Tell me why I shouldn't move to wyoming...

[go_deep]

2 years to think it over?
Talk to us on 20 months then, and you better reevaluate everything in 20 months then too, because nothing but the weather will be the same then.

 

[kickemall]

Do it. Life passes you by while you think about it. You can always move again if it doesn't work out. Don't wait, do it now.

 

[KurtR]

Spent alot of time there most of it in the winter. Maybe because I grew up and live in South Dakota the wind and cold never seemed that bad to me. Plenty of diesel mechanics jobs out there my brother in slaw has worked for cat for 15 years now in one of the mines and he is busier than ever and makes good money.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

2 years to think it over?
Talk to us on 20 months then, and you better reevaluate everything in 20 months then too, because nothing but the weather will be the same then.

That was slightly sarcastic...but I get your point. I fully realize 2 years can change alot of things that we will be continuing to monitor but it's going to take near that before we jump for a few reasons. The primary being we definitely can't pull it off before kids start school this year and I really don't want to move them in the middle of the school year. Secondly, as burned out as I am currently I still have a commitment to hold up getting this new shop up and running...and I need the paycheck for a bit longer to give us the cushion we need for the move and to hopefully afford the home/land we want without taking on dept...because I'm all to well aware that we won't account for everything and life just happens sometimes.
As stated before, there are still a few places we want to physically check out ourselves as well.

I will say that our primary focus has been norwest, north central part of the state thus far. The Cody area up to Powell and east to Greybull has caught our attention more than other areas for numerous reasons, but we would still like to explore just east of the bighorns from Buffalo to Sheridan...and getting there from here to do that while juggling two jobs and kids just takes time.

 

[tony]

My GF was in Bozeman last week visiting a friend. Friends 2 bedroom condo on the 3rd floor was $300,000.
GF looked a lot in Bozeman $300,000
How does the average hippie making coffee or working in a bookstore afford to live there?
I make decent money in the medical field and those prices give my chest pain.

Just looked at a house with 56 acres here in SE Ohio for $400,000. Our winters are getting milder and the summers hotter.
If you’re moving for the weather, there are more reasonable prices out there.
I’ll be 56 in a few weeks, I really don’t know if I want another house payment

 

[WY SkunkApe]

That was slightly sarcastic...but I get your point. I fully realize 2 years can change alot of things that we will be continuing to monitor but it's going to take near that before we jump for a few reasons. The primary being we definitely can't pull it off before kids start school this year and I really don't want to move them in the middle of the school year. Secondly, as burned out as I am currently I still have a commitment to hold up getting this new shop up and running...and I need the paycheck for a bit longer to give us the cushion we need for the move and to hopefully afford the home/land we want without taking on dept...because I'm all to well aware that we won't account for everything and life just happens sometimes.
As stated before, there are still a few places we want to physically check out ourselves as well.

I will say that our primary focus has been norwest, north central part of the state thus far. The Cody area up to Powell and east to Greybull has caught our attention more than other areas for numerous reasons, but we would still like to explore just east of the bighorns from Buffalo to Sheridan...and getting there from here to do that while juggling two jobs and kids just takes time.

This thread is the like the Natrona County thread a few days ago.

What you’re trying to gauge is how difficult the move is going to be, can you assimilate and what is the real estate going to cost.

I can’t tell you how hard the physical move is going to be, but I have to imagine it will suck moving a family from Ohio.

Assimilation takes time- lots of it. Not having your family and friends around you (support group) will be the hardest thing. If you guys are native Ohioans, then pretty much bank on your wife and kids defecting once the WY reality kicks in. I see it all the time, I’m not exaggerating.

Real estate- if you want Park County, be ready to pay, and do it quick because our prices here are only going to continue to escalate as Bozeman gets overran and rich folks bail on Teton County because they don’t have billionaire money. For 20ac and established house here, you’re looking at $1.5M unless it’s a shitbox of a house and then you’re going to throw more capital at it.

You’d like 20ac next to or near public land? I’m guessing you’d like a nice piece that isn’t sagebrush, dirt and rattlesnakes. You’re looking at $350k-$500k for just the dirt- location will be the main driver of your purchase premium. On top of that can you get a good well drilled or will you have to haul water? What about power, gas and irrigation? Construction costs are $300-$375/sqft.- no BS, that’s the price and HOAs will run it in your ass to maintain compliance. Good luck building a redneck Shangri-la like 10-20 years ago. Those days left when out-of-staters really started to pack in to the North and South Forks, and it’s only gotten worse. And land that appears cheap is cheap for a reason: out-of-staters buy that garbage sight-unseen and regret it: you’d shit yourself if you knew how often that happens.

As I said earlier: Good Luck.

