First Six Months

Let me start by first saying that I was completely underwhelmed by the lack of snowfall.

Let It Go... Wait, Where Did It Go?

Everyone back east consistently informed me about how cold it was going to be. Not once did I need to don anything heavier than my midweight 230 g/m2 merino shirt and a hoodie. Nor was it necessary to even fire up that new 24" snow blower I purchased when we first moved here in preparation. I DID fire it up and do the drive once, but my FWD passenger car would have made it out easily.

Ice Accumulating on Our Rain Chains

Granted, we have El Niño affecting the weather pattern (on top of the ever worsening state of climate change). So maybe there is still hope for snow to get deeper than my calf.  My wife does not share this hope.

In the hectic chaos of trying to settle in, unpack, get our daughter adjusted, and figure out a routine, I totally missed out on skiing and snowshoeing. But this is definitely something I'm going to arrange for the family next season.

Is the Honeymoon Over?

The cynics said the honeymoon phase would be over soon enough (I guess frozen out by the awful winter) and I'll begin to wish I was back "home." Well, maybe its too early to call, but I haven't looked back. I can honestly say that I have yet to grow tired of looking at the mountains. I have a hard time driving because all I want to do is stare at the gorgeous scenery. I feel centered and relaxed. We recently returned to the heartland, and I can tell you with certainty that my heart ached for the mountains every day.

The day I take those giant rocks for granted will be a sad day.

Lake Time

Business hours are short. Not that it makes a load of difference to me. First, I'm actively trying not to require any services. Second, I have a very flexible schedule and can accommodate said weird hours. Oh, I didn't mention they are weird hours?

Maybe it's just the Midwesterner in me, but regular business hours is somewhere in the neighborhood of 0800 to 1800...  but only if you're a bank. Everyone else should at least be open to 2100 (that's 8am to 9pm for those unacquainted with the superior 24 hour timekeeping method).

So around here, some places close a little after lunch (between noon and 1500) or don't open until the evening (1700+). Also, there are large numbers of seasonal businesses. I've entered many an establishment and sat down only to be told several minutes later that they are closed... you know, unless you're wanting to flush your money away at their casino which is open 30 hours a day.

Brewery Paradise

Montana has more breweries per capita than any other state of the Union. I'm not sure what that says about us Montanans other than we love some fermented beverages. I even have a Brewery Passport so I can travel to all of them and get it stamped while I toss back golden brews.

Cuisine Conundrum

There isn't a lot of choice as far as quality restaurants are concerned. I won't say there aren't any to be had, because the awesome breweries usually have excellent meal offerings. But, good food always carries a premium. Also, these poor people have no idea what good Mexican food tastes like. We have visited several restaurants purporting to peddle in pabulum from beyond our southern borders, and all of them were south of pleasing.

There's No Escape from Hate

This is true, and I had no allusions to the contrary. You'll see the billboard christians out here with their ten commandment signs planted in their front yard (or bumper stickers on their car). Hell, I've already had the obligatory JW visit... though I don't think they'll be coming back since I made it abundantly clear that the last 3000 feet of road is a private drive and they are trespassing and there will be repercussions. They're like rats and cockroaches; they'll find people where ever they hide.

But the area is also rich in culture (if not exactly diversity). We live within a short drive to several indigenous Reservations and I'm accompanying my daughter on a field trip to the Kootenai/Salish River Honoring Ceremony very soon.

A People of Vision

There are also a large number of conservationists (and a wide spectrum thereof, ranging from hunters to Green Peace). I find even those most conservative (politically) conservationists to be more rational than your average bear.

But the bottom line is there are just fewer people and therefore fewer opportunities for malarkey.

Traffic Observations

What the hell is with Montanans and not wanting to merge when their lane ends? Hey! It's your fucking lane that is ending, not mine, so the onus is on you to figure out how to not get stuck on the goddamned shoulder.

Most of the time, I love driving around Montana. Besides the scenery, most of the highways have a 70 MPH speed limit. That being said, there are plenty of drivers who will never ever peak within 10 MPH (talking about the 55 MPH portion) of the posted speed limit on the single lane section of 93 that hugs the western shore of Flathead Lake. What the hell?

