Montana and/or Idaho real estate and construction insight.....

[SFC B]

As most of you know I am retired and with HP in HS and it will soon leave us empty nesters. At that I want to GTFO of the suburbs to a decent sized (20ac +) piece of ground a bit away from a city. I really like Colorado but I am coming to a problem with my land search. Mama has a "must have decent sized trees" rule which does 2 things here......makes the land way out of our price range or way too far away from a decent sized town for her (30-40 min max for her). Of course we also have the water rights/availability issue here as well. I am expanding my search to ID and MT as she said she would consider them as well. What I am looking for is some knowledge on where to look, what a reasonable lower end budget would be and expected cost for a post frame building (looking at doing a 2 story, 15-1800 sf building with living area on top, shop on bottom) per sf might be. Thanks and feel free to pm if you feel that is appropriate. Thanks!!

 

[jlong17]

And cue the "Idaho is full" comments...
That is my dream to someday move to Idaho. Every time I go out there I struggle to come home. Special place for sure. I'll be following this thread, and good luck on your building endeavor!!

 

[MT Bound]

MT is full also, sorry....... Low end price/sf will be around $145/sf,and can go up to $185/sf or obviously higher. I'm not sure how the shop below living space will affect that cost? We built in the Helena regional area in 2018 & came in around $145/sf, just an average house with no really frills other than the wife made a nice kitchen and we didn't skimp on master bathroom. Garage w/bonus room above also.

Costs are going up every year because everybody now wants to GTFO of wherever they are to somewhere more remote.

 

[Moosie]

"Idaho is full" ......... Sorry

Except for people with our similar mindsets.

If you call Amy @ 208.860.9607 , tell her Oscar sent ya. Give her your specifications on what you are looking for, she will tell you your options.

Working still I like the Boise area, but if you are looking for land, piece and quiet but access to stores still, look in the Pocatello (SE Idaho) or head up north where there are a lot of options.

 

[brokfut]

Great advise Moosie. I liked my place on the Snake River okay but my heart was always north in Midvale, Cambridge or Council. I have (until 2006) owned land in far west Idaho along the US 95 highway since the mid 70"s and it is still very affordable compared to some places. I still want to get a small place again. Creed Noah in Cambridge has quite a bit listed around Cuddy Mountain, Hit Mountain, West Mountain.

 

[Wildabeest]

I own 2 20+ acre parcels between Bozeman and Livingston. One thing you’ll need to pay attention to is that if you want “big trees”, then that likely means you’re going to be up in the hills. Which means winter access and plowing are going to be important considerations. So you’ll need to make sure you have a plan for that. One of my parcels has roads that are maintained and plowed by the HOA. The other is not which means the only way I can get up there in the winter is on a snow machine or ATV with tracks. PM me if you want some more specifics. I’m fairly familiar with what options you’d have around the Bozeman / Livingston area.

 

[Pagosa]

Lots of areas would fit those conditions in MT/ID/WA/SD. With trees you will need a defendable space for wildfires, I like trees further out, or plant deciduous trees closer in. Exterior surfaces such as metal, stucco, stone are great.
As far as building; wells are about $30 per/ft be sure to check well log depths for your area, and make sure the soil can pass a perc test for septic. Anything within 200 ft of a existing power line transformer can be provided with electric service fairly easy, anything over 200-400’ will require additional vaults/transformers and that can get pricey especially if it’s rocky ground. Septic systems can be $7500 and up, unless you can install yourself.
I know you can build pole barn/metal buildings way less than $145/$185. I think he was including land/utilities. I’ve built four homes in the Kalispell area for less than $80 per ft. I did everything except plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and insulation. A good rule of thumb is calculate the material cost and double it for labor. For typical framing go to the website costtobuild and it can get you fairly close. Bathroom and kitchens suck up a lot of the budget.
You can pm me with any specific questions. Good luck in your search. Preston

 

[SFC B]

"Idaho is full" ......... Sorry

Except for people with our similar mindsets.

If you call Amy @ 208.860.9607 , tell her Oscar sent ya. Give her your specifications on what you are looking for, she will tell you your options.

Working still I like the Boise area, but if you are looking for land, piece and quiet but access to stores still, look in the Pocatello (SE Idaho) or head up north where there are a lot of options.

Thanks Moosie, I'll give her a jingle!

 

[mtmuley]

Affordable property in Montana has been moving East. The trees are smaller there. mtmuley

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

North Idaho, or SE Idaho. I have lived in both and they have pros and cons, shoot me a pm if you have any in depth questions about certain areas.

 

[MT Bound]

Guess I should have clarified a few things, might give a false sense of cost, my $145/sf cost for the house did not include the land, we bought that separate. Nor did it include the well. both of those will drastically increase your cost, sorry about being potentially misleading.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

We are currently buying a new home in the Helena area. I'm not sure about the entirety of MT, but house builders in helena are out at least 2yrs. Realators are cold calking folks asking them if they are interested in selling, the market sucks so bad. Looked at lots in the area. Tree covered, out-of-the-way property is going for a premium. We will be the next Colorado. I say move your search on to Alaska and skip the middlemen.