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Newsletter from Montana - Minnesota
April 2007
This was a busy month; we listed two businesses, two large tracts of land and one vacation rental. Also I was interviewed regarding vacation rentals in Montana and it will be broadcasted via podcast.
I also put the interview on my website, which I made for the
vacation rental here in Red Lodge.
The vacation rental I listed is almost new, a rare find in Old Town. Most of the homes in downtown Red Lodge are around 100 years old. Downtown Red Lodge is out of the wind snuggled in a canyon and all the stores and restaurants are within a few blocks. This home was built in 2003 as a vacation rental. It has five bedrooms, three baths, two kitchens, sauna, hot tub and a double garage. To keep with the looks of the old homes, the owner installed hardwood floors throughout, used the style of the old square molding for windows and doors, installed two arched windows and a cozy front porch. The yard is decorated with boulders, hence the name "Boulder Guest House." Red Lodge had a record February, and ALL vacation rentals, hotels and motels were booked to the hilt, with a 100% occupancy rate. March was a little slower but things are heating up again as the snow is finally melting.
Oh, I just received a phone call, somebody wants to sell his 20,000 acres ranch for $ 5,500,000 - it runs 450 to 500 mother cows! Let me know if you are interested, sounds like a steal to me!
If you like to live in Montana, but need to buy yourself a job, I just listed a big
automotive shop
in Billings. The 6,000sqft fabulously set up building with hoists and paint booth is situated near a business route on almost a full acre. There are several tow trucks that go with the property along with 45 impound contracts. The shop does restorations, modifications, repairs, overhauls and there is a collection of 1973-87 Chevy Trucks for parts. There is nothing automotive related this shop will not do, including audio and glass. If cars are not your gig - maybe you know somebody who would be interested? Turnkey!
In Minnesota, I listed a
profitable nursery
in Park Rapids. Park Rapids is just as cute as Red Lodge, except it is surrounded by lakes, forests, farms and rolling hills instead of mountains. There is even a German restaurant and an Amish furniture store, my goodness, they have beautiful things and the food at the Schwarzwald Inn is excellent! At any rate, the nursery is next to the fairgrounds at the edge of town on almost 12 acres with a store, greenhouses, shop, sheds, irrigation wells and a home for the owner. They also do landscaping and they grow most of the plants they sell themselves. Its quite an operation!
Minnesota has 16 ethanol plants and there are five more currently under construction, so any farmground is an excellent investment. The
775 softly rolling acres
Mike Olson listed has 9,000 feet of lakefront even. Since the land is located between Detroit Lakes and Moorhead/Fargo it would make an excellent development property as well, but the owner would also lease it back for $ 100 per acre! If 775 acres are too much, he'll sell you just part of it.
There is a nice subdivision south on the same lake, where Mike has some lots and spec homes listed as well, I did not put those on my website, since he took pictures of it on a foggy day in winter…. The land is actually quite picturesque. The homes that are already there are very nice. The lots are around two acres and sell anywhere from $ 10,000 to $ 80,000. Spec homes, which are not built yet, can be had for $ 140,000 and up. We should have some better photos shortly, since it was almost 80 degrees there at the end of April! In the meantime you can
look at them on the MLS.
Then we have
151 acres as hunting and investment property near Appleton, Minnesota with 8,000 feet on Lake Henry. THIS IS PHEASANT COUNTRY! 116 acres are enrolled in the CREP Program (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) which pays close to $14,000 each year for the next eleven years! This program planted over 15 different varieties of wildflowers and natural grasses. The vegetation has now grown to about 4 feet in height and provides excellent habitat for pheasants, waterfowl and deer. There is a cabin on the property, so if you want to stay for a while, you can! Lake Henry is 220 acres and 9 feet deep. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has used the lake as a rearing pond for walleyes. Build your dream home there and watch the water fowl!
Since we joined the Fargo, North Dakota, MLS and the Bemidji MLS along with the Detroit Lakes MLS, I revamped our website so you can do
searches on all those systems.
We are also members of a Minneapolis MLS and I will post the information on it later this month.
Just north of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, is the
White Earth Reservation.
The Reservation's Land Recovery Project is an initiative to preserve the land, language and spiritual and cultural heritage of the Ojibwe people. It is spearheaded by Winona LaDuke, a renowned political activist and author. My daughter Tuula heard her give a talk at the University of Oregon - small world. When Tuula wrote to me about the experience, she said: "The Land Recovery Project is developing a tribal economy independent of outside resources, based on local farms and alternative energy. LaDuke's main message was: there are many problems to focus on in the world, but promoting solutions is a much better way to address these issues. Check it out; I think it's pretty exciting. The media seems to be especially problem-oriented these days; this is one of those projects that will make you feel hopeful for a change - and they offer internships!"
Montana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 2.0% in March 2007 from 2.5% in February. The U.S. rate decreased slightly to 4.4% from 4.5% over the month. I posted a
chart with the unemployment rates
of each county in Montana.
There will be a wild horse auction again in Helena on June 16, 2007 at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. About 30 to 40 wild horses and 10 wild burros are expected to be auctioned to the public. The minimum bid is $125 per animal, and the price tag increases from there. The BLM is trying to get horses out of Oregon, but they may come from Wyoming or possibly Nevada. The horses will receive standard vaccinations and their health will be checked before the auction. They also will have a "freeze mark" on their necks similar to a brand that identifies each horse, lists the state where it was captured and the year the horse was born. The BLM is trying to get horses out of Oregon, but they may come from Wyoming or possibly Nevada. If you would like to adopt an animal, you need to fill out an application, and have it approved prior to the June 16 event. Buyers need to have adequate facilities, which include 400 square feet of corral per animal, a 6-foot fence for horses and 5-foot for burros, with some type of wind and sun shelter. There are also special stipulations for transporting the wild animals, something similar to a four-horse trailer. After a year, the BLM conducts inspections to ensure the horses are being adequately cared for and have been gentled enough for medical treatments. Successful candidates will then be able to complete the adoptions. Even though this will be the only auction this year in Montana, other BLM field offices sell wild horses and burros. Check the schedule for the next sale near you.
If you have a business and you would like to have your website show up in first position on a Google search, call Ron Way at NetBiz (888 ) 847-2226 x 1196 direct 503/718 2382 Or send him an email rway@netbiz.com
He can tell you which search phrase would bring the most traffic to your website. Each search phrase costs $ 50 and up, depending on how hot the search phrase is. The traffic to my Minnesota website doubled since I subscribed to his services. Mention my name and I get a month free :-)
Alternative energy is growing by leaps and bounds. When I drove to Fort Benton, in northern Montana a few days ago to sell the butcher shop I have listed there, I passed by a very impressive wind farm. Investors seem to have noticed something residents of the area have known for years - there is a lot of wind up here.
We hear a lot about wind and solar but there are other sources of renewable energy as well. Oregon State University is working to capture the energy of the
waves in the ocean,
an idea that has more potential than you might think:
Here are some statistics: One square meter of solar radiation (powering a photovoltaic cell or heating water) produces 100 Watts of power. A square meter of wind (turning a turbine) produces 1000 Watts. A square meter of ocean waves (moving a device like those proposed in Oregon) produces 20,000 Watts.
More information on wave energy:
I do not know if you have noticed, but I also have a toll free
fax number now.
The fax arrives in my inbox as a PDF attachment, and I can check it from anywhere on the Web if I am on the road. Its only $ 10 a month for a 100 faxed pages!
Have a wonderful month of May and hopefully I will meet you soon!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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