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Newsletter from Montana
November 2003
I went to my annual "continued education" class to renew my license. For the elective part of the class we had a high powered speaker. He had sold about 300 homes every year for 16 consecutive years with an average price of $ 200,000 in Southern California, which of course has more people in just one district than we have in all of Montana. He was thundering and working up a sweat telling us how to sell real estate, none of which really applied to our rural market. He shouted "And I NEVER take less than a 6% commission, those other realtors discount themselves to 5% I would NEVER do it, because I am worth the extra percent! How much do you charge, lady?" pointing to an elderly lady in the audience while wiping his forehead with a large towel. She quietly replied "I always charge 10% because that is easier to figure." Now you know what you are up against when you move to Montana :-)
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Log20/
This beautiful log home has been reduced to $ 449,900 - it's on 20 forested acres on top of a mountain 5 miles off the pavement looking at three mountain ranges, open Prairie behind it for Elk and Antelope, deer and bear come up the hill from the forested south side. The home is top of the line regarding appliances, the logs are 10" diameter, total of over 3,000 sqft and a double heated garage. Access to the Yellowstone River with Blue Ribbon fishing, they have a really nice park by the river with an island, a cliff across the way, big old trees and you can launch your boat there or use the stone fireplace to BBQ. About 40 minutes west of Billings and 50 minutes north of Red Lodge. .
http://www.sheepmountainranch.com
The Sheep Mountain Ranch now has its own website. It is located 14 miles west of Red Lodge and all tracts have access to the Forest Service. Two 20 acres tracts and five tracts with over 40 acres each are still available. I have videos here, if you like to receive one in the mail, let me know!
If you are looking for lots of land at $ 500.- an acre, I just got a listing for 536 acres. They could be sold as two parcels of about 250+ acres each bordering Federal Land (a mountain side) to the south, the Forest Service (Custer National Forest) kittycorner and the Crow Indian Reservation to the north. The property is on the Pryor Mountain road on the way to the Wild Horse Range (see links on my website for this listing), it is the oldest herd in North America. Excellent and plenty of water is about 250 feet below, the owner knows a very reasonable well driller and he thinks the well could be drilled for about $ 2,500.- there are some trees on the property and it is nicely landscaped by the creator with native grasses and moss covered rock outcroppings. It is excellent bear, deer and antelope hunting in those parts. About 40 acres of the property are in CRP, which means the property pretty much pays for its own property taxes! Electricity is only two power poles away. The property is at an elevation of about 5,200 feet. The Pryors are not as high as our Beartooth Mountain range, I think the highest Peak is about 8,800 feet or so. You can see the whole length of the Beartooth range from there in the west, so the view is passing the spectacular test with flying colors, specially at sunset! If you would like a cabin or home on the property, write a contract that includes a log home and the owner will build you one out there, he will even finance it for you!
The area is incredible, I followed the Sage Creek that runs through that valley towards the Wild Horse Range. There are caves in the limestone cliffs, one I saw has a drawing of a horse inside and nobody knows about it, except the locals! I saw a frozen waterfall and just up the road is also an ice cave to be viewed. Some rocks are red, some rocks are yellow, lots of pine covered hill sides and the creek has Brook and Cutthroat trout. The owner will give you access to the creek from one of his old homesteads up in the canyon. The property is 18 miles off the pavement on a very good gravel road and 20 miles from the nearest town - Bridger. One landowner out there built himself a 9 hole golf course - now there is an idea for you!
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Pryor
The topographic and vegetative diversity of the Pryors is unequaled. This area is relatively undisturbed with distinct biological zones, from the Great Basin desert on the southern flank to the sub-alpine forest found at high elevations. The Pryors are known among botanists as a "biological hot spot" because of the many rare and sensitive species found in the area. Four plant species are found in the vicinity of the Pryors - and nowhere else in the world. Many wildlife species make the Pryors home: bighorn sheep, black bear, elk, mule deer, bobcats, mountain lions, golden eagles, peregrine falcons and more than 200 other species of birds. The Pryors are more than just a pretty place. They are rich with cultural and historical resources. The Crow Indians consider the Pryors to be sacred mountains, and the many vision quest destinations, burial grounds, battle sites and buffalo jumps attest to the significant role the Pryors played, and continue to play, in the life of the Crow Nation. Also many old families that now live in Red Lodge started out with a homestead right there in that valley. Take a look at the old post office, I put it on my website. That's the Old West!