 

[FAAFO]

My GF was in Bozeman last week visiting a friend. Friends 2 bedroom condo on the 3rd floor was $300,000.
GF looked a lot in Bozeman $300,000
How does the average hippie making coffee or working in a bookstore afford to live there?
I make decent money in the medical field and those prices give my chest pain.

Just looked at a house with 56 acres here in SE Ohio for $400,000. Our winters are getting milder and the summers hotter.
If you’re moving for the weather, there are more reasonable prices out there.
I’ll be 56 in a few weeks, I really don’t know if I want another house payment

You just compared Ohio to MT? . The reason why land is so cheap in Ohio is because there’s no mountains. Honestly 400k for land without mountains sounds like a rip off

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’m halfway to my Wyoming cabin right now, another 150 miles to go.

It’s a nice morning. 63 degrees, sunny and no wind.

Looking forward to spending the week

I’m leaving tomorrow after a 16 day stint here. Wish I could stay through July but side work in Arizona has to get done.

On the bright side I’m bringing home 100 bales of grass hay that my father in law grew, cut, and bailed and 300 lbs of venison and elk from last hunting season here in WY

 

[Cedarsavage]

I'm fully ready and anticipating the smart-ass comments...so those are fine too...but I'm hoping to gather at least some valid information though.
**For the record: I can PROMISE you locals...my beliefs, values and voting habbits are in line with how you'd like to keep your state...and I dont want to build new, rather buy existing...you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone...unless you need help, then by all means just ask**

Here is the back story:
My wife, myself and our 10 and 12 year old boys currently reside in southwest Ohio. Both born and raise within 30 miles of where we are now. Not in a bad spot by any means. Rural area, but 15-20 minuted from anything you might need...but things aren't what they once seemed here.

We have made every excuse we can to hit rocky mountain states a few times a years the last 3 years, it's harder to come back to Ohio every time we leave. We all enjoy the outdoors above pretty much everything else...hiking, hunting, fishing camping and just exploring in general...the lack of public lands and crowding around here aren't conducive to our desires.

We came to the conclusion about a year ago that staying here is not in line with our long-term goals/happiness. After numerous trips exploring Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah we have narrowed it to Wyoming and Montana to seriously focus on. Having just gotten back from a Billings to Kalispell 9 day tour we found about the only place that checks the boxes in Montana so far is Helena area or possibly Butte. Things are beautiful further north and west, but too expensive and quite honestly chaotic around missoula/kalispell.

I keep going back to Wyoming myself. We still have a couple trips to take to look more in depth at the Big Horn area and towns between the big horns and Cody which we will be checking out a few on our cow elk hunt in October.

What I'm hoping for is some input on areas on East side of the big horns(Buffalo, Sheridan not any further east than that) as well as areas such as Greybull, Powell, Cody, Duboise, Pinedale...
By input I mean the following:
-How accessible and the quality of the necessary services? Groceries, building materials, medical care, Dentists etc...the stuff we all need.

-How are the schools? We have a good, albeit not financially responsible school district presently but our kids are on the higher end of the spectrum intelligence wise, but not raising astrophysicists ...so we just need a solid school system to get them through high-school...and gotta have a football team or our youngest will not cope.

-Work...I need a job...my wife is full remote as well as holds he realestate license(which should have reciprocity in Wyoming) so she can bring her job along as long as we have reliable internet...I on the other hand have been an auto/diesel tech for over 20 years and built up and been general manager of independent shop for last 4 years...Im done with it. Have built a great business up from just 2 of us to 7 employees and just broke ground on new 16 bay shop to be done by years end...and I'm over it. I've simply lost all love for the trade and dealing with people in a retail aspect every day. I'll go back to school if need be no problem...but whats out there for an organized, determined and very technically skilled former auto tech? I'm entertaining finishing a biology degree and trying to get on with fishing and game...I think I'd enjoy the work ...I just don't know if I could swallow the pay.

-Cost of living? We noted Groceries are a bit higher in WY, MT...but not drastically so. Fuel about on par, Initial housing costs are higher for sure which we have WELL educated ourselves on...but how about property taxes? What does Wyoming hit you for on a 2500 sq.ft house on 20-60 acres?($800k-1.3mil range) tax wise?
How steep are electric rates?

-Finances: Just for clarity...we are in a good financial position presently...If I didn't work for a year or so to go back to school for training/degree finishing we would be fine so long as we don't take on a huge mortgage...currently dept free other than a small mortgage...simply because the rate is to low to bother paying off... plenty of savings/retirement/investments...but if anyone classified us as "rich or wealthy"...Id tell them they need to reevaluate their expectations in life...we are financially secure, not meaning that as any sort of boast, but it certainly plays into the information I'm searching for.