Summer Plans

Our big goal is to invest in a boat to take advantage of lake activities. The local college also offers some sea kayaking lessons that I think I might enroll in too. We're definitely going to put our fishing poles, tent, hiking boots, and bicycles to use as well.

Looking forward to the next six months and a permanent honeymoon period!

Majestic Montana Manse

Another long pause since I last posted about our Indiana home selling woes. We finally closed on the Hoosier Hell House and shortly after we were able to close on our dream home, which I am dubbing the Majestic Montana Manse. Closing on our new home was mostly smooth and uneventful, though we did end up with some surprises. Some fees ended up being more expensive than advertised, but we rolled with the punches and after a couple of months in our new home I'm happy to report that I do not have any buyer's remorse.

A Surreal Experience

Even a couple of months after relocating to the mountains near Flathead Lake, a longtime dream of mine, it still feels very surreal. I keep staring through the window at the evergreens bows capped with snow, and the lake sitting at the foot of the Swan and Mission mountain ranges with ice slowly creeping in from its banks waiting for everything to disappear.

We're still trying to dig in our roots and discover the community around us, but we've already begun settling our daughter into the activities she enjoys. But we're also trying to immerse ourselves in the culture and assimilate. That was one of the big secondary reasons we came west; to make the outdoors an integral part of our everyday life. We're looking forward to skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, camping, equine activities, paddling, and fly fishing.

Omnipresent Bigotry

The RFRA and the oppressive religious demagogy that surrounded me in Indiana is what kicked off this entire journey west. I was never naive enough to believe I could completely escape it, and there are definitely people of the same mindset here in Montana. There is just a hell of a lot more space between us and them, and that gives me a lot more comfort.

Hoosier Hell House

This may not be a chilling ghost story set in the rural corn fields of Indiana but it is a tale of terror about the horror show that has been the macabre process of selling our seemingly doomed Indiana home. It's been quite awhile since I last updated our relocation journal, and that is because the story was just too depressing to commit to even the ephemeral pages of a blog.

We are on our third buyer (as in we accepted two previous offers that fell through at various points of the sale process) and we were originally set to close on November 1st after accepting their offer in late September. We had completed all buyer requests for repairs and improvements by October 24th and we had our offer accepted on a home in Montana we fell in love with and we set our MT closing date for November 16th (which I thought was MORE than enough padding).

Right after we completed work, we scheduled flights, arranged temporary lodging, and prepared for the movers to come and pack the entire household. Sometime in this process, we are informed there is a back-up offer on the house in MT we want. But who cares, right?

The tractor trailer and car transporters arrive October 30th, two days before we're supposed to close. While the team is loading our household goods, the VA appraiser for the buyers show up... which is not a good sign since there are no business days left to process this appraisal. The day gets worse since after our cars were picked up for shipping and enroute to Northwest Montana and 80% of our household goods were loaded on a tractor trailer, we were notified that the buyers had to extend closing until November 10th because their lender would not be able to complete underwriting in time due to not scheduling the appraisal sooner.

Bad timing, we had so much money wrapped up in the actual relocation of our personal property and ourselves, that it would have been financially devastating to pull the plug. So on November 1st, my father and I haul my Scout behind our other remaining vehicle and bring my dog along (because I couldn't find a reasonable way to fly her out). Late that night a tire loses tread on the car dolly, but luckily had a spare and we caught it before it blew. Ten minutes to change it and we're back on the road.

Then on November 2nd, as planned, my wife and daughter fly out to Montana and check into our [not-so] temporary lodging. That same afternoon. the other dolly tire goes in the middle of nowhere North Dakota. It was an adventure finding cell signal and locating the closest tire service to come mount two new tires, but we got it done fairly quickly and back on our journey west. We only lost about an hour and a half.

