Getting ready to pull the trigger (Missoula, Bozeman: rent, buy, contractor)

[historyfan]

Winters vary from year to year and also from one part of Montana to another. I've known people who had never experienced the once every so often brutal MT winter & could not believe how bad it was when they did.

The big thing is not having to travel for work, kids to school, livestock to feed, etc. Since yoi're retired you can watch the weather forecast and stay home where it's warm.
If you are well stocked, then staying in with a roaring fire is a fine way to spend the cold snaps. I would advise keeping a full pantry, generator enough to run a few things in case power goes out, and an alternative heat source like a wood stove with several cords of wood.

I would rent just to allow more time to find what you want. Plus it is common to hear about a place through word of mouth....like so & so is going to sell their grandfather's fishing cabin down by the river...and that is exactly the piece of property you were looking for.

[formerbear]

Really good advice. Thanks everyone. I am on the westside of the state. Not cold over here but wet, long, wet, gray, wet and windy. Cold weather doesnt bother me but the wet just wears on you. I have inquired on a couple if rentals and it sounds like that is the way to go first. Not a lot to choose from especially with wood heat.
I am in no hurry so I will just keep looking. Thanks again.

[AirborneVespa]

Most Montana winters aren't endlessly gray, wet, and windy (ok, most are windy at times). I loved Montana winters in the Butte area. Compared to an east coast winter in, say, MD or WV or OH or DC or NY a Montana winter was a vacation. There's nothing like being able to rake leaves on a 20 degree day in a t-shirt and actually get a sun burn. On the East coast you're bundled up at 50 degrees. First time I went back east I went camping and it was 54 degrees at night and I couldn't get warm enough.

That said it's a huge state with a ton of different climate areas. You can experience 10-30 degree differences in an hour's drive.

If you don't have to work outside in it and have indoor plumbing you'll probably enjoy a Montana winter though I will admit they are long. You're into sub freezing temps at night until June it seems and they start in mid October. The days are nice but the nights are cold (hence the short growing season despite feeling very very warm during the day).

[formerbear]

Sounds like fun to me. I can handle cold. Its the wet here that gets to you. Wipers on every time you get in your truck. Rubber boots, umbrellas, eye glasses wet all the time, your dogs hair wet and smelly all the time and on and on. And, I have yet to meet one montanan that wasnt as nice as could be. Talked to a 79 year old gentleman tonight about a rental he has near Divide. Complete stranger and we shot the bull for 45 minutes! By the time we got done talking I felt like we were buds. I know I will bump into a bad one eventually, but dang people are nice in Montana. I first wanted to be over there for the hunting and beautiful country. Now I want to be over there to be around nice, positive people. I better quit, I'm getting a little gushy here.��

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by formerbear

Sounds like fun to me. I can handle cold. Its the wet here that gets to you. Wipers on every time you get in your truck. Rubber boots, umbrellas, eye glasses wet all the time, your dogs hair wet and smelly all the time and on and on. And, I have yet to meet one montanan that wasnt as nice as could be. Talked to a 79 year old gentleman tonight about a rental he has near Divide. Complete stranger and we shot the bull for 45 minutes! By the time we got done talking I felt like we were buds. I know I will bump into a bad one eventually, but dang people are nice in Montana. I first wanted to be over there for the hunting and beautiful country. Now I want to be over there to be around nice, positive people. I better quit, I'm getting a little gushy here.��

Completely understandable. Same reason I moved to Golden Valley County from Helena. I looked at the piece of ground I ended up buying and went into the local cafe for lunch. Turned into a 3 hour chat with a bunch of the locals. I went out to my truck and called my broker to make the offer.

It was like talking to a bunch of old friends I'd just met.

I love small town Montana. Best people on earth.

[formerbear]

��

[formerbear]

Anyone have any experience with medical care in the Butte area? I think somewhere I read Anaconda provides better care unless you go Bozeman, Missoula or Helena?

[historyfan]

Surprisingly, Dillon has great medical for its size. Think the blue ribbon trout streams attract them.
Butte & Anaconda & Deer Lodge not so great. (Ducking now for Vespa response) &Bozeman is, of course, great.
Most of the little town's have crackerjack volunteer ambulances services with EMTs who stabilize & haul you to a hospital or landing pad for life flight helicopter.

[formerbear]

��

[leastprime]

Be sure you can get a well and a septic approval. In Oregon, a well can not be within x feet of a septic drain field. Also in our location, the aquifer is not replenishing and the state land and natural resources had proposed a restriction to the number of wells in the area.