montana country living: Rural Montana Living, What's Happening in this market?
- 02/21/11 03:20 AM
I've taken a look at the 2 acres or more small acreage residential activity for within a 75 mile radius of Billings Montana. Winter is typically a difficult period for this market and the numbers for the last 90 days demonstrate this as well. The best 90 day moving average is in the under $150,000 price range with an average of 13% of the homes on the market closing each month. Over $350,000 only 2 homes have closed in the last 90 days out of a total of 79 listings. I expect these homes to pick up in sales as the … (1 comments)
montana country living: What are your options if you think your water well's gone dry in Montana?
- 02/09/11 10:08 AM
Rural Montana homeowners have limited community sources for domestic water, so most rely on private wells (unless they use cisterns). So it's not uncommon for this very important utility to cause a problem or two, especially the older the water well. What can you do if you start to have troubles with water production? Is your well going dry? Has the casing fallen in? Has the well pump broke? Some areas are very much affected by the season of the year and of course the amount of rain/snow fall. We've had a good amount of moisture the last 18 months in … (5 comments)
montana country living: Why do you need a cistern waiver to close my FHA home loan purchase?
- 02/02/11 02:22 PM
Some people are totally surprised that some of the rural areas of Yellowstone County have limited access to good drinking water. Sometimes the reason is simply that if you drill a well, you may not find water if you drill, and drill and drill. It gets pretty expensive to just keep drilling! Sometimes the water that you do reach is of insufficient quantity and what may be worse, it has too many yucky solids in it to be good for you. Sometimes the cost of the well prohibits some landowners from even trying to drill a well. The next best … (10 comments)
montana country living: Electric heat in homes is a tough sell in Montana
- 01/18/11 01:32 PM
The resale value on homes with electric heat is a big problem in Montana. People are very scared of the electric bills, especially when they hear claims of bills for a 2,000 square foot home at $300 per month or more during the winter. About the only all electric homes that seem to do well, are those that have heat pumps with propane tanks for back up heat when it gets really cold. The electric ground source heat pumps are actually more efficient and a much better value for home resales. We didn't always have this issue, and in fact, there … (4 comments)
montana country living: Do you say minutes or miles?
- 01/08/11 06:53 AM
How far is it to Lewistown? 110 miles or 2 hours (if you stop in Harlowtown at the burger joint). I'm doing a little experiment to find out if the distance to a destination is explained in minutes (hours) or miles. Why? Sometimes I wonder if this measurement is gender determined, country lingo or what? Do people who live in big cities measure miles or time? I'm just curious. When I "go to town" it only takes me 20 minutes to get downtown and about 30 minutes to get to the west-end, I have no idea how many miles it is??? … (8 comments)
montana country living: What Not To Put Down Your Drain When You Live On Country Plumbing
- 06/16/10 05:14 AM
Your sewer system in the country is a finely tuned community of microorganisms, and you don't want to mess them up! Think before you flush or pour certain things down the drain. Read up on the structure and care of septic systems in Montana by linking to this MontGuide from Montana State University Extension Service publication.
The Killers! fats or oils pesticides bleach in large quantities (a little in the white cycle followed by detergent on occassion is ok) solvents paints, rinse your brushes outside acids gasoline antifreeze toxic household chemicals pharmaceuticals The Cloggers! Tampons sanitary napkins kitty litter … (5 comments)
montana country living: Country Living In The Bull Mountains of Montana
- 04/24/10 04:36 AM
The Bull Mountains are located about 30 miles North of Billings Montana in Musselshell County. The dream of living the country lifestyle at an affordable price happens here in this part of Montana. An established home on more than 5 acres starts at about $175,000 and up. Log homes are more prevalent in this setting, they just look good surrounded by all of the deer, turkeys and on occasion, big elk! Ponderosa Pines Grass meadows State Land BLM Land Ranches, big and small Small Acreage tracts Wells in many areas for domestic use Lots of coal mining history Signal Peak Coal … (3 comments)
montana country living: An Introduction To Well And Septic Systems For Country Living In Montana
- 11/11/09 10:12 AM
Just lately I was showing a country property when the buyer asked the question "where does the water for the house come from? And where does it go when you're done with it?" While I'm quite comfortable with country plumbing, I could tell the buyer was really working hard to visualize what the heck I was talking about.
