Visiting Bismark (Bismarck, Jamestown, Devils Lake: real estate market, rental, houses)

[fuzzy4]

Hello

The dog and I are visiting Bismark at the end of August for 2 weeks. I could really use some help, and I apologize if I get long winded here. Im retired law enforcement in my mid fifties, and for the last 5yrs I have been working in the service industry, supermarkets mostly. My wife passed a couple of years after we retired to Tennessee, and honestly Im not happy here. I still have her service dog, a terrier if it matters. Its time for me to revisit ND looking for a place to call home.

Its been 9yrs since Ive been there, and yes I survived a winter there. Basically Im looking for someone to tell me where I should look for a house. I dont require a lot and am in good health.

A safe neighborhood. Im not going to be young forever!
2bdrm dollhouse would be fine for my needs a basement would be a added bonus
Somewhat close to a town where I can find a part time job preferably in the service industry. But will go back to a security job if I had to.
Easy driving in the winter. I would prefer not to make a 80 mile round trip to get to a part time job.
movie theater a couple of restaurants a girlfriend would be great also
Im more or less on a fixed income with a p/t job Im around 3k a month.

I do not want to be cash poor and house rich. Jamestown immediately caught my eye. I love those older houses and the prices were right up my alley. Ive never been there though. I would also like to avoid the whole oil boom scene if possible. I saw what it did to Houston in the 80s. My hobbies are also simple gardening, Light carpentry work, walking trails, parks. Living near a college would also not bother me at all, I do like that whole Friday night crowd type of thing (Think Ft Collins Co) Anyway thanks for reading and thanks again if you take the time to reply.
Fuzzy

[flyingcat2k]

If the prices in Jamestown are more to your liking, I would recommend that.

Bismarck is experiencing a white-collar boom as engineering, consulting and business firms are picking it to set up their operations to service the Bakken Region. Denver claims they have more but I know from experience that it is difficult to run an ND project from an out of state location. I doubt firms will keep the majority of their employees in Denver for the next 10 years. The State has also been picking up hiring. This makes the real estate market tight and prices are increasing due to that. Some of the constraints on the boom are the utter lack of acceptable office space in Bismarck. It will get better over time but for right now, it is terrible. Between now and the 2020 census, Bismarck could be grow to the size of Billings as it just added its third high school. That is the high side of 20k. I would say that a 10k pick up in size would be more reasonable.

[fourwinds]

Would agree about Jamestown - lower housing but soon to have very strong economy with the billion dollar ammonia plant that will be built nearby. Jamestown College is there.

Home of Economy is opening a full store there, and that would be an ideal type job - better than supermarkets.

If you are going to buy in Jamestown, do it now. When the construction workers and plant workers pour in, prices will go up. If you bought a house with rental space too, that would probably work out well for the next couple of years. There aren't many towns within 40 miles that are more than 1000 people, but those also might be options for even cheaper housing (with more land if you want it).

Other options might be Devils Lake (but economy there is not that good, but has some new manufacturing moving in and a new Super Walmart, plus Lake Region jr college), or Bottineau (if you want a smaller option). Bottineau is a small town but has nearby lakes, forests, and parks and a local college (Dakota College at Bottineau). There is a small oil field nearby, but highly doubt Bottineau will ever gain more than 1000 more people because of it. Doesn't have chains except for Walmart.

Beyond ND, think places like Aberdeen, Spearfish in SD would be decent choices or maybe Miles City in Montana.

[ThomasLong]

If looking in Bismarck....search through Bismanonline.com

Not really a bad section anywhere here...some lower income areas but still safe.