Need advice. Land in Lincoln county MT?

[TSnave]

How set are you on Lincoln County? Lots of other areas to look at that may (MAY!) come reasonably close to fitting your requirements. The US200 corridor from Noxon to Plains, or down around Drummond/Philipsburg, maybe. If you as a vet are looking for VA access, get closer to Helena. Want less snow and more sun, get on the east side of the divide (although you still gotta plow). Check out the areas around Dillon. Butte is actually pretty nice as long as you ignore the pit, and centrally located.

I guess all I'm saying is don't focus too tightly, you might find what you want.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

RE: Libby I do find Libby "cool". Almost relocated there maybe 4 years ago. Wife is in emergency medicine. The hospital has been renovated and is very nice. Town has just enough flair and pop. Super market is nice and clean. Couple outdoor shops and power sports shops. Nice micro brewery. And I think the Kootenai River is an underfished Gem. I'd give Libby two thumbs up. But it WAS a Super Fund site. Beware of the aquifer and water. Not sure filters will work.

Troy.....is smaller and dingier than Sedro or Concrete. Just a few old homes, couple gas stations. A store where you can buy booze and bait. Logging trucks, etc. Maybe it's Home for you? Libby just down the road. Where anyone would go to shop or eat.

If you have access and credit to $200,000....you can find land. And quite a few lots but USFS in that area.

Completely get No Neighbors. I want and have searched for same. Just saying you are not alone. 1000s of us looking for the same. And unless you have upward of $600,000 you generally have to make some concessions. Acccept a neighbor closer, accept a decent lot that doesn't touch Public.

Having just been "forced" to return to Washington...completely feel it. State REALLY sucks. I am on the same exit stragegy. Just Lincoln Co not my Forever place.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Deer Lodge, Drummond, Three Forks all generally cheaper. Just dirtier and dingier....hence the reduced price tags. Dillon generally is not Cheap.

Central MT like Shawmut and Harlowtown cheap too. Roundup cheap also.

 

[ianpadron]

1) land prices in Lincoln County have actually appreciated at a faster rate than the more populated parts of MT. Still a lower median overall price but the % increase has been higher. I don't see them ever returning to pre'Rona levels, although we're currently in the longest "plateau" of pricing since 2020...I'd be looking to scoop dirt ASAP if that was my plan. I'm actually doing that right now in the Yaak.

2) Definitely have to watch for mineral rights. Make sure you have an agent or attorney that understands how to read the exceptions section of a title commitment and that you're taking fee simple/warranty deed with no encroachments/encumbrances. I just had a deal in Whitefish that had mineral rights separated back in 1985 and no one knew anything about it, apparently the original declarant had inherited the property with that encumbrance back when it was ag-land. Gotta watch for that in rural MT or it can really screw the surface rights holder.

3) You want to avoid the area around the old vermiculite mine. EPA cleaned up the residential areas but there is still a zone NE of Libby where you're warned to not agitate the soil, pine duff, etc. We hunt all over that general region and don't set foot in that section of forest that the prevailing winds sarurated with dust from decades of mining. Too many stories of guys cookin' their lungs back in the day.

If you have more questions, ill get you my cell number via PM. Lincoln County is incredible by every metric and I spend the majority of my free time exploring, hunting, and fishing there.

 

[ianpadron]

Right. Well…what you call normal interest rates coupled with the way over inflated home prices seems like a ticking time bomb to me. I don’t have a crystal ball, but my gut tells me there’s a hard reset coming. I’ll just have to agree to disagree.

As of last week, the US has an SFR supply shortage of roughly 5M homes.

Prices aren't going down, at least not on the level you're alluding to.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I suggest you spend a full year in the area before you buy. As I got up this morning with 3ft drifts on the front porch, I was reminded that stuff happens and you need to be prepared for everything that can happen.

I moved from the country between Deer Park and Newport 36 years ago. As a native Montanan I found the increasing liberal Washington represented a life I didn't want to be part of. I gave up a job I liked with the feds and took a significant cut in pay.

Land was cheaper then and inspite of my wifes terror we made a life in Montana and raised our kids. I don't think jobs have gotten any better and land taxes are a concern for all of us.

You are competing for land with migrants from surrounding states and especially California. Many of them sell their house for cash there and buy for cash here at prices well beyond what our jobs can support.

Shop carefully for a place you can afford. It likely will be some distance from a larger city or a recreational center or ski area. I'm only 18 miles from town but found it difficult to get people to visit even for free beer.

There is a lot of country to pick from and most of it will be priced not at what it is worth but at prices the migrants will pay. I live where spring starts in June and sometimes winter starts in August. Shop carefully!

 

[Fireflyfishing]

As of last week, the US has an SFR supply shortage of roughly 5M homes.

Prices aren't going down, at least not on the level you're alluding to.

Right. Well, when masses of people keep flooding through our borders unchecked, you can certainly show a continuous shortage. Then, we get low income housing everywhere…but, I digress.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Yup, all part of the fun of severed mineral estates. Inevitably half the people die without a will so you trace 1/32nd of a share to grandpa Joe’s half-niece or whatever. Often it’s more a theoretical than a real threat. But I have had companies send a letter and say they’re going to drill; most of the time they can’t even trace the rights they claim they are exercising.

