Relocating to Butte Montana Soon! (Whitehall, Hot Springs: for sale by owner, foreclosure, rentals)

[joxercat]

Hello everyone,
I have been reading many of the posts on this site about Butte Montana and I can see that everyone is very helpful. My husband has just obtained a job with the federal goverment in Butte Montana. We are very excited about the move and are trying to answer alot of questions before we actually start out journey. We currently have a home that we are trying to sell in Jacksonville Florida and we would like to rent a nice home for at least a year in the Butte area. Can any of you tell me how hard it is to find a rental home within a few days of arriving in your area? I have seen that there are several listings in the Montana Standard , but I have found that sometimes wondering the neighborhoods looking for a for rent sign is better. I have several pets and I am seeing that this may be a factor with many of the ones that are listed in the paper.
This is our main concern with our move to Montana. If anyone has any information on rental properties and good neighborhoods to raise children could you please let me know. We are also considering the Anaconda area but do not want to have an extstensive travel time between home and work if possible.
We are so excited to finally be on our way our of Jacksonville and moving to a part of the country that is such a wonderous place. We may have Disney land and Sea world, but Florida is such an ugly state that I cannot understand what brings people here. We have very few open areas and the climate is always HOT! Except for today, we are enjoying a crispy cool 36 degrees. Our children have never seen snow so we are looking forward to watching them enjoy this factor of the winter season. My husband and I are both originally from the midwest and I have not seen snow in 10 years. It is amazing at how you can miss the one thing that you always thought you would not miss at all. I will be happy to have 4 seasons again instead of 2.

We are now just in a waiting game so that we can find out what our report date will be. I am hoping it is sooner then later that they will want us. I am anxious to get out of this miseralbe town with all its violence and hate.
Any help would be appreciated and we hope to be seeing your beautiful state soon!

[Pony]

I don't have much to tell you about Butte...but I wanted to wish you good luck with your move! My wife was born and raised in Jacksonville, and she hated living there. The hussle and bussle of that city is just getting out of control, not to mention the school system and the traffic is terrible.

I hope you and your family enjoy the Montana way of life!

[NYMTman]

Yes, Butte has four seasons... Almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction

I love that climate, though. Can't say much about rentals there, though.

[ladyflyfsh]

joxercat, it won't be easy finding a pet friendly rental unless you are out in the country where they can be outside more. If you have references for your pets it might help but that seems to be a universal problem with renting. Housing costs in Butte are still pretty cheap so you might be better off just buying something. Anaconda is not a long commute and I like it there...better than Butte. It's warmer as well.

If you PM me I can give you some realtors to contact and they may be able to help with rentals as well. Good luck!

[MontanaGuy]

Butte, Montana is my home town and I went to high school there. To be honest it seems like a big downhill step from Jacksonville. It's the sixth coldest city in the lower fourty eight states and I'm afraid it's not the most attractive city in Montana. My mother still lives there and I generally go up there at Christmas. The outlying areas are very nice but the uptown Butte area seems run down. I have a very strong sentimental attachment to Butte because I grew up there. And by the way, don't even consider Anaconda as a town to commute from. It's even more depressing than Butte and winter travel is terrible. On the positive side your commuting time will be nothing and there really are areas of Butte that are quite attractive. My mother lives south of Butte towards what they call the "nine mile". They have a beautiful house and it's very scenic. If you don't mind cold weather and you're looking for a new experience it's possible that certain areas of Butte might be acceptable. Be very careful and think out the possibilities. Good Luck.

[jjojobean]

I also grew up in Butte. It is a great place to live! If you are considering Anaconda for renting then you should not discount Whitehall. Whitehall has better weather and there are two routes into Butte. The major pass can be very dangerous in the winter. Not that the secondary road isn't, but it's not as steep or curvy (but still use caution). You will love all the outdoor things to do..hunting for rubies at the Ruby Resorvoir, catching a play in Virginia City and going to the candy store afterwards, camping, panning for gold, sifting for sapphires in Phillipsburg, Georgetown Lake, Big Hole River, Jefferson River and Fairmont Hot Springs. These are all within about an hours drive from Butte, Anaconda or Whitehall. Just watch out for all the critters on the roads especially at night. All of those towns have very welcoming and helpful people. I hope you enjoy yourselves and experience everything that Montana and it's people have to offer.

