Montana, here I come!

		Newsletter from Montana January 2005 Many years ago, in Scotland, a new game was invented. The rules stated: "Gentlemen Only; Ladies Forbidden," and thus the word GOLF entered the English language Whether you are a male or female, you are allowed to play golf at the Red Lodge Country Club Estates, where I have recently listed this fully furnished townhouse across from the club house. $ 152,000 with 1,250 sqft with two baths, separate entrance for one bedroom, Jacuzzi, ash floors, custom doors and more! The Country Club includes an eighteen-hole golf course. If you would like more information, take a look at the ski page. Here is a little history on the Red Lodge golf course: It was first developed in the early 1980's by a group of Billings area developers. The first nine holes of the golf course opened in the summer of 1982. The marketing campaign included media advertising, open houses and celebrity parties. The developers also offered free lifetime family golf memberships with the purchase of a lot. They were fairly successful in marketing the lots to Red Lodge residents, as well as to the entire region, selling them as potential second home developments or investments. The expansion of the Red Lodge Ski Mountain was another selling point. Some advertising pitches included: "Red Lodge is about to be discovered," "Red Lodge will be the next Aspen or Vail," "Get in on the ground floor," etc. The ski resort truly was an undiscovered gem, and lot sales went well in the early stages. By 1983 about 70% of the available lots were sold and the second nine holes of the golf course were opened. Then, things began to change. The developers were under-funded and developing and maintaining an eighteen-hole golf course with a small local membership base was draining their finances. The free golf memberships offered were not doing anything to support the operation of the golf course. They seemed to be in trouble. In 1984, the management of the golf operation was taken over by the ski resort. They grew the golf business and then turned the management back over to the developers three years later. Lot sales continued but at a very slow pace. Only one condo development and about twenty homes had been built on the golf course by that time. By the end of the late 1980's they were in financial trouble again. They declared bankruptcy, which caused the whole development to crumble. There were wild speculations that it would all be turned back into pastures, and that the streets would be torn up. Real estate sales slowed to a trickle and the golf course itself was not well maintained. At the time, it was the largest bankruptcy seen in a Montana court. The bankruptcy dragged on into the mid 1990's. In the meantime, however, the ski resort was expanding aggressively. To help fund the ski area expansion plans, they purchased the golf course out of bankruptcy in the summer of 1995. Undeveloped real estate amounted to more than 60% of the golf course area, and its new owners immediately went to work marketing the lots and developing additional lots for sale. Real estate started to move again. A phased plan of lot build-out was developed, and each year additional lots were offered on the market. The new lots were larger, and the developers convinced the city to annex the golf course, giving all the lots city services. The local market peaked in 1997. The first phase of the ski area development had been completed, but by 1999, the ski resort had seen several slim snow years. While the expansion had been well received, the lack of snow had affected cash flow to a point that the expansion at the resort was grinding to a halt. In the fall of 1999, the Board of Directors at the ski resort had a falling out over the expansion and debt load and made a change in management. The Board was restructured to place more emphasis on retention of the status quo than on expansion. They are now focusing on debt reduction and have no current plans to move forward with their previous expansion plans. This management style has also been put into effect at the golf course. While about 40% of the golf course real estate remains to be developed, the resort is showing no signs of developing any in the near future. In fall of 2002 they sold all of their remaining undeveloped lots to two investors in an effort to increase their operating capital. Right now, nine new townhomes are being built on a good half acre each and are priced between $275,000 and $284,000 for 1,620 sqft - and they are NOT furnished! The plot thickens on that little farmstead in Boyd. We found that the well pumps twenty gallons per minute. If you are interested in that little fifty-five acre place, take a number, the line forms to the right! $295,000 The Bickford Ranch is being split into two sellable parcels; the final survey should be done by next week. One parcel will be about 61 acres with irrigation rights, year round creek, three ponds, mountain views and a beautiful 3,600 sqft log home with a 50 x100 steel shop about 8 miles north of Red Lodge for $ 697,000 - The Montana dream come true! and then there is the old homestead snuggling up by the creek on approximately 36 acres with a year round stream, barn, apple orchard, huge loafing shed, corrals and of course the old farm house. The farm house is constructed of logs at the turn of the century, but now has a metal siding. Especially nice is the spring on the property, it has its own little house and spouts out water at a rapid rate year round. All buildings have brand new blue steel roofs. $ 295,000 My new listing in Nye is a rugged hunter special. It is a DRAMATIC setting with a blue ribbon trout stream running through the property, lined with aspen and Douglas fir. The cedar-sided cabin is spacious with four bedrooms, a two car garage, and a shop. However, it is not for the faint of heart in regards to architectural design and décor. The cabin is situated on an old Native American camp at the back side of a Buffalo Jump. The area is swarming with elk, moose and deer, and even the Canadian Lynx made his home there.. There are many black bears, pheasants and upland birds. The property is not quite an acre, but you do not need much acreage if you have 3.2 million acres of wilderness around you and you are one hour from civilization. The owners would take a motor home or travel trailer 29-33 ft in trade! $185,000 I have changed my donations program, and the 1% of my commissions that was being donated to the local Boys and Girls Club is now going to local youth and the handicapped. Now, when the high school requires funds for someone who cannot afford a field trip, Eagle Mount needs an extra boost for their handicapped children, or the Boys and Girls ranch needs extra funding, I have the flexibility to help where it is needed. I am a firm believer in the phrase, "Do all that you have agreed to do," and now I can help more organizations that are in tight spots. Take a look at these melon carvings Doesn't that look delicious? Speaking of which, now you can have your own business and eat it too! All the machinery, supplies, wrapping, customer list and know how comes with it. It is the established Homestead Candy business, and you may base it in YOUR home! Work with Belgian Chocolate! $85,000. The more you work, the more you make! I found a government website that features food recalls, in case you are interested: According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, 41% of the state' wages and salary jobs are with companies employing fewer than 20 people. Some 75% are with businesses employing fewer than 100. Businesses of all sizes and types are expected to flourish in Montana's economy within the next decade. The state estimates, however, that between 2000 and 2010 its service sector will provide the greatest number of new jobs, due to both industry growth and the need for replacement workers. Montana's Top 10 Occupations 2000-2010 Occupations………………..Job Openings per year Retail Sales persons………...