New member in Butte, Montana

[Russ O'Leary]

I've been in the real estate and investing world my whole life (it is our family business) but only recently have I myself jumped in with both fee. I am now a licensed real estate agent and I am actively looking for properties and deals for myself and others. BP has been a great place to get a good understanding of what I need to do to move forward.

I'd love to connect with some other people in Southwest Montana!

Russ

[Alan Brown]

Wow!  This is a great thread!  Welcome to BP Russ... I look forward to meeting all y'all!

Bozeman does seem a bit inflated, and I heard recently that they're planning for 40,000 new homes in the next ten years!!  it will be called Bozegrade....or Belman.   Most people seem pretty bullish on the RE market in BZN, but I wonder how much of that is optimism... they say, that because there is no large single business carrying the whole economy, it means that people are bringing their work with them, which in turn, means that a bubble shouldn't pop!!??  I was a Realtor in Boulder, CO for many years, and that town was pretty much bubble proof because they ringed the whole town with public open space, so no further expansion was possible in the town.  Which meant that prices just constantly go up.  They may flatten a bit at times, but no drops!  Bozeman could keep building forever in the wide open spaces, which does mean that if the economy falters either nationally or especially locally, there could be a lot of Supply without enough demand... which could leave some boats on dry land!

So I've been thinking about investing in Butte if it seems that the economy is truly coming back, albeit slowly.  Slow is fine, if the cash flow is great, which I imagine it should be in that demographic... A friend has been living there for the last year and I was able to hang with him quite a bit.  I love the history and just the great old feeling of the town.  But my friend felt that the economy was slowly going down... I don't know... What do you think, Russ?

Also thinking about Billings and some of the towns around it... not too far to drive to Butte or Billings from Bozeman, and the right price to rent ratios could be great, and Flips in Billings could be good and strong...?  What do you guys think?  Joshua?  how's Billings economy doing?  is it still growing, and is the appreciation strong?