Any info on Kalispell Montana? (Havre, Lakeside: real estate, rental, insurance)

[Gabby]

I'm thinking of moving to Kalispell in the fall, maybe last week of Sept. I looked at their newpaper online and there seems to be a lot classfied ads for jobs. Does anyone know if this is the real thing or not? Also, what are the rents like? I know they also get snow in the winter and I am wondering if anyone knows when the snow starts to fall and are the roads passable?

Thanks,

Gabby

[MTer]

Originally Posted by Gabby

I'm thinking of moving to Kalispell in the fall, maybe last week of Sept. I looked at their newpaper online and there seems to be a lot classfied ads for jobs. Does anyone know if this is the real thing or not? Also, what are the rents like? I know they also get snow in the winter and I am wondering if anyone knows when the snow starts to fall and are the roads passable?

Thanks,

Gabby

Kalispell and the entire Flathead region is one of the pricier and rapidly growing areas of Montana, so you'll pay to live there. The online newspaper you found probably has want ads--check those ads for rental information.

Kalispell is also in one of the colder regions of Montana, so snow probably starts fairly earlier. Explore www.weather.com for Kalispell and you can find averages for each month, and for each day in the month, and other information that may help you decide about the cold.

When you ask about passable roads, it depends which roads. Roads in cities and towns get plowed. Interstates do as well. However, interstate (and other) passes do sometimes close in winter due to snow and ice.

[tidmode]

Hi Gabby,

I live in Kalispell.

Rents in Kalispell are pretty high compared to avg wages. You can easily pay $850 for a two bedroom house, and you can hardly find any jobs that pay better than $10 per hour. Lots of jobs pay $7. Lots of rich people from out of state have bought property here in recent years. So property values are really inflated compared to wages. We all wish they would go back to California.

Kalispell is not cold in the winter, the temp hovers around 30. The Flathead is overcast much of the winter, and the ground in Kalispell is mostly bare in the winter. It is dreary.

The closer you get to the mountains at the north end of the Flathead, the more snow on the ground you get. I used to live north of Columbia falls and the snow at my place was always over knee deep. Snow can start in Nov, and like I said, it usually blows away in Kalispell, so the ground is frozen, bare and brown. Snow at my place N of C Falls lasted until Apr.

Roads are almost always passable. The worst time is in the spring when we get slushy snowfalls. But, they melt later in the day...

MTer doesn't live in MT I will warrant. West Yellowstone is cold. Havre is cold. Kalispell...pffft.

[Gabby]

Hi Tidmode,

Thanks for the information. I am still in the deciding where to move next mode. I guess rents are pretty high all over most of the west, I think. I live in Southern AZ and the rents aren't too bad unless you live in a highly desirable retirement area.. of course of you go to Flagstaff they are pretty high.

Flagstaff sounds a lot like the Kalispell area, but I think I would like to live in Montana for a change as I am tired of the (hot weather we have here in Southern AZ). By the way.. how hot are the summers in Kalispell and do you have a lot of humidity?

Gabby

[tidmode]

June in the Flathead is rainy. Then July and Aug are nice. Temps hover in the 80's. Rarely do we ever get over 100 in the Flathead. Other parts of MT are hotter. Usually we get a nice Sept, too, with cool blue skies and crisp nights (30's and 40's).

In fact, it gets cool every night in Montana. Even in July the nighttime temps can get down in the 40's.

Humidity is not very bad.

We had a long, long dry spell this summer after a drought busting winter. In Aug we started to get fires in the area. Forest fires are a problem here. Lots of smoke in the air, so it's uncomfortable to be outside, and too hot to be inside. (Most houses don't have air conditioning).

[rj45]

I recently accepted a job with the phone company as a technician in Kalispell. What I've heard about Kalispell is that the winters are mild for MT. and it's very beautiful country. It is expensive for MT though, I'm looking at houses around $250k. I was also surprised that my auto insurance (Geico) will be increasing by $100 on a 6 month policy as compared to NJ rates.

What type of political views do most have in Kalispell, Liberal or Conservative? I ask because NJ is a Liberal state and I can't wait to be far away from such thinking. How is the hunting opportunities? Are people anti this anti that?

How efficient is electric heat? How much of a savings compared to gas/propane could you expect on an 1800-2000sf home? How is the town of Lakeside, Marion, Somers and Kila? Would you recommend a home on the lake in Big Fork or Lakeside?

