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Newsletter from Montana
March 2006
My husband is in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota since November, and he loves it! He is my Canary to test out the climate in Minnesota. It did not seem too bad, the winters got a lot milder there over the last 20 years or so and this winter was the mildest they had since anyone can remember. We have put a property in escrow there, and therefore we would like to sell our house here in Red Lodge, Montana ASAP - we reduced the price to $ 495,000 - that is $ 40,000 below appraised value, any takers?
I also listed the home with a
historic home site, which impressed me very much.
I am glad these beautiful old homes are being preserved and cared for. They are not making them anymore...
I listed a
Duplex lot of 15,500 sqft
- just one mile from downtown Red Lodge. If you would build a duplex, the current rent for a 2bdr/2 baths unit with garage is $ 850 per month. Maybe you can use half of it for yourself, so you have a place to stay when you come to ski, visit our champion rodeo, participate in our numerous festivals or drive the Beartooth Highway into the Yellowstone Park. $ 95,000
The
5 bedroom/3baths patio home kitty corner from this lot is now for sale for $ 285,000
The manufactured
home in Bridger 3bdr/2baths - half an hour from Red Lodge on a double lot with a double garage and screened in porch reduced the price to $ 86,000
Gardiner is the gateway to Yellowstone's NW Entrance, which is the only Montana entrance to the Park that is open year round. I listed a
Bed and Breakfast there in Jardine, about five miles outside of Gardiner. The B&B is hidden in the middle of an old placer mine, which is now beautifully forested with an old mining camp to explore and a creek to enjoy. The B&B property is almost five acres with the 6,000 sqft house, featuring 10 bedrooms. There are also three older homes on the property which are not currently in use.
We are now six agents in our office. BJ Lyles joined us. She is an old hand in Real Estate and promised to make her brokers license so she can help out with the rest of the crew. BJ sells farms and ranches all over Montana and does not mind the travel as long as you give her a small refundable retainer to cover the expenses.
BJ was born in Lorain, Ohio, attended Ohio University, had her own business in Arizona and since 1999 she lives in Montana, selling Real Estate.
I posted a photo of all of us on our
Contact page, click on our noses and it takes you to each of our biography.
BJ listed a 320 acres ranch north of Red Lodge with 160 irrigated acres and a trout stream running through the middle of it to practice fly fishing. It comes with a log cabin, barn, sheds, corrals and is fully fenced. To top it off, it is at the end of a well maintained county road about 5 miles off the pavement. If you like privacy and would like to run a small guest ranch, or you are looking to subdivide, this would be the ticket. $ 2,400,000
If you enjoy Walleye, you can find millions of them in Baudette, the Walleye Capital of the World, located in northern Minnesota at the Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River. I just listed a
200 acres ranch near there with the East Fork of the Rapid River running through the length of it. The ranch borders State Forest on three sides which is continuous over 2 million acres. The ranch is at the end of a county gravel road. This would make a fantastic hunting camp with bear, deer and birds galore. The hunting stands are already posted strategically along the edges of the meadows. All meadows are lined with trees and so is the river. The ranch takes in both sides for half a mile.
Walleye is the king of all Lake of the Woods fish and the Sauger is its common cousin. Thousands of anglers flock to Lake of the Woods to hunt down a trophy or take a limit home for a delicious meal. Walleye and Sauger can be found just about anywhere on Lake of the Woods, but they move around from rocky reefs to the mud flats according to the season and weather conditions. Experienced anglers use a variety of presentations to capture their limit, but you cannot go wrong using a spinner and minnow in the summer or a jig and minnow in the winter. You can even participate in
angling competitions.
Lake of the Woods has 65,000 miles of shoreline, 14,582 islands, is 90 miles long, 55 miles wide and has some of the best fishing anywhere.
There is a whole website
dedicated to Walleye. I even bought a business listing there.
And then we have Incredible Sturgeon Fishing on the beautiful "Rainy River," which runs along the border between Canada and Minnesota. The Rainy River is so called because the rapids and waterfalls produce so much mist, that it looks like a constant rain.