November 3rd I arrive in Montana and soon after look for storage for the Scout and dolly so we don't have to pull it around everywhere we need to go in the Tundra until our other vehicles arrive. On November 5th, we have our belongings sent to a warehouse for storage but take delivery of our vehicles. Our vehicles introduce a new wrinkle because they arrive with only flimsy copies of their keys and without the keyless entry transmitters because the originals were lost somewhere... and no one in the custody chain will admit responsibility (or explain how they were able to make duplicates).

November 10th comes and goes and no closing so we take matters into our own hands and begin contacting the buyers' lender directly. It was mostly my wife, because I was so angry and frustrated that I probably would have blown the entire deal. We discover that the buyers were displeased with their percentage rates and decided to consolidate their debt by taking out not one, but two additional loans after they had been pre-approved for their mortgage. This required their lender to completely re-evaluate their debt:income.

They finally get (re)approved Wednesday morning (November 11th), but because they took so long, their rate lock expired and due to new laws from October, there is now a mandatory 3 business day waiting period. Which means they want to close on the 16th, which means we wouldn't close on the Montana home (because we need my VA eligibility restored by the purchase of our Indiana home).

We do our own search and discover that the mandatory three day waiting period can be waived for hardship purposes, so we explain to the buyers' lender that if we don't close on Friday the 13th (of course it is!) then we won't get our home in here in the Rockies (due to the back-up offer that we were told the seller is ready to take because its better than ours). This approach fails, because it must be the buyers' hardship not the sellers'... so we inform them our hardship will become their hardship because if we can't close, they won't close since we'll scuttle the entire deal. They immediately draft a hardship letter and submit it.

Thursday morning we were informed the buyers' hardship letter was approved and I try to set closing for early AM Friday, but hey, one of the sellers has to work until the afternoon, because you know, closing on your house after all this struggle isn't important enough to request off work. I manage to get our side of things, and everything else but the buyers' signatures scheduled to be processed for Friday morning and the buyers set to finish early in the afternoon.

Because we didn't have enough time left for the VA and our own lender to process my eligibility, we had to push our Montana close date back to the 18th (luckily, I noticed there was a clause in our contract that said we have a 5 day grace period if we're having issues getting our loan) and I also manage to swing a free extension because now my own rate lock is going to expire.

We finally got confirmation Friday evening that the sale was complete and we saw that the bank has processed the purchased and marked our first mortgage as paid in full. The VA still hasn't cleared my eligibility, but I'm hoping that the official documentation of the purchase is all we need to close on our new home. Things are finally beginning to fall in place. In the meantime, I'm going to watch these dark clouds float past the beautiful Swan Mountain range.

Wildfire Worries

Over the last month or so, wildfires have been raging in the West (mostly California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, & Montana. I've been following the local news at our relocation destination in Kalispell for a while now and I keep seeing warnings about unhealthy air quality in Flathead Valley. This does give me some cause for concern.

Wildfire at Glacier National Park

Who knows when this drought will end or if we're seeing something more akin to what might be the new norm due to climate change. These concerns are toiling away in the back of my mind and I wonder if I want to invest in property that could easily be wiped out by raging fires in the near future. Also, one of the reasons I'm moving is to experience the clean mountain air... which is currently choked with smoke.

Smoke blotting the Sun, credit: Emily Graves Johnson Charlo

I hope the landscape will eventually heal, but with global warming, I have to give consideration to the idea that perhaps there isn't likely going to be a reprieve anytime soon. Regardless, we need to sell the house before we can move anywhere.

REFERENCES

• Wildfires Wreak Havoc in Drought-Choked Western States - ABC News
• Unhealthy Air from Wildfire Smoke Spreads Throughout Montana - NBC Montana

Hoosier Home Listed!

First big milestone, our current (or old/previous home depending on when you read this) has finally been listed. After two months of small improvements to put our best foot forward, we finally brought the realtor out to take pictures and put it up for sale.

So far, it's been listed for less than 24 hours and we have already had two showings and four more scheduled through this week. We also have an offer from a property management group, albeit fairly low-ball. We're hoping this is a sign of good things to come and that hopefully we'll get our asking price!

Front of House, Looking East/Southeast

So, if you are looking for a house in the Indianapolis area, or know someone who is, please share and take a look.

