Considering Relocating to MT - many questions

[LyndaG]

[quote=historyfan;40057682]About the road no maintenance-
In some counties there are county roads that are not maintained in the winter--likely none are.

The thing with county roads is you as private citizen can not plow them. So snowed shut county roads become accessible by snowmobile only.

One of the properties that we keep looking at has a county road that is maintained, however it also states that the road from there to the land, I believe is anywhere from 2-6 miles of private road that we would need to maintain. That is why I am asking about the 'snowmobile' only travel. If it's just my personal driveway to the county road or is it possible that the county road could be snow packed. It is confusing at times reading what is listed.

So it is important to know if road is county road, private lane, subdivision road or what. The road as described means it will be a summer use only parcel due to deep snow & later on deep mud.

As someone who is unfamiliar and just now researching land like this, the descriptions sometimes have me going, "Huh, what, what is that". LOL With the public land/state land/BML/easements/ and private roads, I have no clue as to what all of them mean or exactly what I'm considering getting myself into.

It is funny that last poster likes Drummond & Clinton. We all like different places. I think of both as undesirable.

I understand that. That is why I'm asking so many questions. As an outsider who has only traveled across 12/90 from MN to WA, I'm unfamiliar with the towns and what options I have.[/quote]

Thank you so much for the great info!

[LyndaG]

Hello!

Originally Posted by wishiniwashere

Hi Lynda, I hope you'll forgive me tossing in my two cents on a topic on which you absolutely did not ask for advice.

Not a problem, any and all info/help is greatly appreciated.

I'm venturing to offer it because I've had a ton of experience over the years buying and selling houses, I was a licensed agent for a time, and a good friend of mine for years is a very high-producing agent. What I've understood from her and from every other credible source, is that you virtually never get the money you invest in remodeling back when you sell the house.

Completely understand that. Having the realistic mentality that we may also just break even.

If by remodeling you mean surface, cosmetic changes, that's great and can help you sell your house more quickly, for a better price. But anything more, such as new cabinets, sinks, or appliances, will almost inevitably cost you more than the value they'll add to your home (not to mention your wasted time and effort). Even if your kitchen is pure D hideous (looking at my own as I say this ), a true remodel will almost certainly not pay off. Because everyone has different ideas as to how a kitchen should work and what it should look like, you're far more likely to attract buyers with a more competitive price than with a freshly redone kitchen that will still not be exactly what any given individual buyer wants.

The house we bought is about 110+ years old. There were many additions added on before we purchased it. We had to do some remodeling to make it fit for our growing family. We have turned the 2 bedroom, 1 and 3/4 bath house, into a 4 bedroom, 2 full bath house. We have done two remodels, skimming and painting, putting in hardwood floors and just cosmetic touches here and there. What is left is the main floor, kitchen, living room, office and both entry ways. Some work has been done but the kitchen, well how do I put this, I wonder what the person was 'on' or 'smoking' when they remodeled it. Under the wall paper we have found that the corners were duct taped where the drywall didn't butt up and have found when redoing the bathroom off the kitchen that they left the original wall and had a spacing of almost a foot between the kitchen wall and bathroom wall. The roof had 6 layers of shingles, including shake shingles and the owners didn't know why an upstairs window leaked, they just added silicone to the side of the gutter that meets the house. The basement flooded, just as many houses in my area did last august, the down fall of it was we just installed hardwood floors, as it was a finished basement. My husband has redone the egress windows and sump pump. The sewer back up, was something that happens and we have fixed that problem.

The last house I sold had a kitchen that was vintage 1980's, with very worn appliances. I put some effort into detail-cleaning it, shining up the windows and the ancient stainless steel sink. I spent a meditative hour touching up little rust spots on the fridge with matching appliance paint - the fridge was at least 20 years old and I knew no buyer would keep it, but if a prospective buyer opens the door and sees rust, there goes $5000 off the home's perceived value. New paint on the walls and new curtains. The house sold for a very decent price, and this was during the lowest point of the real estate crash in this area.

On the other hand, everything you do to totally erase any and all evidence of the sewer backup and flood will be valuable when you go to sell the house. Buyers are justifiably phobic about water problems and, especially, mold. However, if what they see when they walk through are walls and floors with no water marks or mold, even if they know there's been flooding in the past it won't really matter to them much. The house I just mentioned had a basement flood two days before the buyers' final walk-through, and they knew it. But I got the water out before there were stains, and rented a big industrial-type fan to dry everything out, and the whole house looked really fresh and clean for the walk-through. The buyers didn't even blink re: the flooding.

