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Newsletter from Montana - Minnesota
June 2008
The prices, they are tumbling.... along with my English, I guess. At any rate here is what you were waiting for:
The
14 acres with the little willow lined creek
and the spectacular mountain views can now be bought for $ 125,000 (came down from $ 145,000). Only 20 minutes to skiing and 40 minutes to Billings. Horses are welcome and about 10 acres are sub-irrigated from that little stream, so it stays green all year long all by itself. Bring a horse and explore the hundreds of miles of county gravel road in all directions with mountain views from every angle. If you have seen this website before, take another look, I replaced some of the photos showing the nice tall Timothy grass, which has 18% protein at this time of the year and will fatten up any horse and make it lay down flat on its side if you give it too much. When you take a drive around here in June, you will actually see quite a few "dead" horses, just lying around and trying to digest it all.
We have a new listing in White Sulphur Springs. It is 5 acres for $ 105,000 with all utilities just a minute from downtown White Sulphur Springs, but the lot borders the wildlife management acreage and the subdivision borders the golf course. In the same subdivision, we have 1.5 acres for sale right on the golf course, which just lowered the price to $ 55,000. Paved roads to the driveway!
The price of the little log cabin in downtown White Sulphur Springs has been lowered to $ 60,000 (from $ 70,000) and the trailer next to it can also be bought for an additional $ 25,000. White Sulphur Springs is a great place if you like to fish and hunt, National Forest and mountain brooks all around you! This cabin would be a great place to hang your hat while you are doing all the fun outdoor stuff.
Do you like river front? There is a five acres piece for sale on the Stillwater River in Nye for $ 295,000 and right behind it are the 45.5 acres I have listed for $ 348,000. I made a third photo gallery with photos I took in June. It sure gets green out there! I went there in the evening at which time the sandstone formations turn to gold. Nye is the place to be if you like mountain goats, Big Horn sheep, elk, deer and bear. The Stillwater River is a blue ribbon trout stream.
Since everything is so nice and green now, I also walked the 40 acres for $ 120,000 in Joliet and took lots of photos.
Back to the price tumbling, the
4bdr/3ba/2garage condo in Red Lodge lowered the price from 250,000 to 240,000. There you would be close to skiing, all the activities in Red Lodge and the endless hiking trails along raging mountain brooks south of town.
If you rather have your own home on a couple of acres with stunning mountain views overlooking Red Lodge, the
timber frame home lowered the price also from $ 647,000 to $ 625,000
In Minnesota we also have a price reduction for a quick sale. This quality 1973 home is on a treed lot on Main Street in Hawley (West Central Minnesota).
The 3 bedroom, 2+ bath home is highlighted by a large family room with a wood fireplace, a spacious back yard and a two stall insulated garage. The home has another unfinished room in the basement that would make a great bedroom. Price is now $134,900.
We also just changed the price on these
lake lots to $134,900 and the back
lot to $45,000.
One of our top of the line
lakefront homes also lowered the price to an (almost) affordable $ 488,000 (valued at $ 550,000). It is in Otter Tail County in West Central Minnesota. The county has 1048 lakes and boasts the most lakes per county than any other in the entire United States. The lakes vary greatly, but most have crystal clear water and are surrounded by a mix of hardwood and evergreen trees. Otter Tail Lake is 14,000+ acres and is a perfect match for this modern "North Country" home. Built in 2005, this log-sided home features 2,950 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, large two stall garage, an open great room, hardwood floors, knotty pine vaulted ceiling, tile flooring, solid surface countertops, walk-out basement, stereo system throughout home and garage, underground sprinkler system, great natural light and quality custom wood work.
Let me know if you are in the market for a coal mine in Montana or a lime stone deposit in Colorado, I have inside information.
I am a fan of
Clinton Anderson, a horse trainer. I went back in the saddle after 31 years of taking a horse break, and I had a hard time with my young and fairly untrained horse. Luckily, I ran into Clinton Anderson's teachings, which are very simple and easy to understand. Within a very short time, I made a decent riding horse out of my wild filly that had been scared of her own shadow, would not stand still for anything and was unduly attached to her life long friend, which we had also bought. When you are on his website "Down Under Horsemanship" the
Training DVD's are the first item on the right! They even have a "No Worries" club where you can exchange ideas with other horse owners. Clinton is sending out eight DVDs a year to the members. You will also have access to all the TV shows he did about training horses. My horse now follows me around like a puppy. I can saddle her without tying her up anywhere, she stands still like a salt column when I get on and I can switch on the thinking side of her brain when we encounter a spooky object on the trail. She went from a head tossing, bucking and rearing monster to a relaxed and collected riding horse in a very short time, and all I did was watch Clinton's DVDs and followed them to the T :-)
The average unemployment rate in the United States is 5.5%, the rate in Montana is 3.4%. If you look at this map,
It shows you the unemployment rate for each county. Yellowstone County (Billings) is on top with only 2.9%, Bozeman in Gallatin County sits at 3.2% and Missoula is at 3.6%. In general, the eastern part looks a lot more cheerful than the western half of Montana.
Minnesota barely slipped under the national average in May with 5.4%. Around the state, employment in the Twin Cities area grew 0.4 percent, Duluth-Superior jobs grew 0.3 percent, Rochester grew 1.2 percent, St. Cloud and the Fargo Moorhead areas each grew 1 percent, and the Grand Forks area grew 2.2 percent.
Minnesota added 3,200 leisure and hospitality jobs and 2,300 government jobs in May. It lost 2,300 jobs in professional and business services and 2,100 in manufacturing.
North Dakota is staying steady at 3.3% unemployment.
While North Dakota is doing well in general, with its new wind farms and oil and gas deposits, some of the little farm towns are having a hard time staying around. To help revive his North Dakota hometown, a former high-school principal created giant sculptures to grace a stretch of prairie highway. I see the "Geese in Flight", a 110-foot-tall metal statue, every time I drive between Montana and Minnesota which is about 3-4 times a month. This is the one in the "Guinness World Records book." The sculpture is taller than a ten-story building with nearly the width of a football field and it cost $ 50,000 (mostly for the crane) just to put it up! Gary Greff had pictured giant metal statues every few miles along the road leading from Interstate 94 to Regent, which is SE of Dickenson - Exit 72 on Interstate 90. He started his project 18 years ago. He lives on next to nothing with donations and supporters. The magic works! Gary Greff's statues are attracting quite a few tourists in spite of all the set backs. From "Deer Crossing", drive down the road to "Grasshoppers in the Field," "Pheasants on the Prairie", "Teddy Rides Again" and "The Tin Family". Gary has finished six works and is putting the finishing touches on a seventh, "Fisherman's Dream". Each site is landscaped and has a parking lot, picnic tables and an information board. Most include something children can play on: "Teddy Rides Again" has a handmade stagecoach; "Grasshoppers in the Field", a jungle gym. If you would like to read the full story, it is posted in the Smithsonian, called "Field of Dreams:"
Have you heard of the
Hawaiian Chair? You can work out while you are sitting at your desk and work, which can get quite hilarious as Ellen demonstrates. Never a dull moment with that kind of a chair, I am sure!
Have a great month of July and let me know if your travel plans include Montana or Minnesota!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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