Moving to Montana (Billings, Helena, Kalispell: for sale, real estate, Home Depot)

[sweetcheeks]

Hello.
My husband and I are looking to relocate from PA to MT. I have done some research and everything sounds to good to be true. I had heard in the past, that is takes a while for small town folks to let newcomers in. That is a big fear of mine. My husband has no problem living without many neighbors or not seeing anyone for a week or two. I on the other hand need to see and talk to people about everyother day if not everyday. We also need to be able to get jobs. I know this will be difficult. Please help me out.

[Montanaman1]

Would be happy to help, but need more information. Have you decided on an area? What type of work do you and your hubby do? Do you have children? Do you want to live in a small town, or a larger town? Mountains or flat land?

Montana people are friendly, do not worry about acceptance if you are "regular folk"

Waiting for more info.

Rick

[sweetcheeks]

Rick thank you so much.
I saw some land for sale near Bridger (? mountains or flat). We would like to buy something like 100+ acres. My husband is very outdoorsy, while I like room service and the occasinial camping trip (everyone keeps telling me to watch "Green Acres" on TV Land). I would like to see and be very close to mountains, but I don't need to live in them. I have no trouble driving for work becasue I drive an hour now. I work as a millwork estimator and my hubby works in a warehouse. We can do just about any job. We have no children, so schools are not something we need to worry about. It all depends how small the town is. From living in an area just north of Philadelphia, PA my whole life any town would seem small. As long as there was a corner store and/or diner to eat and talk to my neighbors day to day that could work. Also as long as shopping (mall, Home Depot, Wal-mart) is not to far way (2 hours) I should be OK. I just keep telling myself you can buy anything over the internet.

Amanda

[Montanaman1]

Where do I start. Compared to the Philly Metro area any city in Montana is "Small Town". The Bridger/ Red lodge area is really "small town" with Bridger having a population of probably no more then 1000. Acerage of over 100 will definately isolate you, (I have 20 and you can get lost on it.)

Billings is the closest "large" town, the largest in the state. It would be the place to shop, and should have most anything you want.

Jobs are hard to come by, and the pay will be much less then you are used too. And, you may have to travel some distance to find it.

Don't worry about the people. Montanans are friendly and hospitable for the most part. I have many friends and I'm from the dreded Southern California Area, tho I grew up in small town Illinois.

Suggestions:

Get A Montana Atlas and Gazetteer. (Lots of Information.)
Try to get an issue of a nearby newspaper.
Contact local real estate people.
Get as much info as you can off the internet.

Good Luck.

Rick

Ps. My Property is near Butte and Whitehall.

[MHT]

Originally Posted by Montanaman1

Where do I start. Compared to the Philly Metro area any city in Montana is "Small Town". The Bridger/ Red lodge area is really "small town" with Bridger having a population of probably no more then 1000. Acerage of over 100 will definately isolate you, (I have 20 and you can get lost on it.)

Billings is the closest "large" town, the largest in the state. It would be the place to shop, and should have most anything you want.

Jobs are hard to come by, and the pay will be much less then you are used too. And, you may have to travel some distance to find it.

Don't worry about the people. Montanans are friendly and hospitable for the most part. I have many friends and I'm from the dreded Southern California Area, tho I grew up in small town Illinois.

Suggestions:

Get A Montana Atlas and Gazetteer. (Lots of Information.)
Try to get an issue of a nearby newspaper.
Contact local real estate people.
Get as much info as you can off the internet.

Good Luck.

Rick

Ps. My Property is near Butte and Whitehall.

I have some great friends who live in Whitehall and work in Butte Montanaman1. I agree with you on the jobs and distance. However, 100 acres is not big enough to be very isolated. I live on 27,000 acres 50 miles from town in WY. I don't think that anyone has trouble "fitting in" in Montana.

[snapperblue]

I don't really understand your situation or motivation in moving. I lived in western Montana most of my adult life and there is much to recommend it.

Have you been to Montana? I'd certainly suggest that you travel through, preferably at the season you are most skeptical about (maybe winter!) Factor the weather in when determining a reasonable commuting distance.

What are you planning to do with the 100 acres? (Income? Horses? Just space?)

I'd also hesitate to move there without jobs if you need an income. Montana is great, but, as they say, you can't eat scenery.

[MTer]

Most newspapers have websites. Do a search (google or other search engine) on "Montana newspapers" and you'll probably find many of them. For starters, Helena's is Helena Independent Record, Butte's is .:: The Montana Standard ::., Billing's is BillingsGazette.com ::, Columbia Fall's is The Hungry Horse News Home Page, and so on.

This site will link you to some of them:

Moderator cut: link removed

This site lists even more:

NewsLink | NEWSPAPERS | U.S. | MONTANA

At least scan the front page each day of those areas you're considering, and you'll get lots of information on the areas. Also many if not most include want ads (including real estate, employment) online, so dig deeper into each website and you'll find a lot more information. Also explore city and chamber of commerce websites--find them by websearching, again.

Originally Posted by Montanaman1

...

Suggestions:

Get A Montana Atlas and Gazetteer. (Lots of Information.)
Try to get an issue of a nearby newspaper.
Contact local real estate people.
Get as much info as you can off the internet.

Good Luck.

Rick

Ps. My Property is near Butte and Whitehall.

[NEgal]

Hi! We live in Nebraska right now and are thinking of moving to Montana. I am a teacher and my boyfriend works in masonry. I am wondering about the winters. I am assuming it gets pretty cold since it is farther north and all. I have lived in Nebraska all my life and I still haven't got used to the winters. The beauty in Montana may make up for cold winters. Can anyone tell me about the winters? I have not visited Montana but the Kalispell area looks appealing. I have heard western Montana is beautiful. Any suggestions--beauty but not too cold. I don't know if that is possible considering western Montana is mountainous from what I heard. We are trying to decide Montana or Oregon. Oregon is pretty far... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[JoeJoeMan]

Excuse me, but sometimes I wonder the wisdom of just saying "I want to move to someplace nice". Especially if you are or will be needing work.
Call me old fashion but making a livelyhood should be your first and foremost priority for what should be very obvious reasons.
I've made a couple moves in my life and they were based on jobs, of which I already had before I got there.
If you move and don't find work who is going to take care of you ? Uncle Sam, mommy, daddy ?
If you do just up and go, hoping for the best take enough money to live on for 2 years and to move twice, so you have money to move and live on for a year and then enough money left to move back and live for another year while you re-establish yourself.
Of you could just throw caution to the wind. And spunge off of other people should/when you go broke, it happens everyday, and montana is full of such people, probably more than any other state.
One caviot, if you are young and a vagabond life style suits you.......cheers, have a good adventure.....I jumb a freight or two in my time.

[Phish Head]

We may also move from New York to Montana. Unfortunately, our kids moved out that way, and we are forced to follow- not too happy about it from the photos I've seen. We are looking to move somewhere a lot like it is here- lots of malls, people, and shopping. I'm not a huge fan of the outdoors, but my son likes to go camping twice a year. Are there any areas with Neiman Marcus, or an upscale mall type area? Also, do they service foreign cars up there or just American cars (we both drive Mercedes).

Also, is it possible to still buy a home for under $700k? Are the people educated like they are here in NY or just country folk? We will need to live near a good pizza place and Chinese food! Are there radio stations that play music other than country music? We are both in real estate/ homebuilding- I hear that there is plenty of prime land out there for development, is that true?

Thanks for your input!