moving west somewhere - husband would like sunshine (Bozeman, Belgrade: for sale, home)

[Dresden4]

Thank you, rangerider, for the information on Bozeman! I have looked some at Bozeman and now a bit more since your post! Yes, I realize 200K will not get us much as far as land (well maybe not even a good house!). I am figuring we will move into a house somewhere first and from there decide on any land purchases where we like because it may be too hard from this distance to really make a good decision. I feel after living in the area for a while we can better determine our needs. I do know it would be better to get the land in the downturn though so I better get researching even harder! Thank you again!

[seven of nine]

And with a tip of his gentlemanly cowboy hat RangeRider moseys on down the road.

[grizzfan]

Rangerider's advice is good. You might check Livingston (25 miles east of Bozeman) or Big Timber (34 miles further east). These are nice small towns with real estate that is signifigantly cheaper. And both have ample avenues to great recreation possibilities. Paradise Valley, south of Livingston, is unargueably one of the most beautiful places on the planet with majestic peaks and world class fly fishing on the Yellowstone River.

I live in Missoula now and miss the crisp, cold winters where you can literally see sparkles of ice in the air on a cold Winter's day. I also do not like the cloudy, hemmed-in feeling of Missoula that is so prevalent in the Winter months.

Good luck.

[Dresden4]

Thank you, grizzfan! I feel very special hearing from you and Rangerider! I see both of your posts all over! I have been looking through the real estates of Livingston, Bozeman and have also run across some of Paradise Valley - you are right = beautiful! I want a vacation now to come and see these places!

[emmank]

Have you checked into Bend, Oregon? or Sisters, Oregon? tons of sunshine (just as much as SW Montana, it's slightly cheaper, slightly bigger, and closer to larger cities/towns if you need that. It's pretty dry, but you are 20 minutes from the mountains and on the other side of those mountains is temperate rainforest. Just a suggestion.

[seven of nine]

Nice areas in Oregon but your real estate dollar is not going very far.

[dcashley]

Remember: California has 12% of America's population--too damn crowded. Las Vegas area, and Phoenix are just extensions of the California population explosion. I suggest nice rural areas north of Alburquerqque (spelling). The summers and the winters are relatively mild. Taxes are reasonably low. Property is reasonably cheap. ....mmmmm maybe I'll go there.

[Dresden4]

Thank you for these new suggestions to check out! I appreciate all of your help very much! I don't think the real estate $ is going to stretch well anywhere actually after looking around but that is the way it is everywhere. Everywhere is more than it used to be! We are going to have to up our amount a bit I see. I will have to look at north of Albuquerque area - had not thought of that one yet! Thank you for your input!

[Dresden4]

As far as shopping goes, my husband does need a home improvement store (like Lowe's) close-by as he is always going there for things (sometimes 2-3 times in one day depending on the project)! I did notice Bozeman and Missoula have a Lowe's! Are there other chains of home improvement stores out west or do people simply use basic hardware stores?

[rangerider]

There's the usual here, and some of the bigger towns have the Lowe's, Home Depots, Menards, etc. Some places have bigger lumberyards that carry quite a bit of home improvement stuff.

Habitat 4 Humanity has what they call Re-Stores some places, including here. They take in donations and overstocks to sell for funding the H4H. I have found a lot of perfectly good and even new stuff there for a fraction of the new price and it helps out a good cause. If you're busy remodeling or upgrading an old house it's possible to find fixtures and other stuff you can't find in the average hardware or home improvement stores.