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Newsletter from Montana - Minnesota
May 2009
Time to move to the country! I have an 80 acres farm listed in the NE corner of Montana, six miles from Plentywood. Regina in Canada is two hours north and Williston in North Dakota is an hour and a half to the east. The ranch has cropland, and the local farmer pays the owners $1,500 a year to rent it. They also have an alfalfa field, and the owner and farmer share the crop in lieu of payment. There are two ponds on the property; one has a well for refills if it should get low. The farmhouse has been renovated and has a brand new country kitchen. There are two bedrooms in the farmhouse, but there are also spacious living quarters in the shop with kitchen and bath. The school bus comes right onto the property to pick up the kids. The shop building also serves as machine shed and is home to the goats and horse on one end. There is a huge commercial greenhouse which grows pumpkins even. At one time the greenhouse was used as a home business. Closer to the house is a smaller barn, garage and chicken coop. Imagine sitting on the porch, putting your feet up while enjoying a spectacular sunset in the big sky of Northern Montana, with the only the sounds of nature keeping you company. $300,000
Room to roam on
200 acres with only ranches as neighbors - there are no improvements, but views of the Beartooth and Crazies Mountain Ranges. The hay ground provides the owners with an income of $ 2,500 per year, and the trees in the draws give shelter to deer; six miles down a gravel road from Joliet, which is half way between Billings and Red Lodge. $ 350,000 ~ Electric half a mile.
If you like to be closer to civilization and a one horse operation is good enough for you; I just listed
14 acres with a creek near the mountains for $ 100,000. The grass stays green year round there, because the creek sub-irrigates the meadow. The grass is lush and tall and right now is being harvested for hay. There is a high spot on the land for a building site and a septic system has been approved, electric and phone on site.
I few miles closer to Red Lodge, we have
10 acres with Willow Creek running through it. And indeed, there are a lot of willows! We had a path cut down to the water, so you can see it. Of course you can take out some more, if you want to see the water from the house you are going to build. $165,000
Sneaking up on Red Lodge, our ski resort town with the spectacular Beartooth Highway winding up to 11,000 feet and back down again right into the Yellowstone Park, we have a
new listing of six acres for $350,000. It is a private setting almost at the end of a dead end road, only one mile from downtown. The parcels around it are all over 10 acres, so there is plenty of room to build your dream house and to keep a horse close to town, yet beautiful mountain views all around you. There is also a fast running seasonal creek with its soothing sounds and a healthy tree stand of aspen along the whole stretch of the east border:
To the west of Red Lodge, right along the mountains,
100 acres of mountainous terrain covered with wild flowers and hundreds of large spruce trees and aspens stands adjacent to an Elk Refuge and a trail to the National Forest are waiting for your cabin!
But as it happens so often, people chase all over Montana to find a good chunk of land to build, just to settle down and buying a
charming home in downtown Red Lodge. We only have 2,500 people here, but downtown is so colorful with all the shops, festivals and more restaurants per capita than any other town in Montana. Besides, the 4,000,000 acres of National Forest and Parks starts right at the edge of town and the wildlife in everybody's back yard ranges from Wild Turkeys to Moose with deer, bear and birds of prey in between. Here is a restored original Red Lodge home for $ 235,000 - it comes with a studio, garage, 9' ceilings and blooming cherry trees in the back yard!
Our Minnesota listings saw many price reductions last month, which amazes me. Minnesota has so much water - which is becoming a scarce commodity in so many other states and it sits safely inland with no earthquake faults or volcanoes, far removed from all those areas, which you hear about in gloom and doom stories preparing us for 2012.
The areas I am familiar with in West Central Minnesota do not even have much in the way of the infamous mosquitoes, which people think about when they think about Minnesota. True, there is snow in winter, but the cold is also invigorating and you can always warm yourself at a cozy fire; there is never a shortage of firewood with all those well-managed forests around and beautiful hardwood trees. Hunting and fishing is excellent and a very popular past time in Minnesota, there is hardly a household that does not own half a dozen fire arms, arrows or binoculars and cameras for the amazing variety of birds and in fall you want to be sure to wear something orange. There are no dangerous or poisonous animals or plants in that part of Minnesota either.
So you might as well stock up on Minnesota properties, where every little plot produces an abundance of food and every seed turns into something nutritious.
The reductions are as follows:
27 acres with 1,770ft of lakeshore and access to 3,250 acres of lakes, two cabins, walnut trees and hay meadow $ 199,000 ~Short Sale!
