Large Acreage Outside of Bozeman (Kalispell, Livingston: real estate, rentals, insurance)

[logybogy]

I've been eyeing some land outside of Bozeman for a vacation place, at least 5 acres. Requirements are within 30 minutes to 45 minutes drive into town for shopping and basic civilization activities.

This will primarily be used as a seasonal summer home but are these outlying areas outside Bozeman completely inaccessible in the winter for driving into town? Are you snowed in for weeks? Are there any amenities like high speed internet through WISPS or LTE or you all limited to satellite?

The real estate listings within Bozeman have been completely underwhelming. Paying half a million for a crappy tract home with no view is not interesting to me. Thus, why we are looking outside the city for more rural. We want mountains, trees, and no view of anybody else. It's an escape property.

[NW Crow]

Winter is already pretty strong in Bozeman lowlands (80-120 inches per year) and could / probably will get worse as you go higher. Some of the mountain ranges can get 200+ inches of snow per year. There will be times with feet of snow hanging around. Sometimes it might melt off, but less likely as you go higher. 4-6 months of winter depending on location and year. Stray storms possible in other months called late spring or early fall.

Talk to neighbors near properties you look at. Being on a state highway or main county road will be best for goverment plowing. Smaller public roads, ask the neighbors and county road department. Private roads? Ask the neighbors, if any, what they are doing. Completely private road and any driveway? On you, but may be options to get a plow service.

Also pay attention to roof design. Most roofs may be designed right, but some (older or custom) might have trouble areas that could get real bad if property is unattended all winter. You might need a roof guy for periodic clearings. Talk to neighbors, agents, roof guys.

Internet / cable could vary by neighborhood density. Wireless by topography. Ask neighbors and call companies. Probably some threads discussing this topic that could be found by search tool.

There is plenty of mountain or mountain view property to south, north and west. South is probably most popular.

Even though market is hot, do your research fully. Don't buy til you have your answers. Not everything works out everywhere.

April might have occasional truly winter storms. Temps will average in low 50s in town mid afternoon but will often freeze overnight before it ramps from 20s / 30s to those 50s. Might be 40-45-50 around noon. May will only get to low 60s typically, though might have warmer or cooler days. If you go higher up, deduct about 3 degrees on average for every 1000 feet higher for all these temps. June? Mostly low 70s for highs. Starting out around 45 in morning. July / August may make low to mid 80s for highs but still 50s in early morning. September will slide back to 70s and 60s by end of month or shortly thereafter. Snow probably appears again sometime in October. 50s for awhile then gone.

Is this good weather stretch good enough / long enough for you?

[MikeyMike11]

Originally Posted by logybogy

I've been eyeing some land outside of Bozeman for a vacation place, at least 5 acres. Requirements are within 30 minutes to 45 minutes drive into town for shopping and basic civilization activities.

This will primarily be used as a seasonal summer home but are these outlying areas outside Bozeman completely inaccessible in the winter for driving into town? Are you snowed in for weeks? Are there any amenities like high speed internet through WISPS or LTE or you all limited to satellite?

The real estate listings within Bozeman have been completely underwhelming. Paying half a million for a crappy tract home with no view is not interesting to me. Thus, why we are looking outside the city for more rural. We want mountains, trees, and no view of anybody else. It's an escape property.

Wherever you are looking, it's got to be like 1 hour away to be affordable. Do you know what it like to be 1 hour away from a city in the deep Montana winter? It's like being 3 hours away.

We have high speed internet, and it's funny, rural area have better internet with fiber, than in town. That was due to a $17M federal grant given to Opticom specifically to expand rural fiber internet. But there are other places with no internet, and no cell service. If you're looking for something affordable, which it seems you are, well that's not possible.

Most subdivisions have HOAs to manage plowing, and the roads can be completely dangerous, but they do get plowed eventually. I personally will skip a day of driving during the first snowfall, so I don't have to be on the same highway as all these new winter drivers. I think there was like 10 cars in the ditch between Livingston and Bozeman last week. Fatal accident on highway 89 S also. Why is it so hard to slow down? I'll never understand...

Where I live, near Downtown, some of the roads are just 6" of ice, that the city must just be like "Meh." In the horrific winter of 2018, Bozeman schools were delayed ONE TIME, when it was -35 outside. Otherwise schools started right on time. By the end of your first winter, you will be happy to have survived.

So what are you really asking here? Is it like Washington, Oregon, New York, or California in the winters? The answer would be "No."

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by logybogy

I've been eyeing some land outside of Bozeman for a vacation place, at least 5 acres. Requirements are within 30 minutes to 45 minutes drive into town for shopping and basic civilization activities.

This will primarily be used as a seasonal summer home but are these outlying areas outside Bozeman completely inaccessible in the winter for driving into town? Are you snowed in for weeks? Are there any amenities like high speed internet through WISPS or LTE or you all limited to satellite?

The real estate listings within Bozeman have been completely underwhelming. Paying half a million for a crappy tract home with no view is not interesting to me. Thus, why we are looking outside the city for more rural. We want mountains, trees, and no view of anybody else. It's an escape property.

You better go far, far away. Every other person moving to Bozeman thinks like you do and wants an escape. Unless you have a few million lying around you're best to look in a different area.

[logybogy]

What's the market for seasonal rentals like? An hour away from Bozeman in the summer for a 2 or 3 month rental home may be the best balance for us. Seems like maintaining a winter property from far away sounds like a major hassle. We don't ever see becoming full time residents because of the extreme winters.

We are also considering parts of Utah, Colorado, and Arizona where the winters are more temperate.

[NW Crow]

$6200 per month

https://bozeman.craigslist.org/apa/d...212413291.html

I saw some for around $15,000 per month.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/30712266

Kinda hard to find the monthly rentals in the sea of daily / weekly rentals. Might be worth calling Bozeman and Big Sky visitor bureaus for suggestions at whatever price point.

https://www.bozemancvb.com/lodging
https://www.visitbigsky.com/

[logybogy]

That's insanity as far as pricing. Are there other scenic parts of Montana where seasonal rentals can be had for a more reasonable amount like $2k-$3k a month? That would be a good budget for us.

[NW Crow]

Any place else but not so much in Bozeman / Big Sky / Livingston or Kalispell / Whitefish / Flathead Lake.

Airb&b seems to have a lot of listings for monthly rentals in that price range. Some listed at big discounts of previous pricing. Keys will be how big a place and how rural.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/Montana--Un...p_toggle=false

Swigglylines icon at top right can adjust price and property type lower. I pre-selected for you to get the best fits available.


These looked pretty good to me.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19931559

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19309517

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by logybogy

That's insanity as far as pricing.

Bozeman in a nutshell. Prices for everything.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by logybogy

That's insanity as far as pricing. Are there other scenic parts of Montana where seasonal rentals can be had for a more reasonable amount like $2k-$3k a month? That would be a good budget for us.

$6200 seems reasonable for being that close to downtown.

3 months at 6K is 18K

Do you have any idea what owning a summer place will cost you? I'd be stunned if you spent less than 30-40K between taxes, upkeep, insurance and some type of property management for the same seasonal usage.