[esselcue]

Whoot-whoot...my house here in Arizona is in escrow and it looks like a move is imminant so my search for a home somewhere near CdA (20 mile radius) is coming up very soon. I am wondering what some of the things may be that I need to keep in mind while looking for a home...such as: cheapest way to heat? Electric? Propane? Gas?

Are there insurance benefits to buying a home with a metal roof?

Cost of fire wood for wood stove vs cost of pellets for a pellet stove?

Benefits or problems associated with living in County as opposed to city limits?

Just not real sure what to strive for. All I know is that I want big trees, I have no clue what to be looking for otherwise. Yes, I have spoken with a realtor up there but I am hoping for some help from non-biased sources.

[Fisherman 100]

Congrats. Long time coming and you deserve it. County will be cheaper tax wise. Firewood is probably the cheapest. That is what all my neighbors use in conjunction with propane. I use a propane gas type flame stove along with my central heat which is propane. I turn everything on in the morning and get the house to 67 degrees, then turn the central off and let the living room stove keep it at that temperature. I prefer propane because I am lazy and don't want to go get wood.

My brother in law had a pellet stove and did not like it. He changed over to fire wood. If you need a good honest realtor based out of Sandpoint let me know. She is great. I cannot help you with the metal roof question, but do know they are more expensive than comp types. I don't see a lot of them in Sagle, however they are used extensively at Schweitzer.

Best of luck.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Esselcue,
I also have a super realtor if you should need one--who knows, maybe she's the same one Fisherman knows!
This is so exciting--but also daunting, of course. So many choices! Are you checking the available properties online? Just ask yourself the usual Qs: How far from a major supermarket do you want to be? How far from a small grocery store? How far from a paved road? Do you want a view? Mountain view? Water view? Or just the trees? If I were in your snowboots (which you'll want to buy) I'd set up an appointment with a realtor, get a list together of 20 of your favorite online properties, and then fly up to Spokane, rent a car (with snow tires, I guess!) and drive over to CdA for a long weekend right after New Year's, and check out as many properties as you can handle and the weather allows. It's amazing how some of the online prospects just weed themselves out immediately, and you get a clear idea of what's important to you.

If you can't take a quick trip and check out properties, I suggest renting a place in CdA until the spring, and do your property search while in CdA. That may be the best way to do it, anyway. You won't have made any rush decisions, and you'll be able to drive around at your leisure and check out all the possibilities.

Best of luck!

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

esselcue, the good part of a metal roof is that it sheds snow well. The bad part is that it sheds snow well. We had one on our old house, most winters the snow slid off and we didn't have issues with buildup. On the other hand, when a layer starts sliding it gets noisy, and a big pile of snow can do damage when it comes off. Also, metal roofs don't collect pine needles like composite shingles. Overall, I'd say the benefit outweights the cons, wish I'd done metal on our current house. I don't know how the insurance works out.

With regard to wood stoves vs. pellet. Pellet is more convenient, you can leave home and they are self feeding. They are also cleaner, hauling firewood and cleaning out a wood stove is a little messy. But, a wood stove is cheaper to operate, if you have a wood supply. Plus, I like the looks, and lack of noise associated with a wood fire. If you buy one, take a look at the soapstone stoves, we have a Hearthstone Mansfield and really like it.

With regard to wood supply, are you on acreage where you can cut your own? If you go to the national forests to collect wood (which we did for several years at our last house) the fuel to run back and forth can be considerable. Plus, more people are burning wood, so nice, easy wood is picked up pretty quickly. Firewood prices have jumped considerably in the last 2-3 years, Doug Fir and Tam seem to be going for $175-200 a cord now, just a few years ago it was $100. If you have to buy, I'd look seriously at pellets.

As far as conventional heat sources, I think natural gas is by far the cheapest, with elec and propane about the same now.

How much land do you want? City properties will be smaller and more crowded (in general) and higher taxed, but perhaps more convenient.

CFF has excellent advice on house shopping. There is a lot to be said for renting for a year or so and getting to know the area.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by esselcue

Whoot-whoot...my house here in Arizona is in escrow and it looks like a move is imminant so my search for a home somewhere near CdA (20 mile radius) is coming up very soon. I am wondering what some of the things may be that I need to keep in mind while looking for a home...such as: cheapest way to heat? Electric? Propane? Gas?

Are there insurance benefits to buying a home with a metal roof?

Cost of fire wood for wood stove vs cost of pellets for a pellet stove?

Benefits or problems associated with living in County as opposed to city limits?

Just not real sure what to strive for. All I know is that I want big trees, I have no clue what to be looking for otherwise. Yes, I have spoken with a realtor up there but I am hoping for some help from non-biased sources.

