Real Estate Information

Nothing but sun, some warm days and some cooler ones. Who cares when the grass is green and the sun is out! Farmer's Market downtown Kalispell is on the agenda for Saturday morning. A little early for fresh produce, but still fun to make an appearance and see who we might run into. 

The Whitefish Pilot had this video on their web site. It is taken by a remote helicopter:

Good shot of construction on Casey's Bar in Whitefish but also of Whitefish and the valley.

I was driving along Flathead Lake yesterday heading north and was thinking about how I never tire of seeing the white capped mountains and the beautiful blue of "the" lake. The lake level is regulated by dams and is filling in nicely getting close to the full pool goal by Memorial Day weekend.  Boat docks are still high and dry but the shoreline has water covering the areas that were bare just a couple of weeks ago. Cherry trees are blossoming for even more beauty along Hwy 93.

Glacier National Park plowing is proceeding well. There are some amazing photos on the park site and you can friend the facebook page so you too get the updates on progress and latest photos.

​We experienced 2 days of 80+ degrees early this week! Those warm days followed an exceptionally nice weekend to get all the outdoor chores started for the spring. Today it is cooler and a little wetter but it sure is nice and green around here. Trees are leafing out, Flathead lake is slowly rising to full pool and valley residents can be seen making every effort to get outside and enjoy our activities.

Here is a photo that was posted by Glacier National Park of the plowing in Two Medicine camp ground. Just a "little" snow!! Speaking of snow, Whitefish Resort announced in today's Daily Interlake that this was a banner ski visit year. Even with Big Mountain opening a week late due to lack of snow, and not much snow until mid January, ski visits and season pass sales made it one of the best years ever. I am looking forward to next year and plan on getting my season pass during the summer discount period.

Real estate continues to slowly pick up speed. Mostly the homes under or around $200k are still what is moving. New listings are coming on daily for the spring/summer/fall buyer period. Email me at: info@kalispellcary.com if you want to receive new listings that fit your needs as they hit the market.

Going to the Sun road plowing in Glacier National Park has started! After a record late opening last year, let's hope for a record early opening this year. Keep up on the plowing progress http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/gttsroadplow/gttsroadplowstatus.cfm

There was valley snow yesterday morning after wonderful warm and sunny days last week. Springtime in Montana, going back and forth from winter to summer.

City of Kalispell has hired a new City Manager from S. Dakota. He will be the 9th City Manager since that position was formed. 

I listed an incredible ranch recently. 

10 acres, 2 horse barns, shop, guest house, run in sheds, huge 3rd barn for hay and tractor storage. 3151 Columbia Falls Stage Rd, $839,500. Email me for more details; info@kalispellcary.com

April is between busy tourism times and an excellent time to visit the Flathead Valley.

It seems that the valley is becoming well known among the gun aficionados in the country. There are 2 manufactures operating on an ever growing scale. One company manufactures wood barrels for rifles and recently won national recognition, Montana Rifle Company. There is an article in today's Flathead Beacon paper about another gun maker in Kalispell that is moving and expanding, adding employees. 

Nemo Arms manufactures a whole different kind of weapon; nemoarms.com. Local Bigfork resident Major General Paul E. Vallely retired, is one of the gentlemen at the helm. One of the goals of this company is to fill a need in the military and also provide jobs in the Flathead Valley.

A residential eating disorder clinic is awaiting zoning approval from the City of Kalispell to begin construction at the north end of town on Hwy 93. With the central valley location, both North Valley Hospital in Whitefish and Health Center Northwest in Kalispell will be utilized to assist patients in this clinic. There is no such clinic available for several 100 miles around Kalispell.

Sometimes jobs come from surprising arenas. There are many small companies operating in our valley that fly under the radar but are so very important in providing diversity in jobs. Zinc Air Inc. is another example. This company markets a grid storage system to store large amounts of electricity, mostly from wind power generators.

I applaud those with the creativity and foresight to create companies, take the financial risk, and provide jobs for our valley.

I was in a continuing education class for supervising brokers this week. We learned - or had a refresher course in - everything from trust accounts to water rights and a legislature update from last session. Our Montana legislature meats every other year.