All of this is about 180 miles north of Detroit Lakes, which actually has somewhat mild winters. It is the Banana (Split ;-) belt of Minnesota. There are 400 lakes in Becker County and 1,200 lakes in Ottertail County, just to the south of it. If you like to see what is available for sale around those lakes; I made searches for different lakes. There are expensive lakes and cheap lakes. What amused me, 5 acres are called a farm, click on the
farm search in the margin.
I assume the ground is so fertile there, anything will grow and 5 acres of land can grow a lot of food. Detroit Lakes is just on the border between the lakes with the sandy beaches and the fertile ground of the Red River Valley to the west. There used to be an inland sea (Lake Agassiz) and when it receded it left some of the most fertile soil in all of America behind.
When you drive through the country side around Detroit Lakes, you encounter gently sloping hills with small farms scattered about. Most of them have one of those old Dutch Colonial Barns and a charming old two story farmhouse in the trees. All the fields are tree lined and interspersed with lakes. You just could not ask for a prettier landscape. Another attraction of Minnesota are its
forests,
they cover almost one-third of its total land area, namely 4 million acres, and are managed to stay healthy, vital, and productive.
If you would like to build a log home, I ran into a company that is involved in the dry log business since 1992. They supply log builders and log home companies nationwide with the dry house logs, sorted to their needs. Typically it is a spruce lodgepole mix 10-12" tops, 30-50+ lengths, sorted for spiral, taper, etc. They ship about 300 truckloads per year. They also provide milled d-log or Swedish cope for the milled log home markets. Those are generally more affordable homes and easier to build. They do not build log homes, but they provide the dry material to builders to manufacture the log home.
Their sort yards are in multiple locations, from Columbia Falls, MT to Quesnell, BC to Thorne Bay, AK. Milling is done in Montana. Office Phone # is 877-389-7748. mdl@3rivers.net
http://www.houselogsales.com/
While there are 300 different bird species in Minnesota, Montana has its share, including hummingbirds. The Rainbow Studio in St. Ignatius, Montana, makes colorful and unique hummingbird feeders out of blown glass for $ 39 each. Their phone number is 406/745 7000 stone@accessmontana.com
The artist is Peter Reuthlinger from Bavaria, where glass blowing is serious business. If you like to use the feeders for promotional gifts, they will give you a 10% discount on a dozen.
At the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota they developed a new
classroom model where they keep the students moving during class. It is supposed to help the children's metabolism and keep obesity at bay. They also seem to learn better that way.
Another education option is coming to Red Lodge as well. Starting in the fall of 2006, the
School of the Beartooths, a private school, is offering Preschool/Kindergarten for ages 3-6, as well as parent/child classes for parents and children ages 0 through 3 years. The programs are based on the Waldorf approach to early childhood development. Email contact@schoolofthebeartooths.org or call 406/446-0213 for more information
Waldorf schools were founded by Rudolf Steiner, who believed that every child learns at his/hers own pace and crafted a school system to reflect this concept and emphasizes the creative faculty of each child. Steiner was a prolific anthroposoph and there is an online
library with his lectures and books. I read many of his books when I lived in Germany, interesting ideas, indeed. He was born in Austria and lived in Germany for most of his life, 1861 to 1925. The Philosophy of Freedom played a leading part in his life. He developed a theory of knowledge out of his own striving for truth and his personal experiences regarding the spiritual nature of thinking. Waldorf schools are very popular in Germany and those that graduate from these schools, are known for their independent thinking and leadership skills.
Rumor has it that by 2030, there will be 80 million more people living in the U.S., real estate is more liquid today than ever before, making the buying and selling of property simple and less costly. With real estate you can leverage your capital, build wealth and take tax advantage. Now I am licensed in four states, to serve you better, give me a call and let me know what kind of property you would like me to find for you. Your dream is out there waiting for you, so take the next step! And if you know of any property that needs to get sold in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana or Wyoming, let me know and lunch is on me!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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