quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
My realtor just sent me this listing. Hiking out the door. Farm and boarding barn just up the road. Most desirable part of town...

What should I take note of?

What do you think of this 4 bds • 2 ba • 2,340 sqft home I found on Zillow? https://www.zillow.com/homedet...?utm_medium=referral

I like this house a lot! I can’t see a single red flag from here and I really like the walkout basement. Upgrades appear to have been done well. No A/C, but do you need it in Missoula? Heat is forced air so it would easy enough to add.

1957 is new enough that the electrical should be OK, with grounding outlets in the kitchen and baths at minimum. Windows look new.

And you won’t have to paint the bathroom!

[edit] It looks like they enclosed the carport. Is there space to build something?

Looks like a nice house. Clean and well maintained, at least from what you can see in the photos.

Looks like it doesn't have a garage. Is that an issue?

I was looking at other homes in pique's area and stumbled upon *the* perfect WTF retirement home.

They even left a present for us....

https://www.zillow.com/homedet...801/2066778875_zpid/

quote:

They even left a present for us....

https://www.zillow.com/homedet...801/2066778875_zpid/

Wow, the first floor is gorgeous!!

I am getting visions of "WTF International Piano Camp" ...

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
I was looking at other homes in pique's area and stumbled upon *the* perfect WTF retirement home.

They even left a present for us....

https://www.zillow.com/homedet...801/2066778875_zpid/

That's a frat house. I bet it sits on the market awhile. In ordinary times that would be a white elephant. In these times, who knows?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
My realtor just sent me this listing. Hiking out the door. Farm and boarding barn just up the road. Most desirable part of town...

What should I take note of?

What do you think of this 4 bds • 2 ba • 2,340 sqft home I found on Zillow? https://www.zillow.com/homedet...?utm_medium=referral

I like this house a lot! I can’t see a single red flag from here and I really like the walkout basement. Upgrades appear to have been done well. No A/C, but do you need it in Missoula? Heat is forced air so it would easy enough to add.

1957 is new enough that the electrical should be OK, with grounding outlets in the kitchen and baths at minimum. Windows look new.

And you won’t have to paint the bathroom!

[edit] It looks like they enclosed the carport. Is there space to build something?

I don't know. It chafes to spend that much and not have a garage or a workshop. Mr Pique is pretty riled about the price. A year ago that bought an acre with a barn in an even nicer location. The only reason we can consider this is because of what we can get for our current place.

Mr Pique wants to move wherever we can get the most house for our money, even if that is Nebraska! I want to live in a community that shares my values and where I have friends and mountains. That means buying location, not house.

He's on the brink of retirement so all such considerations are rather fraught at the moment.

We can always just stay where we are and go away for the winter. That is plan B.


I don't move well. It takes me years to recover and adjust, so I want to get it right and have this be the last move.

We're scheduled for a virtual tour tomorrow. Agent is already preparing us for disappointment. She thinks it will go for well over asking.

I like it, but am sure it will go well over asking, and to me it’s just not worth it. You are in a good place right now, that I think is way more desirable (and will continue to be) than this place is. No garage is crazy for that price!

Think you just need to hold tight for awhile and think about spending some time each winter in a warm place.

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
Think you just need to hold tight for awhile and think about spending some time each winter in a warm place.

Thanks for the perspective, Jodi. We like everything about our current place except the extreme arid/arctic climate, the lack of a good hospital (third world caliber), and the 1/4 mile of luge run to our house.

But love the house/barn/property itself. And the people right in Helena are pretty great.

Once W retires getting away for awhile will hopefully be easier.

What is it that you think will change about the housing market in the next few years? Because we are on the cusp of never being able to afford to move back to Missoula. And I'll be very sad if that happens.

No concrete reasons - just a gut feeling that spending a fortune on a house like that at the moment is a mistake. I feel like you will miss a lot more things about living in your current place than you think you will.

For some strange reason, everybody seems to think they need to live in Montana at the moment. I just don’t think that will last. You have to really like the outdoors, especially in the winter, to love it most places around here!

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
For some strange reason, everybody seems to think they need to live in Montana at the moment. I just don’t think that will last. You have to really like the outdoors, especially in the winter, to love it most places around here!

I have talked with my realtor about this at length. We were both blindsided when this trend started. (For starters I would never have sold my house.)

As time has gone on and she has dug into the drivers of this phenomenon, she says it adds up to something quite simple: our market has always been grossly undervalued because there were never any good jobs, and the professional jobs here paid laughable wages. That has all changed. Missoula has become a tech hub. Plus it has always been a place people would want to live if they could live anywhere. Now, thanks to working remotely, they can.

So what we're seeing is a long overdue price correction upwards, to better reflect the amenities that have always been here. And it is likely here to stay.

Missoula and most of Montana west of the Divide has a far more forgiving climate than the rest of the state. Plus winters are getting warmer and shorter. Used to be the newcomers got flushed out every few years by horrific winters. Not seeing that happening now.

Of course they may get flushed out by wildfires instead!

I became a writer so I could live here, and living in this undervalued market made being a writer possible. When I moved here in 1992, even a freelance environmental writer with just a part time job payin $10/hr could buy a house. I did it! Now... we're headed down the path of Boulder, CO and Jackson Hole.

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
No concrete reasons - just a gut feeling that spending a fortune on a house like that at the moment is a mistake. I feel like you will miss a lot more things about living in your current place than you think you will.

Oh yeah, you are right about that last part. But if I am honest with myself the horses need to go to boarding so I can have other parts of my life back. Ideal is if I could walk to the barn from my house, like I could with the house that we're touring tomorrow. (If that barn has any openings).

Just thinking, but the setup you have now seems close to ideal for how you want live. Maybe get a tractor, heat the drive, work up a windbreak. Hire a hand to help with chores.

It’s cheaper than moving.