MIBOR

Zillow

Trulia

Redfin

Homes

Metro Indy Pros Site

Home Details:

• Franklin, Indiana (about 25 minutes south of Indianapolis)
• List price: $130,000
• 3 Bedrooms
• 2 Bathrooms
• 2 Unfinished Bonus Rooms
• About 1560 sqft Finished Main Floor, 500+ sqft. Unfinished Upstairs
• 2 Car Garage
• .28 Acre Corner Lot
• Fenced Backyard
• Playset
• Shed
• Mature Trees
• Alarm System
• Brand New Stainless French Door Refrigerator & Dishwasher
• Cathedral Ceiling in Living Room
• 3/4" Hardwood floors
• Custom Trim
• Newly Painted Interior

Below are some more pictures from the listing along with the area their relative location and additional details to get a feel for the layout.

Living Room, Looking Northwest Into Front Door, Closet, Bedroom 2, & Hallway to Guest Bath & Bedroom 3

Living Room, Cathedral Ceiling, Looking East Into Kitchen & Patio Door

Kitchen, East, Looking Into Hallway To Master Bedroom & Utility Room

Kitch, East, Looking Into Living Room

Master Bedroom, Southeast, Left Door Leading to Master Bath, Right Door To Hallway to Utility Room, Kitchen, & Living Room

Master Bath, Southwest, Door Leading to Master Bedroom

Guest Bath, North

Bedroom 2, Northwest

Bedroom 3, Northeast

Utility Room Leading to Garage

West Bonus Room Over Garage

Backyard, Facing Northeast

Backyard, Facing Southeast

The Long Internet Home Search

Been a long while since I updated. For the last month or so, I have been in full-on house project mode, doing things like fresh paint, flooring, and landscaping to put our current home's best foot forward when we place it on the market (so if anyone is interested in a 3 bedroom home on the southern outskirts of Indianapolis [Franklin], or know someone who might be interested let me know).

Now that the facelift mania has passed, we're beginning to work with our realtor in Montana to narrow down the areas and types of homes we're interested in. Which brings us to the awesome, yet frustrating endeavor of long-distance window-shopping for homes.

There are some very cool internet resources for long distance (and local) home shopping. Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor are probably most well known sites. For those exploring FSBO [For Sale By Owner], there are local classified sites or Craigslist. But there are also local realty organizations that provide search tools as well. Central Indiana has MIBOR [Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS] and northwest Montana has NMAR [Northwest Montana Association of REALTORS].

NMAR

Yet, none of them are perfect. You'll find different information for the same listing across all the sites or even the same site (when there are multiple listings for the same property).

Trulia

My primary gripe with Trulia is that I cannot specify large regions to search. What would be great is if it allowed state, multiple zip code, or map-based searching. Perhaps most people know they will be confined to a particular zip code for work purposes, but I have far more freedom. I want to be able to see all the places within the region that matches my criteria. Also, I'd like to have more granular control over criteria than what is provided by the default values in the drop-downs. Internet availability, tax information, and other details seem to be sparse or non-existent.

Zillow

I feel that Zillow is somewhat better than Trulia at the MLS game. Along with Trulia, it is an MLS aggregator that may or may not have the latest or reliable information about a listing (such as if the home is on contract or already sold). But it does allow searching by map or by an entire state, which is why I like it more that Trulia. I really wish it had overlays for internet and cell service so you could see where coverage was. Also, I really like the instant-notification for saved searches.

Realtor

Realtor.com has best detailed information and granular search options of all the big aggregator sites, but I hate its image viewer. Trulia and Zillow definitely have better presentation. Another gripe I have with Realtor.com is that even though I can save and rate homes, I wish there were folders I could publicly share so my wife and realtor could view them.

NMAR

This regional site is by far my preferred MLS shopping utility. You can share searches (and selected homes from a search) to permanent links that can be accessed by anyone. The level of details for searches is by far the best. I can actually search for homes that have "high speed internet" and have between 1643 & 2978 square feet and have (mountain views or water frontage or trees). Of course, we're assuming the listing agent supplied all this information accurately, but still, I love the search. You can zoom in on the map to limit your results and it utilizes tabs to separate views (list, detail, photos, map). When in the photo tab, it presents big slideshows and allows the user to use the up & down keys to move between the sorted listings from the search, while the left & right keys allow you to move between pics of the home. Which allows you to quickly determine interest level in the homes. If there was a hot key to "select" a home, it would be perfect.

