In the middle of last summer, we drove down our east coast driveway. Our truck was packed with last minute items. We pulled our camping trailer behind. Our destination: Kalispell Montana. All our household items were already safely in a storage facility and my car was parked on a mountain in Kalispell, awaiting my arrival. We spent the next ten days journeying across the country en route to our new home. We've been here now for about ten months and have loved every moment. And I'm often asked why? Why Montana? Why did we move to Kalispell? What is so special about the place? There isn't just one answer. Here are some of the reasons... The weather:What's the first thing you might think about the weather in Montana? Freezing cold, blowing snow, icy mountain roads, frozen fingers and toes?... 07/02/2020

 Big Sky Country is brimming with wonderful spots for fishing. The clear, cold water in the lakes and rivers is a perfect habitat for trout and other freshwater fish. The list of fishing places is as long as the Missouri River, but these 12 Montana fishing spots are especially perfect for casting a line. They’re popular, easy to find, and beautiful.1. Smith River Bitterroot/Flickr The Smith River is one of the most amazing fishing spots in Montana… if you’re lucky enough to get there. Unlike other Montana rivers, anyone who wants to fish the Smith River needs a permit. Each February a drawing for permits is held. If you’re a lucky lottery winner, you’ll be catching brown and rainbow trout that average 14-16 inches long.2. Yellowstone River Bill Gracey/Flickr You could fish for decades a... 06/30/2020

Yesterday was bound to be an amazing day. As one of the first days of summer, it was forecast to be in the 80s with clear blue skies and beautiful dry Montana air. So what else could we possibly do but make the 45 minute drive to Glacier National Park and explore a different hiking trail!? Because the park is not fully open yet, and the 50 mile Going to the Sun Road still has snow in parts, the park was only open as far north as Avalanche campground. So we drove into the park, passed Lake MacDonald and about four miles later found a spot in the still-not-open campground. We headed for the Trail of the Cedars which leads to the Avalanche Trail which leads to Avalanche Lake. The writeup indicated the trail to the lake was a "moderate" five-mile round trip hike which sounded perfect for th... 06/24/2020

Spring 2020, my first full Spring in Kalispell, has just ended. As much as I am looking forward to spending a full Summer here, I'm a bit disappointed that the Spring went so quickly. It was amazing! Why did I love it so much? Because of the animals, plants, weather, sunshine, and well, everything! FaunaAs soon as Spring started, the increase in bird activity was amazing. I tried a few times to get a good audio clip of the singing, but wasn't successful. It would have been great to share the mournful cry of the red tailed hawk soaring above our home, the rat-a-tat of multiple types of woodpeckers, the hooting of owls and the songs of nutcrackers, finches, cardinals, and all the other birds that live in my area. We have at least one hummingbird that has been seen flitting around the hous... 06/22/2020

If you live in the Kalispell Montana area, and are ever looking for something to do on the second Saturday of June,  you may want to explore the West Kootenai Auction near Rexford, Montana. The auction is conducted by the West Kootenai's Amish Community. The location is about a two hour drive north of Kalispell. Not only was the destination of interest, but so was the journey. Once through Whitefish, route 93 passes through miles of lush forest. When you arrive in the quaint town of Eureka, you'll jump on highway 37 West, drive about 6 miles to the Koocanusa Bridge, go over the bridge and make a right. For the next 14 or so miles, you just follow the signs as you drive a curvy Montana Road to the auction site. For part of the ride you'll be able to see Lake Koocanusa which is a 90 mile ... 06/15/2020

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of May 2020. This report covers the entire residential market, which includes single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.  In May 2020, Kalispell Montana sales and median prices remained healthy. Following is an overview. Sales VolumeIn the month of May 2020, there were 78 residential sales in Kalispell which was fairly steady when compared to the 80 sold in April. May results were 15% less than May of 2019. The difference from last year is not that surprising when considering the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic did result in some sellers holding off putting their homes on the market. So while both April and May had healthy sales rates, I do believe the next few months... 06/05/2020