I was in a continuing education class for supervising brokers this week. We learned - or had a refresher course in - everything from trust accounts to water rights and a legislature update from last session. Our Montana legislature meats every other year.

In the class information that was passed on:

1) Montana has 176,000 miles of rivers, only 3 states have more

2) In explaining flood plains: in a 100 year flood plain there is a 1% chance of flooding in any given year, in a 500 year flood plain .2% of a chance. So, instead of thinking that a 100 year flood plain means that odds will be that a major flood will happen once in every 100 years, it is actually the likely hood of a flood in any given year.

3) There was a bill that was passed prohibiting sprinkler systems to be installed in new homes. The governor vetoed the bill. The department of Labor and Industries is working on guidelines for these to be installed. The cost of a system in the average house will add $6000 to the price. The irony is that in most Montana areas outside of the city limits, there are no building codes enforced so to implement this sprinkler system ruling is going to be very difficult.

4) Montana Realtor Association is a huge lobby group in the state fighting for property rights and lack of government interference in private matters. There were many bills that this association made an impact on that would have effected our private property rights. Since Gov. Schweitzer is not up for re-election this year, there is optimism that some of his vetoes will be over turned in 2013. Gov. Schweitzer vetoed 78 bills!

March 9 saw 62 degrees! This last week there were many awesome ski days with sun.

​A wolf was scene wandering through the northwest end of Kalispell on Sunday. It made the news, very unusual. The thinking is that it got lost and then was in the middle of civilization and had trouble getting back out of town with people following it around and taking videos.

​Big Mountain (Whitefish Mountain Resort) piled up 22" of snow in 24hrs on Sunday. Powder hounds were in heaven. Monday the sun came out, lots of snow made the conditions ideal for those of us who prefer to ski groomers.

​Sunday afternoon I sat an open house. I had 2 groups through, both looking at the option of buying a new construction home in a nice subdivision. This home is ready to move into and a great value at $179,900!

http://www.kalispellcary.com/Property/196-Weimar-Way-Kalispell-Montana

As I write this blog, it is snowing big flakes outside my window. Our snow pack is about 52% of normal and the ski hill has half as much snow as a year ago - of course that was a record year. Snow is in the forecast for the next week so skiers rejoice!

There are a number of investors in the market looking at multi-family and commercial real estate. I had a commercial listing just close and showings on the duplex units I have listed. Job ads at Job Service and in the local paper are definitely on the rise. Good news that we have been waiting for. I remember back in '07 the economic forecast for the valley was that 2012 would be the beginning of an up turn in the market. Seemed like a long time to wait but maybe we are there.Since then our MLS has lost about 1/2 of the licensed Realtors. Those of us who have been able to hang in there during the challenging last few years are set to benefit from less competition.

Whitefish Winter Carnival is in full swing. The parade was last Saturday with many events set to come.

Kalispell City Council voted to remove the transportation tax that was added onto the cost of new construction. Any reduction in costs will benefit home buyers of new construction.

Kalispell's current City Manager took a position in another state. An attorney from Helena was set to be the interim but ran into some state pension problems. So, while the search continues for a new manager, the current city attorney may be filling in for a time. The new fire chief has been approved by the city council. Dave Dedman is a Kalispell native and has been filling in for the vacated post and is now the new fire chief.

Record high temps on Wednesday at 50 degrees was really strange. It felt like spring most of the week. Snow in the forecast though for the next few days and boy are we ready for it! The ski slopes are emptied from the surge of holiday tourists. Should be good skiing next week.

The National Association of  Realtor's economist, put out a positive market report for the first time in 3 years. He says there are signs that there is the beginnings of  a healthy uptick in the market. Not since the first time home buyer's credit has there been this change so it is thought that we are slowly climbing out. All real estate is local however, but national trends trickle into our valley eventually. Good news for my sellers-in addition to decreased inventory and fewer bank owned coming on the market. The good news for the buyers is that still record low mortgage rates are available.

My personal happy news this week was welcoming my first grandchild! Son and daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy in Washington State. So blessed and excited.