I do wish I could create an account to save searches, receive notifications, and manage saved homes, but I just keep the window open and refresh it throughout the day.

Best MLS Search Features

If anyone is paying attention, I think the following features are must haves:

• Map-based Search
• State-wide, Multiple Zip Code Search
• Numeric Entry for Search Fields
• price
• square footage
• acreage
• Internet/Cell Coverage Map Overlays
• heat mapped by speed, network type
• Feature Search
• terrain/waterfront
• views
• style/construction type
• age
• HOA/covenants
• taxes
• utilities/internet
• appliances included
• road class/surface
• adjacent owners
• outbuildings/fencing
• luxury items (fireplace, hot tub, etc.)
• Full-screen Image Viewer
• Saved Searches
• notifications of new/updated homes
• shared searches
• Saved Homes
• folders
• shared folders
• Easy Navigation
• hot keys

Reconnaissance

No long-distance home search would be complete without gather intel on the local area. Places to eat; things to see; activities to enjoy. We've used the city's website,  Google Maps (Street View & Views in particular are great tools), Yelp, Foursquare, CitySearch, and even various blogs & forums (Reddit, city-data.com).

House Hunting Trip

We're maintaining a short list of homes we like until we get some traction with the sale of our current home. Once we feel we're in a good position with the sale, we're going to schedule a week to go out and meet our Montana realtor and visit our list of potential future homes.

Montanan Xenophobia

Before we decided to make the trek to Montana, I did some research to see what problems, hurdles, and obstacles we might encounter during a relocation. I frequently came across lists of reasons why people should not move to Big Sky Country. The reasons are always some form of "you can't hack frontier life." It's too cold, there's too much snow, you'll get eaten by bears, trampled by moose, bitten by snakes, or chewed on by some grizzled mountain man. If it is not fearmongering about the dangers of the wild west, it's a frank warning about economic depression and a lack of employment. Sometimes it's just plain unhospitality, "Get off my lawn!" This is in sharp contrast to a recent Gallop poll where Montanans (along with Alaskans) rated their state the best place to live in the US.

Clearcutting makes me sad...

Ever Encroaching Horde of Humanity

I understand it. There are definitely plenty of city slickers who could get themselves or others killed with their lack of respect for untamed mother nature. Then there are the rich elite who have managed to drive up real estate prices and create expansive, private fiefdoms that rail against the Montanan culture of accessible public land. From my experience, Montanans embrace the outdoor lifestyle; it's very similar to the Scandinavian concept of friluftsliv. More people mean less wild which erodes the very reasons everyone loves Montana.

I mourn the loss of empty spaces even here in the midwest. I'd much rather see fields of corn and soybeans than claustrophobic, cookie-cutter subdivisions. It really cuts my psyche to see trees felled under the chainsaws of ever-encroaching hordes of humanity.

Artist Concept of an Arcology

Part of the Problem?

Does my relocation make me part of the problem? Should humanity just be bunched together and stacked atop each other? I totally think more urban areas should invest in the concept of the tall arcology that embraces architectural design principals of densely populated habitats. The planet could also benefit from hastening the trend of smaller families (and maybe free vasectomies and contraception).

I certainly hope I'm not part of the problem. I just don't feel like I belong in the midwest. I yearn for the dense pines, tall mountains, and sparsely populated areas of western Montana. Perhaps I can become an advocate for the conservation of the untamed lands I anticipate living in as penance for daring to call the last best place my home.

Additional Reading

• Top 10 Reasons Not to Move to Montana
• 10 Reasons Not to Move to Boseman
• So You Want to Move to Montana
• Friluftsliv - An Outdoor Lifestyle
• Arcology - Cutaways of the Future City-Hives That Never Were
• Introduction to Arcology