….933 Cashiers……………………..…627 Waiters &Waitresses…..........533 Child Care Workers.....……..…443 General&Operation Mgr…..... 441 Supervisors of retail…….....…..410 Carpenters………………….…404 Food Preparation……………..364 Truck drivers……………….…347 Registered Nurses………….....322 Property taxes for residences in Montana do not have a simple formula. They are taxing the re-appraised increase from the year before only at 16.66% of the increase. If the property falls under the homestead exemption, only 69% of the appraised value will be taxed. The taxable value after all of these calculations is 3.4% of the appraised value and the tax rate then is .425. Go figure :-) If your annual income is below $ 17,670 (single) or $ 23,560 (married) you can apply for exemptions. I could not find the form on the government website, so I put it on my website to download as a .pdf file. Or you can get it at your local county offices. All other government forms can be found at the website of the Montana Department of Revenue As I announced in my last newsletter, the girls and I are going to Germany from February 14-24. Our vacation home is on an island in a very old town. Supposedly, there is an Internet Cafe, so I hope to stay in touch. My husband is staying here, he has a real estate license, and he will be happy to help you out, if you would like to arrive or call during that time. Red Lodge now has its own license plate, which feature the ski runs on Red Lodge Mountain, the limestone palisades, Red Lodge's historical lighting, and two turn of the century facades. It is available for purchase throughout the state of Montana. I wish they had put an antique airplane into the sky, because we are restoring them and bringing them back to live here at our airport (KRED). The license plate was designed by Nancy DesRosiers, who has her own local business, specializing in logos and signage: Bee in a Bottle Illustrations, Creative Solutions for Busy Bees I put links to the weather around Montana on my Vitals page, along with direct links to the various newspapers around the state. I am proud to say that Red Lodge always stays a few degrees warmer in winter than the rest of the state, and in summer, a few degrees cooler. Take a look, it is fun to watch. It shows the temperatures of Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Red Lodge, all at the same time. I also found a nifty java script again. Now when you look at my "contact" page, a clock will follow your mouse I added area and topographical maps, as well as aerial photos to the land in the Pryors. My website got so popular; I have well over 15,000 visitors a month, which amounts to over 40,000 hits per day. My server got the hick-ups because of it and I had to move my website to a more powerful server. Hence, for a day or so my website was out of commission because of the move. I love moving on the Internet though, no boxes to pack, no U-Haul to rent, just a matter of firing up my little .ftp program and tweaking a few files :-) Tanja, my 12-year old, found a website, called "Where is George?" If you enter the serial number of a dollar bill there, it will show where it goes and where it has been. She just sent me an email, her dollar bill was found! Tanja, wanted to spend her earned money on a CD player with a radio, so she did some research on www.overstock.com and froogle.google.com which will show you where you can buy the same thing for the best possible price. Aren't 12-year olds great? In Germany they are making a BIG fuss over cell phones and how they are destroying our brain cells, causing Alzheimer at an early age, cancer of the brain, and on and on it goes. Here, the phenomena is kind of hushed over, but reading about all those studies on German websites makes me wonder. I think I will start to use earphones or speaker phones instead of holding that little monster right next to my head. I bought "Blue Tooth," which is a small earphone that hangs over your ear and connects to the cell phone. You can buy an adapter if you do not have a "blue tooth enabled" cell phone. You do not need a microphone, if you speak with a normal voice, the earphone will pick up your speech through your ear! To answer the phone, you just tap the little thing on your ear, and that is how you hang up, too. Also very popular in Germany are salt lamps and large chunks of rose quartz with a candle in it. Both supposedly counteract radiation from the computer and other electronic devices, which reportedly interferes with our own system. Some people are more sensitive then others, and they have trouble sleeping because of the radiation. Salt lamps are also sold here in the US. I bought a big one for the office and one for the house. Their website states: "Himalayan Salt Crystal Lamps have a similar effect as an ionizer. These lamps emit negative ions to their surroundings. Salt crystal lamps are stunningly shaped salt crystal rocks formed by nature over hundreds of millions of years ago. They are mined 800 meters underground in salt rock mines in Asia and Europe. They emit an earthly glow, naturally ionize and purify air, act as color therapy, reduce computer radiation, fatigue, migraines, allergies, etc. If the lamp is next to a television or computer monitor, its effect, through its electromagnetic field, of the device is approximately in the 100-160Hz frequencies. Our brain waves, however, produce only 8Hz according to the Schuman resonance frequency. Therefore, the body is exposed to up to 20 times higher frequency patterns than in its normal state. This exposure results in nervousness, insomnia and difficulty to concentrate. In addition, there will be an accumulation of free radicals in the body, known to be a cause of cancer. The salt crystal lamp binds the negative ions with the excess positive ions. When the lamp becomes warm, it absorbs moisture and the crystal will be damp on the surface. This builds up the ion field. Tests made with children having ADHD symptoms have shown that after only one week of exposure to negative ions their symptoms subsided." Interesting, but I would take it with a grain of salt :-) At any rate, it would make a nice Valentine's Day gift, the lamps are VERY decorative. Have a sterling month of February until my next newsletter, reporting from our trip to Germany. :-) Best Regards, Dorothea Lowe, Broker More Newsletters
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