As many in our area suffered from the flash flood, where houses that have never had water leak, ended up with flooding. The water/drywall/insulation/wood floor was removed with in days and dry. My husband is a jack of all trades and knows the importance of removing/cleaning up after a situation like this.

Well, I'm sure you've got your house sale preparation plans fully in order, and very likely none of what I just said applies to your situation. I'm offering it anyway, since it might be news to someone else. My agent friend says it's heartbreaking to work with homeowners who have put $$$$ into remodeling, only to find out that it won't increase the sale price of their home enough to offset the costs.

We know right now, that the work we are wanting to do is for resale only and not to 'our' dream of how we would want it. I'm not going to put the money into the kitchen that I once wanted, but I am going to update the cabinets, as it is needed and do the cosmetic touches that would help with the sell.

The best of luck with your sale and move to Montana - it sounds like it'll be a very interesting new life!

Thank you, we are super excited to plan our dream and know it will be work, but we are willing to do it.

[LyndaG]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Welcome back! I remember your original post from last year. Sorry for your loss, and the emotional upheaval it has caused. Since I've been through something similar recently, I can attest to the fact that having a dream about relocating can help see you through some very trying times. So keep thinking about MT, but realistically. Lots of good advice here. That being said, we are now in our 7th year of owning retirement property on the ID/MT border, and we're building a cabin in stages, and "visiting ourselves" every summer. We opted for building a cabin before putting in a well or septic, because with the economy being what it was, we'd have a well and a septic but no cabin . We got the place perked, of course, so we know a septic will work. It goes in next year. We will probably haul water until we actually live on the property full time, but we know there are good wells in the area.

So it can be done, postponing the septic and the well, but I would agree that if you have the option of finding a piece of land/house you like with a well and septic in place, it will save you a bundle.

I'd certainly be cautious about the "no winter maintenance." You should expect to plow your own access road, so make sure the main road/county road is plowed, and then figure out how long a driveway/access road you think you'll want to plow. As tempting as it may be to get 20 acres way up the mountain, you really don't want to plow 2 miles of access road...with potholes in it...

Thank you for your encouraging words! I know it can be done, it's the planning/finances that we are preparing for. Don't want any surprises to come up and not know how to handle/deal with them. That's why I keep asking questions. LOL Some might get redundant, I apologize in advance.

We have thought about purchasing/building, while still living where we are at. We are taking everyone's advice into consideration. We are doing probably more research than is actually needed, but we want to be prepared and successful in our move.

[wishiniwashere]

We had to do some remodeling to make it fit for our growing family. We have turned the 2 bedroom, 1 and 3/4 bath house, into a 4 bedroom, 2 full bath house.

That really is impressive, and makes your home so much more valuable. Four bedroom homes are "trending", and a second full bath really bumps up the value!

Some work has been done but the kitchen, well how do I put this, I wonder what the person was 'on' or 'smoking' when they remodeled it. Under the wall paper we have found that the corners were duct taped where the drywall didn't butt up and have found when redoing the bathroom off the kitchen that they left the original wall and had a spacing of almost a foot between the kitchen wall and bathroom wall.

Thank you for a good laugh - hilarious, and I can certainly relate! Yes, liberal use of duct tape is the true signature of the skilled craftsman - as well as that caulking/filler foam-in-a-can stuff, which was sprayed into every possible gap or space in my current home by the former owner, and not neatly, either. I'm surprised he didn't go all the way and fill up the dining room with it. The stuff dries into concrete and is hell to remove. I just love your story about the duct tape - you know they were desperate when they turned to that!

As many in our area suffered from the flash flood, where houses that have never had water leak, ended up with flooding.

I had basement flooding here a few years ago, after twenty years of a perfectly dry basement. When the water table gets to a certain level, it's going to happen.

The water/drywall/insulation/wood floor was removed with in days and dry. My husband is a jack of all trades and knows the importance of removing/cleaning up after a situation like this.

What a huge job! Thank goodness he went after it right away, before it had time to develop mold. You two sound like the ideal "pioneer"-type couple to take on this move you're planning; and the fact that you're discussing it together in depth will help so much in the long run, because you'll have agreement on the basics.