The community of East Valley Estates is located about four miles outside of the center of Kalispell. The development is convenient to everything! If you lived here, you would be just a short ride to Bigfork, Kalispell, shopping, Whitefish (for skiing, shopping and dining), Glacier National Park, the airport, and more.    You can find more information, including current homes for sale, on my East Valley Estates webpage, or by calling me at 406-270-3667. 06/03/2020

 Some who just read those words probably got an immediate mental image of those wacky looking creatures in Maurice Sendak's children's book of the same name. Nope, I'm not talking about those wild things. And others might be thinking of the deer who are always outside my window (like the ones in this photo that I saw right before I sat down to write). Or perhaps about the mountain lion that has visited our property, or the snake I just nearly stepped on in the meadow, or whatever it was that left turkey feathers and bones across the ground. Nope, not that either. I'm talking about the wild plants. Yes, that's right, plants. Yesterday when out for an afternoon walk, I was drawn to some strange looking mushrooms on the side of the road. I tapped them and they seemed nice and firm and heal... 05/22/2020

I've already shared a lot of information about Kalispell MT on the Kalispell Community page on my website. I will be updating the page on a regular basis as I find out more about the area. I've also been starting to make videos about the area, so what better way to update the Community page than by adding a video about Kalispell? So my question.. would this video make you interested in learning more about the area? If not, what information would make you want to call me?  Thanks for your feedback!   05/19/2020

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of April 2020. This report covers the entire residential market, which includes single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.  In April 2020, Kalispell Montana sales and median prices remained healthy. Following is an overview. Sales VolumeIn the month of April 2020, there were 80 residential sales in Kalispell which was 23% higher than April of 2019, and 13% less than March 2020. Interestingly enough, the March 2020 results had been much higher than the previous year and as such, the fact that April has decreased from March is not an harbinger of a lower trend rate. Eighty sales in the month of April is a very strong result. As mentioned in the last few months, th... 05/05/2020

The Flathead National Forest contains 2.4 million acres of land in Montana, much of which is open to exploration. The forest spans a huge area in all four directions from Kalispell and Flathead Lake. Besides opportunities to camp, fish and boat, there are more than 2,500 miles of hiking trails. We checked out one of those trails yesterday. Only a few miles further up our road is a portion of the Flathead National Forest. We hadn't yet been up that way and chose yesterday as the day for our first adventure. Off we went in search of some sort of trail, and within a few minutes had found a forest service road which serves as a hiking trail. This particular trail winds it way through the Flathead National Forest as well as through timber company land. What a fantastic spot for a hike! Not o... 04/25/2020

We are having a great time exploring our new property in Kalispell, Montana. Not only is it exciting to find footprints for animals we hadn't seen before, but investigating the various types of trees is also fun. Among the Larch, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, White Birch and Quaking Aspens, we found something else.  Dotted here and there in the forest are Rocky Mountain Maple trees. Now why might this be interesting? A tree's a tree's a tree....  Well, nope. Rocky Mountain Maple trees are strange. They are totally unlike the huge magnificent single-trunked Maple trees of the East Coast that grow tall and strong and have beautiful red and orange leaves in the Fall. As some background, no one has ever lived on our property although many decades ago, it was "parked out" so there was fore... 04/23/2020

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of March 2020. This report covers the entire residential market, which includes single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes. In March 2020, Kalispell Montana sales and median prices were healthy. Following is an overview. Sales VolumeIn the month of March 2020, there were 92 residential sales which was 42% higher than March of 2019, and 84% higher than February 2020. To address the elephant in the room upfront, more than 80% of those sales were completed prior to Montana issuing a formal Covid-19 Stay-at-Home directive on March 26th. And while there has been a demonstrable decrease in the number of buyers who are interested in purchasing homes at this moment, ther... 04/06/2020