[joxercat]

Hello again everyone.
It has been a long while since I have been able to check the boards. we are still here in a holding pattern, but we are getting more and more excited about moving out of this violence ridden hole we live in. Butte is a huge change from Jacksonville but I dont think we are going to mind that too much in the long run. Just yesterday a man tried to intentionally hit us while we were behind him at a stop sign at Mcdonalds. The line of obsenities coming from his mouth was deplorable and he even got out of his truck and started to come towards my van. We got out of there in a hurry and luckily he did not follow us. I know this can happen anywhere, but it seems that the people in jacksonville have just gone crazy!
I have been looking at houses to buy and to rent and there is not much of either available in the Butte area that look worthy of there asking price. I have however contacted a private landlord who is willing to take all of our pets for just 25.00 a piece. If we do decide to rent with him we will definitly need to investigate the area the home is located in well before we sign a lease.
The snow does not bother us since we are both from the midwest originally , but I do think it will take us a while to get aclimated to it. I am glad to see the post about all the things to do there such as the ruby and Saphire hunting since that is what we are interested in. There is not much for a family with young children to do here in Jacksonville that is cost effective or that you do not have to drive for hours to get to. I think we will still try to take our 3 year old to Disney before we leave, but with the cost of even a resident ticket that can kind of pinch the wallet a little.
I have spoken to individuals in Butte and received relocation packets and other helpful information. I get the opinion that the people in Montana are very frienldly and go out of their way to be helpful as is with all of you here on the boards! This is the one thing we are the most excited about. Being in a place where people want you around and will let you leave your life in relative peace.

Again, thanks everyone for all your responses and we hope to be heading your way real soon. Just waiting on the FBI to finish there part so we should hear something any day now!

See ya all soon !!

[mayflowerf]

Recently I went to Butte and Andaconda. I have been looking at property to buy cheap as I am not rich. Like the other folks, I found that It was hard to find anything that was worth what they were asking for it. And if I did, It was already sold. I have been out there twice in 3 months. I am wore out from looking. But, the people, other than some realitors, were exceptionally nice. Not like the snubs you see in California. I laughed everytime I said something to a stranger on the way back to California. They acted like they did not see or hear a thing. Anyway, anybody out there that knows how to find a place with good details before it sells, let me know. I could use the help. Or the best place to find for sale by owners.

[NYMTman]

Here's a nice article in the NYTimes about Butte:

Artistic Revival Takes Root Amid Relics of Copper Mines - New York Times

I especially liked this part: "Butte demands a lot from the artists, and others, who move here. Temperatures plummeted to 33 degrees below zero this month, not uncommon here in the Rockies. In 1989, the city set a record wind-chill temperature of 91 below."

Ah, good ol' Butte

In all seriousness, though, it IS important to note that you ARE moving to the coldest city (of 10,000+) in the lower 48. 223 days each year below freezing... yikes! I'd love to live in that sort of climate, admittedly. But alas.

[castelVictorio]

We as well are going to Butte as a federal transfer. However we will be coming from Denver, and we are looking at renting as well. We do not have any pets, but we do have two children. We are looking for a 3 bedroom or more and our price range is from 630 to 1250. We want to rent due to a bad buying experience. We bought a town house that was a foreclosure about two years ago. We have been updating it since then and still are not finished. UGGG. Needless to say I am tired of laying tile and wood.
We are outdoors people and love to snow ski, snow shoe, camp, bike, hike, and whatever else takes us out side. My wife and I both speak 3 different languages and we are looking for a place that is clean and has a good size backyard. Ideally we are looking for something with a little land. Our youngest is hearing impaired and we want to keep her from busy intersections or anything along those lines. We have heard good news about the Flats, but we are a little suspicious since everyone in my office lives there and they might just be partial. Any suggestions?