Sorry for hijacking your thread Gabby

[MTer]

Originally Posted by tidmode

Hi Gabby,

I live in Kalispell.

...

MTer doesn't live in MT I will warrant. West Yellowstone is cold. Havre is cold. Kalispell...pffft.

Your "warrant" is totally WRONG. I sure do live in MT. In the mountains, at high elevation, accessible only with 4WD and chains at times in winter, and sometimes not even with those.

Anyway, weather is relative. Lots of people have moved from the midwest to MT because much of MT has little humidity, so cold temps don't feel nearly as cold as they do in the humid midwest. Snow is much prettier (anyone who's had to plow or slog through wet midwest snow knows what I'm talking about), and in recent years, generally winters have been quite mild. Oldtimers like to talk about winters 50 years ago or so when tons of snows fell, but that was years ago. Climate change, global warming... This past winter I never had to chain up, though a few years ago I did get snowed in (even with chains and 4WD) for about a week (due to wind drifting a portion of the road I go out on, through ranchland).

Sure, temps fall in MT in winter. Where I am, however, only a few days stay really cold. Often nights will be in the teens or so, but days will rise to above freezing (meaning lots of ice when the thawed snow refreezes).

That said, winter cold tends to arrive earlier than in the midwest (except the far north, e.g., UP Mich., N. WI, N. MN, etc.), and spring arrives later as well.

Also summers in MT are much nicer with the dry heat rather than the sticky humid heat in the midwest (and many areas in the south).

[tidmode]

Originally Posted by rj45

What type of political views do most have in Kalispell, Liberal or Conservative?

Conservative

Originally Posted by rj45

How is the hunting opportunities?

Depends on what you are hunting...elk are hard to get to around here. It's not that you can't get to them on foot, but you have to know where to go, and you have to go a long ways. Deer are plentiful. Some hunting districts will let you have unlimited "B" tags for deer. Ducks are plentiful too. Upland game birds are plentiful too, helps to have a dog to find them in the woods.

Originally Posted by rj45

Are people anti this anti that?

Ummm, anti-land use planning...leading to rampant real estate speculation...
Anti-Californian...

Originally Posted by rj45

How efficient is electric heat? How much of a savings compared to gas/propane could you expect on an 1800-2000sf home?

I don't think electric is efficient at all, is it? I have heated with wood, propane and electric, and Wood is the cheapest way to heat around here. Propane seems to be pretty good, too.

Originally Posted by rj45

How is the town of Lakeside, Marion, Somers and Kila? Would you recommend a home on the lake in Big Fork or Lakeside?

They are all fine little towns. Marion is remote and tiny. Kila is tiny. House on the lake would be great, but I don't think you will find one for 250k anymore.

[Journey]

Originally Posted by rj45

I recently accepted a job with the phone company as a technician in Kalispell. What I've heard about Kalispell is that the winters are mild for MT. and it's very beautiful country. It is expensive for MT though, I'm looking at houses around $250k. I was also surprised that my auto insurance (Geico) will be increasing by $100 on a 6 month policy as compared to NJ rates.

What type of political views do most have in Kalispell, Liberal or Conservative? I ask because NJ is a Liberal state and I can't wait to be far away from such thinking. How is the hunting opportunities? Are people anti this anti that?

How efficient is electric heat? How much of a savings compared to gas/propane could you expect on an 1800-2000sf home? How is the town of Lakeside, Marion, Somers and Kila? Would you recommend a home on the lake in Big Fork or Lakeside?

Sorry for hijacking your thread Gabby

We do have a Democratic Governor.



A home on the Lake? Not for $250K. That is only one of the hundreds of Lakes however, but lake property is spendy.

Marion and Kila might meet your requirements. Bitterroot Lake is nearby.

[MTer]

Originally Posted by Journey

We do have a Democratic Governor.



A home on the Lake? Not for $250K. That is only one of the hundreds of Lakes however, but lake property is spendy.

Marion and Kila might meet your requirements. Bitterroot Lake is nearby.

You forgot to mention that the lieutenant governor is a Republican. So yes, a Democratic governor, but a mixed governor's office politically. We also have a wonderful First Dog, by the way (the governor's border collie who seems to accompany him pretty much everywhere).