A high school friend had a company that researched "mineral rights" for drilling companies. Delving into the ownership of those mineral deposits until the producer was satisfied they were paying the rightful owner.
I have a feeling there was so many untraceable, unlocatable heirs, the "lease" would have been more trouble than it was worth. Not only that, I know there were some jack-leg lawyers further down the "relative" chain.
Highly likely, if there WERE any proceeds, they have them so tied up, only they can get there mitts on it.

Que, sera, sera!

 

[moab]

1) land prices in Lincoln County have actually appreciated at a faster rate than the more populated parts of MT. Still a lower median overall price but the % increase has been higher. I don't see them ever returning to pre'Rona levels, although we're currently in the longest "plateau" of pricing since 2020...I'd be looking to scoop dirt ASAP if that was my plan. I'm actually doing that right now in the Yaak.

2) Definitely have to watch for mineral rights. Make sure you have an agent or attorney that understands how to read the exceptions section of a title commitment and that you're taking fee simple/warranty deed with no encroachments/encumbrances. I just had a deal in Whitefish that had mineral rights separated back in 1985 and no one knew anything about it, apparently the original declarant had inherited the property with that encumbrance back when it was ag-land. Gotta watch for that in rural MT or it can really screw the surface rights holder.

3) You want to avoid the area around the old vermiculite mine. EPA cleaned up the residential areas but there is still a zone NE of Libby where you're warned to not agitate the soil, pine duff, etc. We hunt all over that general region and don't set foot in that section of forest that the prevailing winds sarurated with dust from decades of mining. Too many stories of guys cookin' their lungs back in the day.

If you have more questions, ill get you my cell number via PM. Lincoln County is incredible by every metric and I spend the majority of my free time exploring, hunting, and fishing there.

How can locate the vermiculite mine on a map?

 

[moab]

Shop carefully for a place you can afford. It likely will be some distance from a larger city or a recreational center or ski area. I'm only 18 miles from town but found it difficult to get people to visit even for free beer.

I don't wish to be near any of those things. And assume at least a 2hr drive to Kalispell for supplies bimonthly or the like. MT is a second choice from Alaska. So that is where my mind is at. Lincoln county seems doable comparatively. I'm not having to fly or boat anything in.

As far as visitors. I expect friends and family to visit on occasion. But have no illusions of a social life. I'm fairly introverted. And content with just my wife and I. Alaska was the first choice.

Taking my time is definitely what I am doing now. I don't expect to buy anything until early next year. And I've been following real estate prices and offerings for 2 years. And doing research. I haven't even had serious discussions with my cousin who lives in Libby. She's elderly and I don't want to overload her with questions until we know we are actually going to buy. But she and her husband are a wealth of knowledge and contacts. That will be very valuable to us.

In the meantime we have a long stay this summer to late fall planned. It's not winter. But I need to be able to get around and look at things.

My biggest concerns are property rights, zoning laws, environmental limitations (I've missed properties in WA from salmon spawning grounds in the tiniest little ditch water you could ever imagine.), water, setting up an off grid system (As I would love to have power. But not counting on it. Although a couple properties I have found have access. But at what cost? I have no idea if that means burying cable or paying for electrical poles? Or how out of reach that is financially?), mineral and water rights are becoming more clear, snow removal and 4x4 access is a big one (All of our vehicles are capable 4x4. And we have experience four wheeling in logging roads as far as the snow will allow us.), what kind of access I need to have a modular home or similar delivered and erected (traditional stick home seems out of my league financially), hunting and fishing is of course important to me but I have no illusions of being in the migratory path of large game. That's going to take some traveling and exploration, I build rifles. I would really like to have a range of some sort. Not over 100 yds but similar would be nice. The social aspect of joining a membership range appeals to me. I just don't want to be bothered test firing or sighting in on my own property.

Beyond that I want to know - what I don't know. Which is the only area that has ever tripped me up in life.

I usually end every important discussion with "What am I not asking that I should be?".

 

[ianpadron]

How can locate the vermiculite mine on a map?

The mine itself is easy to find, just type in Libby Vermiculite Mine on Google.

The affected area that is loaded with dust is HERE

The old site is currently owned by Kootenai Dev. Co.

 

[moab]

The mine itself is easy to find, just type in Libby Vermiculite Mine on Google.

The affected area that is loaded with dust is HERE

The old site is currently owned by Kootenai Dev. Co.

I think I just paid for my membership here 200 times over.

What on earth does "removal methods" mean? How do you remove something that is all over the ground and tree bark? Slash and burn? And then bulldoze it into the sea? Man.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I was there many times. I don't remember any dust anytime. Maybe before the last 10 years. There was tremendous control over any dust issues.

Just a point of reality.

 

[ianpadron]

I was there many times. I don't remember any dust anytime. Maybe before the last 10 years. There was tremendous control over any dust issues.

Just a point of reality.

It's not in Libby proper. It's any time you agitate the ground, trees, pine duff, etc. around the superfund site. Naturally, they couldn't clean everything up and had to stop at some point, the wooded mountains between the mine and Koocanusa aren't somewhere I'd be spending any serious time recreating.

Next time a fire blows up in that general vicinity, take a look at the gear the crews are running in case you think the dust isn't that bad...

 

[ianpadron]

I think I just paid for my membership here 200 times over.

What on earth does "removal methods" mean? How do you remove something that is all over the ground and tree bark? Slash and burn? And then bulldoze it into the sea? Man.

That right there is the issue. No feasible way to clean up the surrounding terrain, which is why the warning still exists for that specific zone.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I would like to see the results of testing the intrusive that the mine is in. If they were positive then it would change the entire approach and success.