Now this same owner (he grew up on his family's ranch in the Pryors and wrote about the history, I put that on my website too) built himself a landmark out of Tamarack and Spruce logs by the Clark's Fork river. It's down the mountain from Red Lodge at an elevation of 3,100 ft (about 30 minutes to the east from here and only 40 minutes from Billings). Since he owns the land around his home, he thought he'll cut off a couple of acres and offers them for FREE with the purchase contract of a log home with him and would even finance it all! Can't beat that with a stick! If you don't want a log home built, the prices for the lots are $ 28,000 each (1.5 acres a piece). The lots are part of a flat meadow looking towards the river, the water is only 50 feet below and the owner will drill a well at his own expense. The water is one of the best in that valley, the ground percolates well and utilities are to the lot line. The little subdivision has a park along the Clark's Fork River, with a springfed lake full of plump fish and surrounded by nice trees. If you insist of having a horse, there is some pasture nearby by the river. The small city of Bridger is just half a mile down the road. It is mostly a farm town, but they also have a furniture factory right by the railroad tracks which employs over 100 people.
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Bridger
If you like to see the home of the builder, who built his home in the same subdivision, it is posted at
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Logb
Of course you can have something less fancy built, his home will last for 1,000 years give or take a couple of months, most people are perfectly happy with a home that outlasts them by just a little bit.
I put most of my new links on the Listing site
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Listings
You might want to bookmark that instead of my main site, that way you are not bothered by those pesky drop down and pop up screens I have installed as of late.
Talking about pesky things, here is the website to register your phone number for the "do not call list."
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
Some people that found me on the web asked where or what is Red Lodge? Hah! That's why the prices around here are still reasonable, our city didn't do diddly squat to promote the area, they thought people would just know how beautiful it is here by osmosis and for people that grow up around here it is quite obvious. Largest Mountains in Montana, over 1000 mountain lakes, 3.2 million acres of wilderness, Beartooth Highway gets up to 11,000 feet high into the Yellowstone Park, ski mountain, golf course, 300 days of sunshine… But now our city voted in a full-time economic developer, so watch the prices go through the roof in another year. You can read the full article at
http://www.montanahereicome.com/ccnews.htm
Click on "Archives", and then on "October 23rd, 2003" or I can email the article to you if you like..
We have been the best kept secret for just a little too long I am afraid. We don't even have a brochure laying around at the Billings airport or anywhere in the Yellowstone Park…. Well, all that is going to change. We now have a new major and a new city planner who are breaking up the old thought patterns quite nicely. The Billings Real Estate market has been on fire for a while and we did feel the effects of that here too. They just don't make land around the mountains anymore. Homes in Billings sold for an average of $ 61,000 in 1990, now the average price is $ 123,000 - and I thought only the real estate market in Red Lodge doubles every 10 years….
When you click on "About Billings" on my website, there now will be a link in the left margin to the government website for Billings
http://www.ci.billings.mt.us/
It includes the city codes, zoning, government and general information about the city.
http://www.accuholidays.com/
Listen to some holiday music while you work. Nothing to install, just crank up the speakers!
If you are promoting a website, you might want to sign up with a service that does that sort of thing as a profession. I signed up with SEVENtwentyfour Inc in July and the hits on my website went from an average 100 a day to nearly 300 a day, here is their email address:
aann@seventwentyfour.com
People who give to others find that they have better health and enjoy a happier life than those who have yet to learn the blessings of giving of themselves. So you won't miss a chance to do that, Barbara's little niece in second grade in Illinois has been given the task of asking for post cards from around the US as they are studying geography. Since her family and family-friends have always lived right where they are, their contacts are limited. She asked Aunt Barb for help. So Aunt Barb to the rescue. Barb by the way is a real estate agent in Bozeman working at "Heart of Montana" and we kind of work together. Her email address is Bdena1@yahoo.com in case you rather live in Bozeman. Anyway, they are asking for color post cards (a picture of your area would be nice, but not necessary) addressed to:
Miss Tallia Garcia
c/o Mrs. Johnson's Second Grade Class
Jordan School
2901 - 24th Street
Rock Island, IL 61201
On the back side if you will just print where you live ... city and state.... that will be fine. I understand they then search the map for you. You may print a message if you like but it is not necessary. For example: I sent one of Yellowstone which had lots of snow and buffalo on the front, my message was about how much snow we have and a little about the buffalo. You are more than welcome to forward this on to someone you may know as well.
The four stages of life:
1) You believe in Santa Claus
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus
3) You are Santa Claus
4) You look like Santa Claus
When I told that to my girls (17 and 11) Tuula, the oldest said, well, Mom, I think you are still in the first stage :-)
Have a wonderful season and my next newsletter will arrive right around New Years Eve.
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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