In Hawley - a small community between Detroit Lakes and Fargo. Both cities have lots of job opportunities! - 1,790 square feet, the home is highlighted by the meticulous décor, classic trim, crown molding, picture rails, hardwood floors and 10-foot ceilings.
2 bedrooms, 2 baths plus garage - reduced to $135,000
Also in Hawley with over a
third of an acre and a nice deck overlooking the large back yard: The setting is perfect for summer BBQ's and children or pets. To top it all off, you will have the rare opportunity to tinker on your projects in the 30 ft. x 40 ft. shop with a concrete floor. Reduced to $ 115,000
Three acres
rural Hawley home with lakeshore access was $164K and now is $151K.
The lake itself is 114 acres and up to 39 feet deep. Anglers pursue walleye, northern pike, bass and sunfish. The public access to the lake is located across the road from the property. Fishing, swimming and water sports are literally right outside your front door. 1,792 square feet all on one level
If you are retired, you might want to consider a
3-plex in the small town of Barnesville. The rents each month are $450 for the 2-bedroom and $350 for the 1-bedroom unit. The total expenses each year are $3,455. The annual gross income with an 8% vacancy rate is $13,524. The seller will consider a partial contract for deed. Reduced to $105,000. So if you would live in one of the 2-bedroom units, the other two units would make the payments on the house and you have some left over every month. Owner will carry, so if you can come up with $ 22,000 cash, you can live there the rest of your life for free and have a monthly income, adjustable for inflation! As an investment, you will have a 10% return on your money.
If you make an offer now, you will be in time for the
Potato Days Festival in Barnesville, which hosts over 16,000 people over two days with potato-themed events, contests and food.
Here you may participate in the potato picking contest, which was the event that started the whole festival in 1938. Today, the Potato Picking Contest has the highest stakes and continues to attract people from miles around. For the generation who remembers picking potatoes by hand, it is fun to marvel at the speed and skill of the pickers, while the rest of us have a chance to see what backbreaking work is all about!
Then there is the Sewing and Stacking Contest for the very strong. The two person teams will line up behind the main stage downtown to be timed on how fast they can sew and stack ten 100-pound burlap bags of potatoes. They will have to do this the old fashioned way - using a large needle and heavy string and then piling the bags criss-cross on a wooden pallet. The record time held is 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Following this event, there will be a potato toss contest. Each contestant will have three chances to throw a 100-pound sack of potatoes as high as possible.
After all that it is time to relax with a delightful ride on one of the Historic Wagon Ride tours starting at the Old City Jail. The tour includes touring of gardens, old buildings, quaint homes from the 1800s and a trip around Blue Eagle Lake. A guide will give the background information of each area and the history of the town. You will find out how Potato Days has evolved through the years and how the town has grown to the size it is today (about the size of Red Lodge).
If you are still craving an activity where you can sit down, card players are invited to participate in the whist and pinochle tournaments. Coffee and cookies are served and each player receives a "potato prize bag" and potato chips.
Now refreshed, you can at least think about a strenuous activity again. A variety of equipment, spanning several decades, will be showcased in front of the Layton Potato Wash Plant. Much of the equipment on display is between 80 and 100 years old. Included in the collection is an old potato planter, walking potato plow, potato digger, and a Red River Potato Duster which was manufactured in Sabin, Minnesota in the early 1890's. The oldest piece is a unique potato sorter made out of rods. Six area farmers own the majority of the equipment, with many of the pieces on display having been refurbished by Lawrence Kava of Barnesville.
Inspired once again you are off to the sack race and horseshoe tournament...
Or maybe now you are ready to invest in some productive agricultural land. 1005 acres near Detroit Lakes for $3,618,000 - the value of cropland is the on the rise! The local farmer will rent it back for 5% on your original investment, which amounts to an annual income of nearly $ 200,000 -
an investment that does not get lost in the stock market!
If you like to have some
hunting land spiked with hunting stands on 80 acres, the price has been reduced to $132,000
Or if you just like a couple of acres for a home on or near a lake, the
3-5 Acres Lakefront Lots on Lake 10 are now $129,000 and $39,000
More Minnesota bargains at
minnesotahereicome.com
also keep an eye on our Montana listings at
montanahereicome.com
I have access to the Missoula MLS and Kalispell MLS beside the Bozeman, Billings and Red Lodge MLS, so if you are in the market for Western Montana properties, let me know! There are more trees there, but also more clouds and bumpy little earthquakes. Here in Red Lodge and going east there are no earthquakes and we have many more days of sunshine with less snow than Western Montana. Also the economy around Billings is in a better shape then the rest of the state. Groundwater is always an issue, so watch your step and call me when you need help!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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