Another "Moving to Montana" Thread (Billings, Missoula: fit in, sales)

[RandyWilde]

Hello, I'm a new poster to the forum, although I've been reading for a while and know there is quite a bit of information on this subject, but I have some specifics I haven't seen.

Additionally, the move would realistically happen in maybe 4-5 years or more.

So my wife and I are looking at western Montana as a possible retirement / pre-retirement location. We are interested in purchasing a probably that is large enough to accommodate 2 or 3 homes of varying size (think one family home and one or two buildings for parents to come and go). We also want space to be able to have chickens, dogs, a garden, and maybe a horse or two. We have been looking at properties ranging from 50-300 acres as an estimate. Any advice on locations would be great, and a 45-60 minute drive to a bigger town is fine.

My wife's family is originally from South Korea and her parents may permanently move out with us in addition to her brother. Any information about Korean populations in Montana would be helpful as I cant find much on that subject online. A big Korean population isn't really necessary but it would be nice info to have. In addition, what kind of options for fresh seafood is available? Fresh, natural food is important as well.

Currently my wife's career is in classical music performance, and she would be interested in continuing that (even if just for fun) in MT. I'd like to hear if anybody is familiar with community orchestras that they know of or anything along those lines. I know music jobs can be hard to get, but she is also open to working with a smaller orchestra as a hobby.

I am pursuing a degree in Marketing, but have no issue taking on any kind of job that may be available. I do have supplemental income from a work injury, but that injury doesn't prevent me from doing most jobs. It also allows me to take on a job that doesn't pay a whole lot without concern of being flat broke.

Finally, we are a family that loves the outdoors, fishing, farming (self supporting) and hunting. We like Montana because it seems to offer us a chance to do these things without bother. If anybody has any questions or wants more details about anything please let me know.

Thanks!

[historyfan]

Display Record of Farms and Ranches Properties

It sounds like you are looking for a small farm. There are many real estate sites, but here is one to look over.

I am not aware of a Korean community in MT.

[NW Crow]

Statistics say less than a thousand of Korean origins in Montana. About a hundred each in Billings, Great Falls, Missoula and Bozeman. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed


A couple of Korean restaurants in Bozeman and probably in the other bigger cities.


"Fresh" seafood? Probably some in the bigger cities, flown in next day or next, next (next?) day. How fresh? Depends on how much your supplier and you are willing to pay.


50-300 acres. What is the budget? That will determine where to look and what is feasible. Could be near $100,000 or up to millions depending on location, desirability.


A quick web check shows orchestras of some kind (community / university, professional / amateur / in-between) in the 6 biggest cities. Might be others.

[The-White-Baron]

Originally Posted by RandyWilde

Hello, I'm a new poster to the forum, although I've been reading for a while and know there is quite a bit of information on this subject, but I have some specifics I haven't seen.

Additionally, the move would realistically happen in maybe 4-5 years or more.

So my wife and I are looking at western Montana as a possible retirement / pre-retirement location. We are interested in purchasing a probably that is large enough to accommodate 2 or 3 homes of varying size (think one family home and one or two buildings for parents to come and go). We also want space to be able to have chickens, dogs, a garden, and maybe a horse or two. We have been looking at properties ranging from 50-300 acres as an estimate. Any advice on locations would be great, and a 45-60 minute drive to a bigger town is fine.

My wife's family is originally from South Korea and her parents may permanently move out with us in addition to her brother. Any information about Korean populations in Montana would be helpful as I cant find much on that subject online. A big Korean population isn't really necessary but it would be nice info to have. In addition, what kind of options for fresh seafood is available? Fresh, natural food is important as well.

Are you serious? I don't think you'd like the state of Montana personally. It isn't California.

Somewhere with Korean population? There isn't one! Not even Billings has a Korean population as such.

There's always the Indian reservations east of Billings and in Flathead Valley I suppose. Plenty of cheap land there too.

Nearest place would be Seattle for Korean diasapora which is in Washington state. I think you'd fit in more to a liberal state than a conservative one like Montana, but places like Missoula would probably fit the bill if you want to be close to a 'diverse' element.

It's very cold (this winter was one of the coldest on record), ethnocentric (90% European) and quite conservative.

Property taxes are insane also, but that's the price you pay for no sales tax.

Good luck!

[RandyWilde]

Originally Posted by historyfan

Display Record of Farms and Ranches Properties

It sounds like you are looking for a small farm. There are many real estate sites, but here is one to look over.

I am not aware of a Korean community in MT.

Thank you for that. I've been looking at land on a few sites because we are interested in buying land and building a house in the future. But this site I hadn't looked at.

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Statistics say less than a thousand of Korean origins in Montana. About a hundred each in Billings, Great Falls, Missoula and Bozeman. Cities with the Highest Percentage of Koreans in Montana | Zip Atlas


A couple of Korean restaurants in Bozeman and probably in the other bigger cities.


"Fresh" seafood? Probably some in the bigger cities, flown in next day or next, next (next?) day. How fresh? Depends on how much your supplier and you are willing to pay.


50-300 acres. What is the budget? That will determine where to look and what is feasible. Could be near $100,000 or up to millions depending on location, desirability.


A quick web check shows orchestras of some kind (community / university, professional / amateur / in-between) in the 6 biggest cities. Might be others.

Budget wise, we might be looking at 300,000 for a property, and then building a house on top of that. This is only a tentative figure though and it subject to change up or down a bit.

Originally Posted by The-White-Baron

Are you serious? I don't think you'd like the state of Montana personally. It isn't California.

Somewhere with Korean population? There isn't one! Not even Billings has a Korean population as such.

There's always the Indian reservations east of Billings and in Flathead Valley I suppose. Plenty of cheap land there too.

Nearest place would be Seattle for Korean diasapora which is in Washington state. I think you'd fit in more to a liberal state than a conservative one like Montana, but places like Missoula would probably fit the bill if you want to be close to a 'diverse' element.

It's very cold (this winter was one of the coldest on record), ethnocentric (90% European) and quite conservative.

Property taxes are insane also, but that's the price you pay for no sales tax.

Good luck!

Thank you for your input, and I think we may not be completely on the same page. I know California has a large Korean population and my wife did live there but she didn't like it. The Korean population was more-so for our knowledge and wasn't a prerequisite to moving somewhere. The cold is fine (we prefer cold over any kind of heat). And taxes are relative; we look at it as pretty cheap in comparison to say living in Korea or even now in Germany.