Rural living in the Flathead Valley can be heavenly, but there are practical considerations to keep in mind when looking for property in the area. If you are considering a rural home, you need to consider purchasing decisions, access issues, service delivery,agriculture and the right to farm, mother nature and wildlife. The first five posts can be accessed by clicking the links above. Part six (and the final part) of the series regarding living in rural areas of the Flathead County in Montana focuses on Wildlife. Flathead County Planning and Zoning prepared an excellent document for both natives and newcomers to the area. They've given me their thumbs up to share here. The final chapter deals with Wildlife. And I quote: Wildlife Flathead County is home to some of the nation's most spect... 03/24/2020

Per the calendar, my first winter in Montana is complete. Of course, we might still get winter weather. But the season has gone far enough so I can provide my input on what a Kalispell winter is like. Or can I? Apparently, the winter of 2019-2020 has been one of the mildest the Flathead Valley has seen in quite a while. So I can't really do a full NY versus MT comparison. But I can give my input on this particular winter. I live on a mountain in a snow belt and for several weeks this winter we would wake up to a dusting to an inch or two of snow. One day there was about 4 or 5 inches, but that was the biggest snowfall of the season. We had no snow storms since the official start of winter. Temperatures were often in the 20s-30s, with a few 40 degree days as well. In fact, I think we onl... 03/23/2020

I recently earned an SRES® designation. SRES is a program designed to enable REALTORS® to assist seniors through major financial and lifestyle transitions. Please note that the "seniors" in this situation refers to anyone 50 years old and above. For all my peers who fit into that 50+ category, being included as a "senior" doesn't mean we're old! SRES® stands for Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation. An SRES® REALTOR® has obtained special training, gets regular updates, and is prepared to provide options and information that might be needed in making life changing decisions. So why do I want to assist "seniors?" Because when I went through the following personal experiences, I would have liked to have had a guide to help me along the way. And I'd like to be that guide for others. S... 03/20/2020

Rural living in the Flathead Valley of Montana can be amazing. Beautiful starlight nights. Sights or signs of wildlife including grouse, rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, fox, coyote, deer, elk, bear and more. Peace and quiet. There are also practical considerations. If you are thinking of moving to a rural area, you need to consider purchasing decisions, access issues, service delivery, agriculture and the right to farm, mother nature and wildlife. The first four posts can be accessed by clicking the links above. Part five of the series regarding living in rural areas of the Flathead County in Montana focuses on Mother Nature. Flathead County Planning and Zoning prepared an excellent document for both natives and newcomers to the area. They've given me their thumbs up to share here. The fiv... 03/14/2020

This is part four of the series regarding living in rural areas of the Flathead County in Montana. If you are considering moving to a rural area, you need to consider purchasing decisions, access issues, service delivery, agriculture and the right to farm, mother nature and wildlife. The first three posts can be accessed by clicking the links above. This post about rural living in Flathead County covers the topic of agriculture and farming. Flathead County Planning and Zoning prepared an excellent document for both natives and newcomers to the area. They've given me their thumbs up to share here. The fourth chapter deals with farming and agriculture topics. And I quote: Agriculture and the Right to Farm Agriculture is still an important part of the Flathead County economy, even as subdi... 03/09/2020

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of February 2020. This report covers the entire residential market, which includes single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.  In February 2020, Kalispell Montana sales and median prices remained healthy. Following is an overview of the monthly results. Sales VolumeIn the month of February 2020, there were 49 residential sales. These results are slightly lower than January and 14% lower than February of last year but this is no cause for concern. The average sales per month for the first quarter of the year have been in the low to mid 50s, so February is tracking in the normal range. As can be seen below in the inventory section, sales continue to move forward! ... 03/06/2020

Moving to a rural area is a decision that encompasses many factors. If you are thinking about living in rural areas of Flathead County, you will need to consider purchasing decisions, access issues, service delivery, agriculture and the right to farm, mother nature and wildlife. The first two posts can be accessed by clicking the links above. This third post about rural living in Flathead County covers potential service delivery issues. Flathead County Planning and Zoning prepared an excellent document for both natives and newcomers to the area. They've given me their thumbs up to share here. The third chapter deals with service delivery to your property. Also, just a note, this chapter refers to DVDs by mail - it was written a few years ago! And I quote: Service Delivery Living in a ru... 03/03/2020