moving to wyoming in the winter (Sheridan, Big Horn: mineral rights, for sale, real estate)

[mikenheidi]

Hey there city data people my family and I are moving to wyoming this winter in jan. we have already looked at the jobs there we are moving to sheridan and from what we have seen it is a lovely place to live and raise a family we have 5 children ranging from 3 to 18 we just want to know what its like out west I am from the east coast and my wife is from england we are looking to completely absorb the way of life and want to make life long friends so i guess I am just wondering what people in wyoming like to do I love to hunt fish camp all things out doors my wife is a little more of a home body but living here on the coast we have a real bad mosquito infestation over here and the crime here is awful we want to settle down in a nice quiet place with friendly people and a wondering if you can give us an inside view of what we can expect from wyoming itself and its people can anyone help us?

[sunsprit]

Have you located jobs already that are commensurate with the housing and standard of living that you will require for a family of 7?

[NW Crow]

Sheridan is an attractive target. Rental housing may be challenging given what folks have said in earlier threads. Do you need 4 bedrooms or more? I'd definitely try to secure that before moving the family. Of course moving in January will be challenging too, much more so than say April / May. Good luck.

[ElkHunter]

Sheridan is a beautiful place to raise a family. There is so much to do that if you can't find something to do, EVERY DAY, then you need to take the blinders off and open the front door.

I live in a little 480 sq ft cabin and never experience cabin fever. I am outside every day, winter, summer, whatever. I look at the thermometer every morning, not to determine of I'm going outside, because I am going outside, but more to determine how many layers I'm going to put on for the day. But you do have to get out and about. A working person doesn't have much choice, but a home body will go nuts stuck inside.

There are a lot of things to do in Sheridan to keep busy. Volunteer at the hospital, the senior center, meals on wheels, etc... Very fullfilling time to put in and only takes a very little time out of your week.

Sheridan has a walkway built almost the entire length of the town, right along the creek. Very beautiful walk that goes through several parks in town. The largest park is Kendrick and during the summer, you'll find the ice cream better then anyplace in the state. At least I think so. Next to Kendrick is the public pool for swimming during the summer. They normally try to open the first week of June, but history tells us that many times we still had snow on the first week of June so it was delayed.

Sheridan has a very large mall. It's called "Down Town" and spans about 4 city blocks where you can walk up one side of the street and visit stores that sell anything and everything, and then cross at the light and walk back down the other side. Sidewalk cafe's, coffee shops, clothing, sporting goods, bicycle shops, fly shops, shoe shops, everything you couple possibly want.

Schools in Wyoming are some of the best in the nation. Because of how the funding is divided up they are all on a even playing field, so smaller schools are funded just as well as the larger schools. Sheridan's Junior High has an olympic sized swimming pool, inside, for the diving team and swimming team. The teacher student ratio is 1 teacher for every 13 students. Not a bad number. Only one middle school, only one high school, you get the best of all classes. It's not like some towns that the math and science school is over there and the arts school is over there. We're all in one so you get everything.

Sheridan's weather can, and will get bad, from time to time, but it being close to the Big Horn Mountains, the heavy storms tend to hit the mountains, bounce over Sheridan and dump east of town. Sheridan can get 3-4 inches and Clearmont gets 14 inches of snow. But there are times that it doesn't bounce and then Sheridan gets hammered. Last year, 8-10 inches was a heavy snow and only happened a couple times. Normally 3-4 inches, period of warm to melt it down some, then a couple inches, melt it down, is the cycle all winter. If I remember correctly the interstate was closed a half dozen times due to blowing snow visibility, not snow accumulation. Sheridan, once that I remember, had no uneccessary travel within the city and that was only for a few hours. Sheridan has an excellent snow removal system. When it starts snowing, the plows start running. They keep major roads from interstate to hospital open, fire and ambulance North/South, East/West main roads plowed as it snows. If they are able to keep them open they then spread onto secondary streets and keep school roads open. Again, if they can keep those open, they expend into snow routes through neighborhoods. Sheridan removes snow from these routes, they do not blade them up and block your driveway.

Shopping in Sheridan is excellent, by Wyoming standards. However, Billings Montana is 140 miles up the road and they have Sams, Costco, etc... for major shopping, and by the way, Montana has no sales tax. So a nice Saturday drive up to Billings for lunch and major shopping is the norm about once a month.

I'm sure you have a thousand questions. We have several members on here that are local and I'm sure they'll jump in with their 2 cents. I will warn you, I tend to like Sheridan more then some. But then again I've traveled and I've lived in most of the states. Big, little, good and bad. We don't have it too bad in Sheridan.

[Sunshinegirl4650atY]

The good thing about moving in the winter is ther are usually a lot of rentals or places for sale that time of the year.

I don't think women that are homebodies ever get cabin fever, it is where they want to be!

[mikenheidi]

thank you so much for your reply that is awsome my wife does not want to be a home body but the bugs here are terrible but thanks for your post that helps alot thank you to everyone else as well we are very excited we want to buy a home out there and sheridan is the place for us we really cant wait to move there everything seems to be wonderful except the rental prices but you take the good with the bad when you start over right so thanks again to everyone you all have a wonderful day.wait ok you told me all about the town and i really cant wait to try some ice cream but what are the folks like out there are they as friendly as you folks have been i really really hope so my family is a quiet one and very shy im not i am outgoing but reserved i just hope everyone is as friendly as you folks

[ElkHunter]

Folks in Wyoming, as a general rule, are quiet. They judge people on how good of a neighbor they are. How well they keep up their place, willingness to help others, willingness to get out and meet people. Folks in Wyoming will offer advice when asked, but they tend to tell you once and then see what you do with it.

Most everybody I've met have been very friendly, but reserved until they get to know you. Of course, there are always some that are not that way, but usually they are not from here and when they moved in, they took that reserved attitude from others, as stand offiness. Which it really isn't.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you walk down the street and almost everybody you meet will say something from a simple howdy, to a how are you today type thing.

[Wyomama2]

In my experience with the east coast I think you'll find Wyoming people to be very friendly and helpful. People will actually strike up a conversation with a stranger, you don't get much of that out east. I love your enthusiasm, good luck on your move!

[mikenheidi]

Hello again everyone I have been reading and reading different posts on here about wyoming and i just have a couple more questions about some things is it really true that real estate agents do not have to disclose everything about a home when you want to buy or sell if so how can that be I thought discloser was a federal law?how does that change the aspects of buying a home should i get my own people to let me know what a home is really werth I have never owned my own home so buying one in wyoming would be my first and I so do not want to get totally ripped off what would be the best way to go about this type of thing?

[ElkHunter]

My experience with real estate people is that they usually will answer questions to the best of their ability. However, if you don't ask, they may or may not tell you the whole story.

Before you talk to a realitor, make a list of everything you want to know. Don't just wing it. Make the list and then hold their feet to the fire and make them answer every question on your list. Take notes, write more questions as you go as they answer something, you might want more detail.

Obviously, not 100% of the realitors are crooks. But, like Sunsprit siad, most are.

I've had pretty good experiences in Sheridan. But I bought a home, on a lot. It wasn't investment property, it wasn't land I wanted to develope, I wasn't going to grow crops or cattle so water rights weren't an issue, irrigation wasn't an issue, mineral rights were not an issue.

If you do your homework and look at a place first, put your list together and then visit the realitor, you should do fine. As long as it is what you want, some details will not be important.