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Old 11-08-2008, 08:53 AM
 
3 posts, read 8,443 times
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Hi,

My partner and I are looking at moving to the Bozeman area. We are looking for housing within 30 miles (max) of Bozeman but would prefer a shorter commute.

Is it reasonable to find housing for under 225K? We have pretty simple demands, at least two bedrooms, preferably two baths, and at least one acre of land (again I would prefer more). It can't be a trailer home or double wide (her request not mine). Also I would like to be able to grow some veggies/herbs in the summer. We have two dogs who I would love to be able to let run them around the property. What towns do folks suggest?

I am not too concerned about finding work, we both have pretty transferable job skill, hers far more than mine!

We both have spent some time in Bozeman and have really enjoyed the town. But since we would like to own land, and have a different style of live than we currently have, we know we will be living outside of Bozeman for our price range.

Thanks
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Old 11-08-2008, 12:59 PM
 
Location: in pa, but missin montana
65 posts, read 298,689 times
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Default boz house

Hi- I highly doubt you will find a home for 225k or under with that much land. Look at atleast another 100k- Homes in bozeman are so expensive!
A 2br condo behind costco goes for 225k. Your best bet would be a home in river rock in belgrade, which is 8 miles from bozeman- atleast there you will have your own yard and a bigger place- good luck- I don't blame you for picking Bozeman- its the best most amazing place I have ever lived!
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Old 11-08-2008, 05:36 PM
 
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Hi gopherfan- My husband and I are looking for about the same thing, and there just isn't much here right now. River Rock in Belgrade is fine, if you like stamped-out subdivisions with not much character (sorry River Rockians, no offense, it's just not our cup of tea.) I don't think you're setting your sights too high, though. Especially lately, there have been some really good deals in the Bozeman area. I would suggest moving here and renting, or even taking a long vacation if you can afford it so that you know what you're up against. Check out Three Forks and Manhattan - you'd be in for a commute to Bozeman, but at least you'd be able to get some land. I recently saw a solar-powered house (pretty rustic) on acreage in Three Forks for under 200K. (I believe Three Forks is a 20-30 min. drive from Bozeman) And there are a few good jobs in Bozeman, but generally you'll have to accept less pay than you would in most other areas of the country. Telecommuting is a good way to go, if you can do it. I love it here, but man it can be hard if you're not independently wealthy or own your own business. My husband and I have actually thought about buying acreage out of town somewhere and putting up a nice yurt (with electricity) for a few years until we can afford to have a house built. Anyway, best of luck to you.... I hope you find what you are looking for.... like I said, it's around, but you have to search and search and search.
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Old 11-09-2008, 08:10 PM
 
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Hi emmank and rheannad. Thanks for the advice. We are looking for something with a bit of character
I knew on our budget we would be out of town.

My guess is we will end up moving and renting until we can find something that we are looking for. We aren't moving for at least a year so we have some time to gather more information.
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Old 11-10-2008, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Montana
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Bring lots and lots of money... that's what it takes in Bozeman anymore.
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Old 11-12-2008, 10:57 AM
 
Location: SW Montana
355 posts, read 1,142,598 times
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Look carefully in every real estate advert and paper you can pick up. I am starting to notice a few bargains here and there, and people are buying distress properties well under the asking price - know of at least one, is a friend of mine. If you have a stable credit record and/or cash to spend you might get lucky in the coming months. The requirement of an acre of land and no trailers or doublewides could be a problem. Might I suggest taking a look at the new manufactured homes and then checking out some places that are set on foundations and land. Some are built better than the stick housing that has been put up around here.

The other alternative is Livingston but then you deal with the mileage and the pass.
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Old 12-03-2008, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Gaston, North Carolina
4,213 posts, read 5,813,996 times
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Manhattan, Three Forks, Logan, and belgrade sound like your best bet, but looking for a house on an acre of land for about $225,000 will be a tough find right now thanks to our proximity to Big Sky.
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Old 12-13-2008, 07:36 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobinD69 View Post
Manhattan, Three Forks, Logan, and belgrade sound like your best bet, but looking for a house on an acre of land for about $225,000 will be a tough find right now thanks to our proximity to Big Sky.
From looking at real estate that sort of what I figured. Thanks.
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Old 12-13-2008, 07:48 PM
 
Location: North America
39 posts, read 119,979 times
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Why is it so expensive? Montana has so much land and so few people I would think land would be cheap. Here in Middle Tennessee I can buy 30 acres for $30k. I routinely see homes for sale on 15-30 acres here for under $200k.
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Old 12-16-2008, 06:29 AM
 
1,077 posts, read 2,624,040 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Traveler256 View Post
Why is it so expensive? Montana has so much land and so few people I would think land would be cheap. Here in Middle Tennessee I can buy 30 acres for $30k. I routinely see homes for sale on 15-30 acres here for under $200k.

Because so many out of staters are moving to montana. Everyone seems to think montana has so much land available for sale. Another reason that I am seeing is people are moving into montana with the "wild untamed wilderness" way of living idea, hacking it out for a year or so, then moving back to wherever they came from because the "wild untamed wilderness" way of life isn't as magical as it looked on the tube. They build huge fancy log homes on 20 acres, put a fence around that 20 acres, then call it a "ranch" and try selling it as a ranch when it is actually a house on 20 acres that used to be part of a 1000 acre ranch that was sold and subdivided into the new modern "burb". This is exactly why small working families have such a hard time making a living in montana. We are seeing more and more out of staters with money moving in and hard working families moving out of montana. Twenty years ago, you could buy a 3bdrm 2bath house on 5 acres for $150,000. Now you better be ready to choke up $600,000 for the same house because so many people have bought up and subdivided the "wild untamed wilderness".
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