Eastern Montana To Flathead County??? (Billings, Bozeman: real estate, rental, crime)

[Jaeger]

We are from Eastern Montana and are considering moving to Flathead County, as we prefer the country over the city and had some questions.
We have lived in Boise Idaho and Billings Montana and although they seemed a little crowded, Billings wasnt nearly as bad as Boise concerning overall population which was reasonable as it is a fairly large city, traffic wasnt that bad at all, jobs were quite prevolent with decent pay, crime was low although you do need to have common sense where ever you go, prices were not too bad and there are enough businesses in order to shop around, etc.
My question is, if Billings didnt seem too bad then I presume that Kalispell should seem very nice, although the real estate looks more expensive?
Visiting a place is one thing as opposed to living there for a year to see what the area and people are really like, imo.
Does the weather really scare off the outsiders into moving out, as we dont think its bad as we are used to it?
Thank you.

[rickers]

Flathead county and the Flathead valley are two different animals ! There are many places in the county where there is still undeveloped areas but the valley is filling up very fast with subdivisions. It's freaking sickening.

[Jaeger]

Kalispell area, but not in the city/town itself.
Yellowstone County was the same way, sounds like you guys are getting invaded or something, I guess we should come out and help repel the invaders.
Really that bad though huh, so is it worse than Billings and Boise; I would think not, and I would also tend to believe that it is probably just a trend for a short while especially until the weather and the monsters come out and chase alot of them away making the housing market upside down there and forcing prices down as well?

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by Jaeger

We are from Eastern Montana and are considering moving to Flathead County, as we prefer the country over the city and had some questions.

Shoot

Originally Posted by Jaeger

We have lived in Boise Idaho and Billings Montana and although they seemed a little crowded, Billings wasnt nearly as bad as Boise concerning overall population which was reasonable as it is a fairly large city, traffic wasnt that bad at all, jobs were quite prevolent with decent pay, crime was low although you do need to have common sense where ever you go, prices were not too bad and there are enough businesses in order to shop around, etc.

OK

Originally Posted by Jaeger

My question is, if Billings didnt seem too bad then I presume that Kalispell should seem very nice, although the real estate looks more expensive?
Visiting a place is one thing as opposed to living there for a year to see what the area and people are really like, imo.

It is more expensive. I'd guess housing is around 60% - 100% more expensive than Billings, but that's my guess. I know a guy who has a house that is worth about $225k in Billings and it'd take probably $350k in Kalispell to buy the same house - but that's just a guess.

What is really different is the cost of acerage. It's much more expensive in the Flathead than it is in Billings.

Originally Posted by Jaeger

Does the weather really scare off the outsiders into moving out, as we dont think its bad as we are used to it?

Yes, the weather is scary in the Flathead and it does scare people off. The thing that is different comparing Billings and the Flathead is winters are colder but more sunny in Billings than in the Flathead. The Flathead is very, very gray in the wintertime and often rather humid because the temperature will get to about 35 and the snow will melt a bit. Bozeman (the only place I lived on the other side of the divide) stayed really cold all winter and the snow only rarely started to melt, but it melts a lot in the Flathead.

(Note: It doesn't melt away, i.e., you won't see bare ground frequently in the Flathead. But it melts from light fluffy snow to wet heavy snow, then freezes and turns into rock hard icy snow.)

I'd roughly compare the winters in the Flathead to weather in Seattle, except you get snow instead of rain. You might see a bit more sun than Seattle in the winter but they are roughly similiar.

[Jaeger]

Have also lived in Washington (way too crowded and expensive) and North Dakota and didnt find the cold weather there to be too bad either as we prefer the cold over the heat, which is why we didnt care for Boise as it was crowded and acreage was expensive there as well and the weather was too hot for our liking.
Too bad that acreage is so expensive in the Flathead, it is getting more expensive in Yellowstone County as well, although the higher end properties are not selling very well; at least the Flathead seems to have a good economy.
From research and what I have seen and read, I believe that the Flathead has alot more to offer than other places that we have lived including Yellowstone County, as we prefer the cold to the heat and really want to be in the woods near wildlife, rivers, creeks and lakes; hunting, fishing and camping and just living off the land as it were.
In Kalispell what areas are okay to rent and what areas are not such as north, south, east, west or named communities with an approximate location etc; from what I have found so far Evergreen isnt a good idea?

[jimj]

Ok here's my 2.5 cents, BigTrees is pretty much right about the weather except the scare people off part (unfortunatley) since we've not had a normal winter for years. If a normal winter hits then he's right people flee here fast. The last one in '96 you couldn't find a rental truck anywhere in the valley since so many were leaving. These were the people that came up to see the park in the summer and just HAD to move to gods country.

