Bitterroot Valley, MT (Missoula, Hamilton, Darby: 2015, crime, crawl space)

[BClukn]

Husband says the drive to the VA hospital is worth it. He's already in love with the Bitterroot Valley. We're used to having to drive for things, but most of the stuff we would need is only as far away as Hamilton.

[BClukn]

MTSilver tip, What does an average electric bill run out there? Say for high of about 1000kwh. What do you pay for a loaf of bread? Hamilton area.

[BClukn]

Prefer a little drier area than 80% humidity. At least a few trees, not out on the flats unless there's a little character to the land, I hate endless flat land. Don't mind a little snow, but not overly enjoyed about shoveling 10 feet of it either. Would love to be near water; lake, stream, river...anything. Within about 30-45 miles of Hamilton. Hobbies are varied: husband likes to fish and hunt and would like to play around with his welder now that he's going to be retiring off the farm. We both read. I like crafts, sewing, canning and writing. An occasional movie. Cell service and internet if possible, but could live without both. Used to being in the country and prefer a more rural environment. The only reason to be close to anything at all is for the sake of my 88 year old mother-in-law. Would like running water, septic and propane/gas (either/or). Already have four wheel drive and a motorcycle. Would we need a snowmobile or horse in the Bitterroot Valley? LOL

[historyfan]

Originally Posted by BClukn

We don't know yet what we'll get from the sale of our farm, but we're hoping to pull in about 200K. That being said, we could go up to about 180-200,000 cash. If we pull more from the sale of animals and equipment, we could go higher, but would prefer to keep a bit of cash for emergencies.

From looking at a Ravalli county real estate website, that would put you in a house in one of towns, Hamilton, Corvallis, Stevenville with maybe 1/2acre lot or an undeveloped 10-15 acres.

Some Montana towns allow a few laying hens 5 or 6 under new ordinances for fresh egg lovers.

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by BClukn

MTSilver tip, What does an average electric bill run out there? Say for high of about 1000kwh. What do you pay for a loaf of bread? Hamilton area.

For electricity, I'm on budget billing which means you pay a set amount all year round, so you don't have peaks in the winter, lows in the summer.

For my house, I use an average of 500 KWH, and pay roughly $40/month. It's just the wife and I, and while I do a lot of blacksmithing and cabnetry work, we don't have a lot of the electronic gizmos like plasma TVs. Many of my tools are hand tools, so I'm not running a lot of planers or belt sanders.
We do have an electric range, but our primary heat is wood.

I live in Helena during the week for my job, and here I can go to the day old store on Montana Ave. and buy 4 loaves of bread for $5. (I'm cheap, and we grow, raise or hunt for a large part of our food, which means I don't spend a lot of time and money in the grocery store). Not sure what the price is in Hamilton as I only go over to the Northwest to go fishing. Great Northern Pike in the Clarks Fork between Thompson falls and Noxon

Love the area around Thompson Falls, GREAT people, but I'm still working and there aren't a lot of jobs in that area, so I have to go where the work is.
Lots of tourists in the summer, lots of hunters in the fall, the winter can be pretty quiet and perhaps lonely if you aren't used to it.

Unless you have snow equipment like a snowblower on your truck, you will want to look for a place close to a plowed road so you can get in and out. A 4x4 truck is great, I would also advise investing in some chains for your tires as snowpack and ice on paved roads can be dangerous.

Horses are fun but not a requirement...

Snowmobiles are fun, but don't run it on your road as it packs the snow and makes it tough to drive over. Lots of folks around here have 4 wheelers they put a plow or blower on to do their roadclearing, but there can be significant snowpack over there in the winter, and if you're in a shaded area, it can last from November until late April, early May.
ATVs are fun and handy, you can do a lot of work with them, but for my money, I'd rather buy a used pickup for less money to do more work with more power and space to haul.

The Bitterroot is a spectacularly beautiful area, and the climate is pretty mild for Montana, but it's still Montana so it can get cold and snowy.
If you're prepared, it's no big deal.

Good Luck

[historyfan]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

For electricity, I'm on budget billing which means you pay a set amount all year round, so you don't have peaks in the winter, lows in the summer.

For my house, I use an average of 500 KWH, and pay roughly $40/month. It's just the wife and I, and while I do a lot of blacksmithing and cabnetry work, we don't have a lot of the electronic gizmos like plasma TVs. Many of my tools are hand tools, so I'm not running a lot of planers or belt sanders.
We do have an electric range, but our primary heat is wood.

:

I envy your power bill.
Our rural cooperative board got involved with bunch of cooperatives for Great Falls build your own generator debacle... so monthly electric is between $500-675 (with 150 of that for livestock barn). It was $150-250 before debacle deep thinkers caused the rate hikes.
Keep in mind we heat principally with wood (with propane emergency backup).

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by BClukn

Prefer a little drier area than 80% humidity. At least a few trees, not out on the flats unless there's a little character to the land, I hate endless flat land. Don't mind a little snow, but not overly enjoyed about shoveling 10 feet of it either. Would love to be near water; lake, stream, river...anything. Within about 30-45 miles of Hamilton. Hobbies are varied: husband likes to fish and hunt and would like to play around with his welder now that he's going to be retiring off the farm. We both read. I like crafts, sewing, canning and writing. An occasional movie. Cell service and internet if possible, but could live without both. Used to being in the country and prefer a more rural environment. The only reason to be close to anything at all is for the sake of my 88 year old mother-in-law. Would like running water, septic and propane/gas (either/or). Already have four wheel drive and a motorcycle. Would we need a snowmobile or horse in the Bitterroot Valley? LOL

You won't have to worry about endless flat land in NW MT--the mountains rise up to meet the sky everywhere you look. Check out my Montana album, and you'll see.

I agree with Silvertip, the Thompson Falls area is both friendly and spectacular, and it is at least as relatively mild as the Bitterroot Valley. Missoula is still the place for major shopping, and I think it is probably about 30-45 minutes further away from Thompson Falls than from Hamilton, but close enough for a weekly shopping trip.

Friends of ours rode their horses into a local bar in Heron after a hunting trip some years ago... At least that's what they said...

[historyfan]

You could get way more for real estate dollar at/near Thompson Falls. I think that is last best real estate pricing area left in the state.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by shirleymarie1975

....>>>>(SNIP)>>>>....my husband and i are looking to retire in hamilton in a couple of years. I have noticed people on here talking about the cost of living. It is so much lower there (Montana) than in washington state.

..

According to CNN MONEY/ PERSONAL FINANCE .....................Based on a $60,000 salary, you would have a NET SAVINGS OF: $179.00 by moving from Olympia to Bozeman................couldn't find a comparison to Hamilton.

[BClukn]

Originally Posted by historyfan

I envy your power bill.
Our rural cooperative board got involved with bunch of cooperatives for Great Falls build your own generator debacle... so monthly electric is between $500-675 (with 150 of that for livestock barn). It was $150-250 before debacle deep thinkers caused the rate hikes.
Keep in mind we heat principally with wood (with propane emergency backup).

Ouch! How much electricity do you use? I'm used to $400-600/mo here, but we have (4) refrigerators, (5) freezers and power to barn, and shop for welding. We hope to cut down to the minimum when we move. We have thought about a backup generator though. Here, we get a lot of interrupted power due to storms and stupid drivers.

What does gas/propane run out there?