moving west somewhere - husband would like sunshine (Libby, Bigfork: wood floors, how much)

[Dresden4]

That is excellent information, rangerider, especially getting some good stuff cheaper ! You are in Bozeman, right? My husband said that size of town is good for him. I read and showed him a lot of information I pulled. We have decided we can increase the $ amount for a place. One thing he has to have is land to build a workshop, or extra garage, on (unless somehow we found the "perfect" place"). That luckily does not require a lot of land space. I have seen some places have heated garages in place already which would be handy from the start for the everyday truck and honda. And from there, we can add what else he needs. Good to hear from you, rangerider

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by Dresden4

One thing he has to have is land to build a workshop, or extra garage, on (unless somehow we found the "perfect" place").

Be realistic, it's not cheap to build an outbuilding. Figure $10k to $50k depending on the size you want. Also be aware that some "historic districts" in some towns don't allow building outbuildings.

Originally Posted by Dresden4

I have seen some places have heated garages in place already which would be handy from the start for the everyday truck and honda.

Heated garages are absolutely unnecessary in Montana, and I don't know anyone that owns one. Your cars will do just fine without a heated garage. (You will want an engine block heater for your vehicles but that is a different story altogether).

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by Dresden4

That is excellent information, rangerider, especially getting some good stuff cheaper ! You are in Bozeman, right? My husband said that size of town is good for him. I read and showed him a lot of information I pulled. We have decided we can increase the $ amount for a place. One thing he has to have is land to build a workshop, or extra garage, on (unless somehow we found the "perfect" place"). That luckily does not require a lot of land space. I have seen some places have heated garages in place already which would be handy from the start for the everyday truck and honda. And from there, we can add what else he needs. Good to hear from you, rangerider

What price range you were searching at? I did a quick search and felt it would take minimum of $275k to get a house that would suit my needs (newer construction and about 2200 square feet). Most of these were on lots between about 6000 and 12000 square feet.

Outlying towns (Belgrade, Three Forks, etc) are quite a bit cheaper but not as desireable in my opinion. Something to watch carefully when you search for real estate is many of the sites search every town unless you specify, and there are some podunk towns in the middle of nowhere that come up with inexpensive housing, and you may not be interested in those towns.

[rangerider]

Originally Posted by bigtrees

.....Outlying towns (Belgrade, Three Forks, etc) are quite a bit cheaper but not as desireable in my opinion....

Wondered if you could expound on that thought just a little...

[Mt-7]

My advice continues to be to anyone considering a move to visit, and visit again.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by bigtrees

Heated garages are absolutely unnecessary in Montana, and I don't know anyone that owns one. Your cars will do just fine without a heated garage. (You will want an engine block heater for your vehicles but that is a different story altogether).

Just so you know bigtrees, all my neighbors have heated garages though all I did was insulate mine. I do wish I'd heated it sometimes and put in a floor drain.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by jimj

Just so you know bigtrees, all my neighbors have heated garages though all I did was insulate mine. I do wish I'd heated it sometimes and put in a floor drain.

Are you talking installed a heat source (like a wood or pellet stove or have a natural gas heater) so they can warm them up and use them as a workshop? I agree it's nice to have heat for a workshop and when a person is spending time out there.

Or are you saying they simply park cars there and leave the heat on all winter? I can't imagine how that would be cost effective or beneficial, but that's just me.

I was thinking a heated garage (used for parking cars) is unnecessary. Heated workshop areas are nice.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by rangerider

Wondered if you could expound on that thought just a little...

Sure. Belgrade is cheaper than Bozeman. It's not as pretty because it's further away from the mountains and more flat. It doesn't have the same character as Bozeman. Many people who live in Belgrade visit Bozeman a lot. I'd call Belgrade to be less desireable than Bozeman.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by bigtrees

Are you talking installed a heat source (like a wood or pellet stove or have a natural gas heater) so they can warm them up and use them as a workshop? I agree it's nice to have heat for a workshop and when a person is spending time out there.

Or are you saying they simply park cars there and leave the heat on all winter? I can't imagine how that would be cost effective or beneficial, but that's just me.

I was thinking a heated garage (used for parking cars) is unnecessary. Heated workshop areas are nice.

Kind of all of the above. One neighbor has his boiler system that supplies heat to his garage,shop and house, one has a pellet stove and the rest have cadet heaters. Most just park their cars in them and want them warm when they either work on the cars or just want 'em warm when they get home. Personally I'd only use the heat when I know I was going to spend some time out there changing oil or whatever and the rest of the time I'd shut it off.

[Dresden4]

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of the information! Yes, bigtrees, I certainly hope if we need to add the workshop that we can do it for in the middle somewhere of that 10k-50k and you are right about not all places will allow it. As far as the heated garage goes, it would actually be the workshop that needs to be heated. I'd run across a 3 car heated garage house for sale - not sure if we should have a combo like that or a separate workshop building (husband prefers separate workshop). It will depend what we find.

I also agree with you, bigtrees, that it will take the 275k for a newer constructed home. I was in old real estate days of thinking 200k would get something good (have not bought anything in years!). When I researched, reality did set in for me. My husband said he already figured it would take more.

As far as the home improvement places, bigtrees, we would be happy to buy locally. That was why I threw the question out there to find out what people do there. I did not know how it may be as far as say if the old time hardware stores were even still available or what. I do like the Habit 4 Humanity idea though, helping clubs and such.

Yes, seven of nine , we do need to visit again! We will be doing that when we can!

Good information on just insulating car garage, jimj. I can definately see where a floor drain is important also! And, good idea on only heating when working outside if we end up with a combo unit.



Thank you, everyone, for your input!