Housing has and is resetting some, we just looked at a house, 2800 sqft, probably 3 years old with a full daylight basement on a 1/3rd acre lot with a decent view of columbia mountain for $290k but I'd bet they'd take less. What's been happening here is while a house may be listed at let's say $250k they've been accepting $225 k or less so just 'cause it's listed at xxx doesn't mean that's what they'll take. I'd bet you could find a decent place out in the county on a decent size piece of property starting at about $200k. There are quite a few repo's starting to pop up and going for a decent price as well.

We almost moved to Boise but decided it's too high desert for us, not enough green around and the east side (Billings etc) was way too windy for us though gets more sun than here.
Personally I wouldn't live in Kalispell proper nor any of the other cities for that matter, I'd stick to the county and depending on where you work would dictate how far out I'd go.
As for Evergreen, it's ok but I'm betting it'll be absorbed by Kalispell eventually which will be bad IMO especially for taxes. I don't know that there's a real bad area to live (with the exception of the canyon) though there does seem to be some streets in all the cities I'd stay away from and those are in the paper under the police log, they get way too much ink so you'll be able to tell which ones they are.
If there is anything else I can tell you let me know...
If you're into the outdoors both for winter sports as well as summer then this is the place to be.

[Jaeger]

Yeah, that sounds about right, they are flooding the market with expensive properties and they are not selling like they want them to and the bottom is going to fall out and not only will prices fall, but the value to their own homes are going to fall as well.
We want acreage out in the woods and I am sure that we will find something nice, critters weather and all.
Boise can be a scorcher and its kind of dead and barren there as well, dont know why they call it the city of trees since it has a couple of trees.
Billings can get really windy even in the winter which can make that even worse if your not used to it, but all in all it wasnt too bad, better than Boise at least and not as hot in the summer either.
We are rural and dont care for living in the city either and have always prefered the county, as the city usually has high fees and taxes and such and too many rules.
Yeah, we are definitely 4 season and like to camp, fish and hunt in the snow as well, speaking of which do you guys have ice fishing in the winter?
We havent seen a real winter for a while either, seems to have been moderate for a while, sooner or later it will separate the big city yokels from the real country folk.
Dont understand why people move to the country and expect it to become like their cellphone-latte world with Cadillac SUV's and what not and then the weather kicks in and they are upset, either adopt the lifestyle that was originally there or go home.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Jaeger

Yeah, that sounds about right, they are flooding the market with expensive properties and they are not selling like they want them to and the bottom is going to fall out and not only will prices fall, but the value to their own homes are going to fall as well.
We want acreage out in the woods and I am sure that we will find something nice, critters weather and all.
Boise can be a scorcher and its kind of dead and barren there as well, dont know why they call it the city of trees since it has a couple of trees.
Billings can get really windy even in the winter which can make that even worse if your not used to it, but all in all it wasnt too bad, better than Boise at least and not as hot in the summer either.
We are rural and dont care for living in the city either and have always prefered the county, as the city usually has high fees and taxes and such and too many rules.
Yeah, we are definitely 4 season and like to camp, fish and hunt in the snow as well, speaking of which do you guys have ice fishing in the winter?
We havent seen a real winter for a while either, seems to have been moderate for a while, sooner or later it will separate the big city yokels from the real country folk.
Dont understand why people move to the country and expect it to become like their cellphone-latte world with Cadillac SUV's and what not and then the weather kicks in and they are upset, either adopt the lifestyle that was originally there or go home.

Yep, there's ice fishing here. Even some tourneys. Gotta run, got a load of topsoil waiting....

[rickers]

I am actually moving back to the west side soon. Opportunities are beckoning ! We are doing a little switcheroo that will hopefully put another few hundred in my pocket soon ! Life is good so far and I think we might have "crossed the Rubicon" as far as our investments go. I just prey that my tenants don't pork me ! This is the third time I've tried to retire on what we have coming in so far and the retirement hasn't stuck for very long so far because of inflation. The third time might might just be the charm as they say ! If not, and the world crashes in all around us at least I have a pocket knife to ward off the roving mobs of looting raiders ! Ha ha ha !

[jimj]

Originally Posted by rickers

I am actually moving back to the west side soon. Opportunities are beckoning ! We are doing a little switcheroo that will hopefully put another few hundred in my pocket soon ! Life is good so far and I think we might have "crossed the Rubicon" as far as our investments go. I just prey that my tenants don't pork me ! This is the third time I've tried to retire on what we have coming in so far and the retirement hasn't stuck for very long so far because of inflation. The third time might might just be the charm as they say ! If not, and the world crashes in all around us at least I have a pocket knife to ward off the roving mobs of looting raiders ! Ha ha ha !

Leaving your store??? What are you up to now??????