Possible move from VT to Montana: rural towns near skiing? (Big Sky: buying a house, buying)

[NW Crow]

Where to live in Montana is probably going to be influenced by economic class and class preferences / range for social life. Most places have an economic and social spectrum but many places have a lean or clear direction & leader.

Bozeman, Livingston, Helena, Dillon, Butte, etc. Country folk, city folk, rich folk, upper middle class folk, average folk, rich country folk, others... pretty easy to see. Pick your most relevant neighbors / associates, as you want.

[Greenmntmover]

We are in Bozeman this week! Will be checking out some suggestions, but don’t have time to go to all the towns in one trip.
To answer some of the other questions…
My husband has a good paying job (250k +), I make 60k as a teacher. we will have the profit from our home in VT. We are looking to spend 800k or less on a home. Honestly, I think finances will not impede our search… but I’m not sure how people are buying million dollar homes even with our salary in mind. We are in the mindset of downsizing and preparing for retirement.

Question… while Big Sky is out of our price range, I’m wondering if there is a downtown that would be worth visiting while we are out here?

[NW Crow]

Big Sky Town Center business directory:
https://www.bigskytowncenter.com/directory/

Farmers Market Wed. evening.
Music events.

[NW Crow]

Big Timber is a well-regarded traditional small MT town.
https://www.zillow.com/homes/big-timber-MT_rb/

Tom Brokaw has or had a place in or near there.

If you don't want to be on the plains, look south of town along the Boulder River.

Cities and ski hills aren't close but might be close enough for some.


I hadn't mentioned Townsend or Ennis before. Might be further out than you want, but some of the places closer to the city and ski slopes might not be or stay the way you want. Tradeoffs. Townsend, about a half hour to Helena, a bit more than 1 hour to Bozeman. In good weather. https://www.zillow.com/homes/Townsend,-MT_rb/
Ennis, about an hour to Bozeman. Big on fishing. https://www.zillow.com/ennis-mt/

If these towns are "too far out", look 10-20 miles towards Bozeman and still be within their reach.

Manhattan is a compromise between near Bozeman but not that near.

[NW Crow]

I applied filters to the real estate sections but they didn't carry over, so re-apply as desired, if interested.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Greenmntmover

We are in Bozeman this week! Will be checking out some suggestions, but don’t have time to go to all the towns in one trip.
To answer some of the other questions…
My husband has a good paying job (250k +), I make 60k as a teacher. we will have the profit from our home in VT. We are looking to spend 800k or less on a home. Honestly, I think finances will not impede our search… but I’m not sure how people are buying million dollar homes even with our salary in mind. We are in the mindset of downsizing and preparing for retirement.

Question… while Big Sky is out of our price range, I’m wondering if there is a downtown that would be worth visiting while we are out here?

I wouldn't count on making that as a teacher. Subtract $15 to $20k and that's likely what you'll get. $10k if you're lucky.

[ejisme]

You could do a long day trip that would hit a lot of the towns mentioned above.

Leave Bozeman heading west on I-90, turn off on HWY 287 just past Three Forks and head North to Townsend. Continue north on 287 to Helena (near Great Divide Ski Area).

Then take HWY 12 out of Helena to Drummond. There take HWY 1 south to Philipsburg (near Discovery Ski Area) and onto Anaconda and Butte. There you pick up the freeway back to Bozeman.

It would be a good drive with a lot of trees and a lot of small towns. Phillipsburg would be your furthest town from Bozeman at about 2 1/2 hours.

[SkyLark2019]

IMO Missoula (or the outskirts of) is where you might be happiest. Ample housing, pleasant people, restaurants, plus being right on the Interstate.

Mid-winters can be unpleasant as snow can be deep until snow plows "get on" clearing the roads.

Bozeman HAS been pricey forever. It used to be called the "Los Angeles of Montana."

I think I stopped in Philipsburg once for a beer? My memory is fuzzy now. People were pleasant, but that's a very tiny tiny place. Just warning you. There is a lot of wilderness in Montana. Nice enough people but humans are not at the top of the food chain there. I'm being a bit morbid to underscore the importance of Nature Versus Man there.

[ejisme]

A quick look at Helena listings.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...rice-na-800000

If you are west of town you will likely have trees on your property. Not so much east of town. Still, a few choices in your price range to at least look at online. You'd be within your two hour desired drive to Bozeman and have a very nice ski hill just north of Helena in Great Divide Ski Resort.

[mrwumpus]

I would definitely stick to the bigger places like Helena and Bozeman because they've been handling growth for a long time and have absorbed more diverse folk and offer more cultural things to do.

The smaller towns are suffering tremendous growing pains.

Even Kalispell is just so unpleasant now simply due to a few thousand more cars and residents since COVID-19. People are frustrated and there's a lot of road rage, etc, and developers are just ruining the skyline and putting ugly apartments and cookiecutter developments everywhere. Simply going to the lake now in summer is an exercise is frustration and parking nightmares.