Cheapest way to heat is to cut your own wood and only use propane or electric for auxiliary heat. But as you've heard, it's a PITA and a tradeoff in your time. We have a friend who comes to our place and cuts wood on or acreage. I think he spends more time than it would cost him working at his job to cut/split several cords of wood each season.

Metal roofing is nice for snow. But if you do a high snow load when you build, it's not really a big deal. Remember that dry fluffy snow is about 25:1, average snow is about 10:1 or 12:1, and really wet snow or icy stuff is 3:1 or 4:1. Your roof snow load is psf (pounds per square foot). 65 is common. 80+ is better (I think we built to 85psf) and we know some folks did over 100psf in their roofing. So let's say we get a big storm, and you have 3' of snow. Say the sun comes out and compacts it to 2' of wet heavy stuff, so we'll go with 3:1 to be very safe. A cubic foot of snow is 7.5 gallons in volume. At 8lbs/gallon then, a cubic foot of water is 60 pounds. At 3:1 ratio, that's 20lbs per cubic foot of wet snow. So if you shovel wet snow that's 2' deep, you're lifting 40lbs at the end of a stick using your lower back muscles. That's why it sucks and feels like 100 lbs. But realistically your roof snow will average around 5:1 or 8:1 (some stuff being wet/dense and other stuff being lighter). So say we take 6:1 to be safe/average, you're at about 10lbs per cubic foot, or 20 lbs per 2' depth on your roof. That means most roofs are safe to 3' depth, and many are safe to 4' depths. Even in winter '07-'08 my roof (10:12 pitch) never got deeper than 3'), but my hay shed roof (3:12 pitch) got to about 4' deep (but we way overbuilt the roof).
* Any math whizzes...please adjust/correct my numbers above...

Point is, if you build strong and steep, you can do composite. A manufactured home with 40lb snow roof would worry me...although in reality it could still handle 18-24" of wet heavy stuff per the rating.

I would absolutely live in the county area. My property taxes would be double if I lived in Sandpoint versus uninc. Bonner County. While there are some amenities, most of a city's money is squandered IMO.

If I wanted to be close enough to CDA/Hayden but not right in town, I'd look up around Hayden Lake (not right at the lake since it gets $$$ but sort of in that area), down by Cougar Gulch area south of town on 95, or up in the Rathdrum hilly area. Once you get up 95 toward Garwood, it starts getting flat/dry through Athol and surrounds.

[esselcue]

Thanks everyone SO much! I have had both pellet and wood stoves and in spite of the mess I prefer wood for heating BUT I am 63 years old now and while I am healthy and very active I no longer want to cut and split my own so I would have to buy it. Pellets, however, are expensive in my opinion and cost to be delivered...so it may be a toss-up. I guess I was mainly wondering if gas was cheaper to heat and it appears to be.

With luck I will have a few weeks to find and buy my new place...I will fly up to Idaho and start my search as soon as my contract here is 100%. I have done a LOT of on-line searching and have some 'maybes" but it's hard to determine unless seen in person so...adventure awaits.

Unlike many people, I am not tied down to a certain area...I am retired and have no need to be close to work or even shopping, within reason. Hence, I am looking at property from Priest River to Plummer to Sandpoint/Sagle and all areas in between. My perfect home has gotta be out there somewhere!

[Trace_Rinaldi]

So freakin cool!! Congrats Ess! ANYWHERE in that area of operation will be incredible... I just went back to Kali for a quick loose ends trip, and COULD NOT WAIT to get back.. Now that I'm home all is well in the world again.. If ya get down to looking in my direction I can give some on the ground feedback and even some pics if need be... Hope everything goes smooth at butter!

[Sandpointian]

Visits to the Bay Area have been increasingly dissatisfying. I guess I will always see it in terms of the 1970s and my youth--simpler times.

The topography and weather remain attractive but increasingly hidden by a tired culture and one increasingly non-communitarian and self-absorbed, something that was probably there all along.

It is always nice returning home to NID.

S.

[Shaner]

Congrads! Selling a home in AZ is hard right now, I have 8 clients that are in the same boat! Everything said above on the roof and heating is right on, so no reason to revisit it. The only thing I will touch on is anywhere you live in Kootenai County, you get a home owners exemption for it being your primary home, which equivocates to 50% off your tax bill. So whether your in hayden, rathdrum or cda, you will have very low tax bill. Mine on my $165,000 is $702 a year.

If you want to look @ some property, shoot me a pm with your email and I can send some stuff down to you, or if you have any real estate questions, I am here for you! Your going to love it up here.

[esselcue]

Thanks, I know I will love it. Already do, as I have friends in the area so I am pretty well familiar. It looks like I'll be moving the 1st week of March now...worries me with the weather and roads but we'll get 'er done. Probably fly up there to search and buy about the 1st of January...I am feeling some anxiety, as I've been in this house for 24 years!!!