Here’s the Deal
If you had asked us last summer what we were looking for in terms of land, we would’ve given you a much different answer than if you were to ask us now. We would’ve said: no less than 20-acres; located within a 30-minute radius of Missoula; accessible through the winter but not TOO accessible; a high level of privacy (no neighbors visible from the property); off-grid no problem.
But as the search continues, we’ve made some modifications and adjustments to our search criteria, especially as we are now thinking in terms of stepping stone land and not our forever home. Now when we’re out boots on the ground looking at a property, we’re thinking in terms of: resale value; how viable it is to gain access to power & water & whether or not it will pass a perc test for installation of a septic system. We’ve expanded our search zone and are looking at properties an hour+ from town. We’ve scaled back on how many acres will suffice. And things that used to be a dealbreaker are now being looked at as simply “not great but maybe not the worst.”
UPDATE from last week: The two “strong maybes” have turned into one “strong maybe.” Turns out, the piece of land we looked at last weekend in Superior - which we both really liked - came with 9-pages of covenants. And if you aren’t familiar with what those are, they are basically a list of no-no’s that are saddled to the land. In general, covenants are pretty much a no fly zone for us. If the land for sale has covenants attached, there’s a good chance it won’t work for what we’re looking to do. And 9-pages of covenants? That’s a LOT of no no’s. The largest we’ve seen. And the covenant than upset me the most had to do with dictating the size, shape, and materials you were allowed to build with - you were required to build your house with at least 1,000 square-feet of internal floorspace. Required. Now, for most people that’s probably no big deal. But our house right now is 550 square-feet and it suits us just fine. Maybe it’s the mindful misfit in me (which I consider to be one of my 10 self-identified personality states) but being told what and how we can build on our own land seriously ruffles my feathers.
The pics above are from a piece of land we looked at yesterday morning, located in Greenough, Montana, which clocked in at $150k for just over 6-acres.
Pros: Great views. Good access. Private. Nicely treed. Backed by BLM land (which was incredibly lovely). Good sun access. Has septic approval. Power is close by. Close to Missoula.
Cons: RIGHT on highway 200, so traffic noise is very high. Only one flat patch of ground for building, the rest of the acreage is very sloped; land use in general is really limited because of how sloped the terrain is. Recreating on the BLM land is a bonus but it’s a steep climb to get on there (which I will be limited in being able to do based on my nerve condition and foot pain).
We looked at another piece of land for sale near Drummond a few days ago. It was almost a possible contender - but, no. It just had too many strikes against it.
So. The land up in Polson is our strongest maybe right now. It’s further from Missoula than we’d like. And like every other piece of land, it has it’s own unique set of pros & cons to consider. It’s also more expensive than we can afford, so even if we were to make an offer, the owners would need to take a lot less than they’re asking, which I’m not sure is very likely based on its location and how new it is on the market.
I don’t know, friends. I really don’t. This is harder than I expected. Part of me trusts that our piece of land is out there somewhere, while another part of me is getting really tired of the search. But. Right now. We ARE still in active search mode. We are keeping a diligent eye on Realtor.com and new parcels of bare land are arriving on the market every week. So we are doing our waning best to keep the hope alive, while also in dialog about possible backup plans.
And, so, that’s the deal, right here in this present moment.