Link to Montana State University Website Video This video is about 16 minutes long and is very well done. I have started to direct inquires about country living to this page online. I hope you enjoy it. There are some parts … (0 comments)
montana country living: Small Town Football With Big Numbers, Again, 249 to 0
- 10/06/09 02:38 PM
Huntley Project High School Burned to the Ground a year ago September 18th 2008. Since then the kids have been in trailer classrooms. The community has rallied together to build a pretty nice school with a groundbreaking ceremony this Friday at the building site in Worden at 8:30. Despite this rather tough situation, the Huntley Project Red Devils managed to defeat a host of other Montana Class B Football teams last year and become State Champs. I'm just wondering what will happen this year! After 5 games so far, the Huntley Project Red Devils point totals are 249, the opposing teams … (2 comments)
montana country living: Please Don't Feed The Deer
- 06/03/09 09:52 AM
I know they're cute, and they can really look scrawny sometimes, but the State of Montana Fish and Game Department is warning that it's illegal to feed the deer! Our hearts are softened by the curiosity and almost approachable wild animals we have around here. I would never have thought of feeding the deer (they eat enough of my landscaping as it is), but some folks feel the need to coach the animals into their yard so that they can enjoy watching them. We all know it's wrong and some just hope they don't get caught. The Department of Fish and … (1 comments)
montana country living: Those bloomin lilacs tell ya it's safe to plant!
- 05/26/09 01:31 PM
I wish I would've known about this last year! Maybe we wouldn't of froze the tops off our tomatoes and beans! I don't know if it's folklore, farmer/gardener lore or something my mother should have told me, but apparently the lilacs blooming are a signal that it's safe to plant here in Montana. I think this is true for other parts of the country as well! I talked my husband into some raised beds this year, mostly so that I can cover the plants that I want to keep early in the fall to protect them from frost. We had late … (2 comments)
montana country living: Subdivision spotlight: Eagle Bend of the Yellowstone
- 04/02/09 03:23 PM
Yes the Yellowstone, the wild and wonderful River that flows out of Yellowstone National Park. Small acreage lots, several right on the River, all within an easy walk right down to the water. Wildlife abounds, if you like to take pictures, you'll never run out of material here. Location: 15 minutes north of the Billings Heights, easy commute to the largest metro area in Montana, Billings. Age of Homes: Newer subdivision, homes built 2003 to present Style of Homes: Most of these homes are custom built, some very large. Styles vary from traditional ranch, multilevel and log. Great place for a … (3 comments)
montana country living: Part 1: 2009 Montana Gopher War
- 03/20/09 12:55 PM
My pellet gun is loaded, and even though I know I can't win this war with a gun, I will use all means legally necessary to win! 2008 almost made me want to jump into a "Honey I shrunk the kids" machine with a shotgun and cruise down the gopher holes in my yard (a few acres) and go hunting. In Montana we call Richardson's Ground Squirrels "gophers". They are rodents!!! Not to be confused with prairie dog or pocket gopher. These gophers are very destructive: in Montana a single pair of ground squirrels and their offspring can remove a quarter … (14 comments)
This is where I write updates and information about Montana Living. Sometimes you'll see Real Estate stuff (my business) and sometimes you'll see Montana Local Events, Montanaisms and what I see and do when I travel around our state.
You will definitely see stuff about huckleberry picking, a family tradition, and quilting, my personal passion.
I've taken a look at the 2 acres or more small acreage residential activity for within a 75 mile radius of Billings Montana. Winter is typically a difficult period for this market and the numbers for the last 90 days demonstrate this as well.
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