We have no romanticized notions of utopia in the mountains...We know the winters are longer and colder, we know it's windy...all the time, we know it takes longer to get places and winter weathercan strand you at times if not careful, we know there are fires and smoke to deal with at times, we know it's drier and water access/rights must be thoroughly investigated before making any realestate moves, we know we have 15-20 years of work ahead of us still...we have been doing and continue our homework everyday.
We are HIGHLY self sufficient people, raise/grow much of our own food, I've built or rebuilt a few houses and am yet to find much I cant fix, operate or salvage so we can deal with alot of hurdles that would cripple most folks around here...a big part of the reason for the move, we just don't fit in here too well. Fine dining, urban entertainment or nite life entertainment is of no concern to us.

Tell me the bad stuff as well...if you lived there and bailed after few years or even after spending most of your life there...Why? What draws/keeps you there or what sent you another direction?

I'll stop there for the time being and revisit here in a bit...I know I'm putting alot out there and I know we'll haven't answer alot of this for ourselves. I'm just fishing for any info/input to add to the database.
Thanks for anything you have to offer...constructive or not

If you’re a diesel tech I have a hard time imagining you won’t find a job very quickly

 

[go_deep]

You just compared Ohio to MT? . The reason why land is so cheap in Ohio is because there’s no mountains. Honestly 400k for land without mountains sounds like a rip off

Where can you buy vacant land that you can build on with mountains for $400k?

 

[ozyclint]

Yes. It’s 5 month Winters just about every year in Wyoming.

That honestly sounds good compared to the 10 month summers we have here in Australia.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I can understand that. The gulf The coast is nice but beaches and salt water just never grasped our desires...and not for lack of trying. I can do a couple days on a beach or a day on a boat in open water...but mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, canyons, pine forests and sage prairies suite our preferences much better.
To each their own. I realize WY or MT is no magical paradise...everyone would be there if it was, of course wouldn't be much of a paradise then either at that point.
Most of the people we know here don't get it or us for that matter.
It's all about socializing, floating on boats for no good reason, partying late and drinking heavily the whole time...we talk about being in the 'middle of nowhere" and not seeing our neighbors unless we want to or need to, raising/growing/hunting/butchering our own food and get blank stares and 'that sounds nice'....we don't drink much if at all anymore, don't party and don't enjoy large groups especially if there is alcohol involved. The midwest is definitely not where we belong anymore.

It's a personal thing of course, luckily for society everybody is different and different things make people tick. For me if I can't sleep I can get out of bed at 1am and go flounder gigging, check the fields for hogs or coyotes with thermals, etc. We duck hunt all December and January all over the coast, tons of birds and it's all public bays, season starts in November but we're still big game hunting then. Not even gonna get into the huge variety of fishing but if the freezer is stocked with fish we'll kick back on the beach catching and releasing sharks. Low tide go scrape up some oysters, run crab traps, etc... Deer Season is Oct-Dec. For me there's just a lot more to do 365 days a year down here, more options all around. Two of my sons lived in Wyoming for three years and I had a blast up there running around with them, I'd stay for months at a time. I hunted grouse and "guided" them on antelope and elk hunts and we caught rainbows and brookies galore. But I'd always get bored and wrap up and head home. The hunting/seasons up there were short for me. I think the big complaints about the weather aren't that people can't handle it it's just that people get bored and tired of sitting around the house. I'll say this, if the family had some snow machines it would've extended our recreation quite a bit. We all snow ski'd but ended up going to Colorado a lot for that. Never tried ice fishing but I suspect if we did move that would've had to be on the menu but it just doesn't appeal to me right now. I'm sure there's a ton I never discovered up there but I talked to the neighbors all the time, they all hunted and fished but for 7 months out of the year most of them just went out drinking and concerts in Colorado.

Anyhow sorry for the book, just kinda brain dumping for anyone reading. Wife still wants to move to Wyoming so I may end up there some day, maybe when she retires we'll try the snowbird thing and buy a lifetime license in Texas before leaving. I doubt we'll have the resources for that though.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I've read so much about "the wind"... Hell, we live in one of the windiest spots around here...ontop of a hill at the peak of a valley facing due west. I've spent a cumulative time of over a month in various parts of wyoming over the last few years and yes...its windy...but never has it stuck me as the standing behind a jet engine wind that so many seem to mention...perhaps my timing has just been fortuitous

It's not that the wind is so bad, it's just hard to go fishing in the wind, hunting can be tough depending what you're hunting, so the wind takes a lot of outdoors days away from you.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Here's another idea and this is a gamble, but I do not see how we don't have a significant recession in the next 9-24 months. Servicing our national debt is going to cost us $1.5T a year (it's well over $1T now) in the next couple years. The gamble is it might not happen or it could be be sooner or much later.

The bottom line is we can't print ourseleves to properity so something has to give and when it does it will be ugly, but also within every problem lies opportunity.

Good luck,


Eddie

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Noted...We'll head to MT to fish, will get a divorce before we move just to make that part easier once we are there and I'll start making my kids lives hell from today on so they know what to expect....Oh....and I'll do my best to buy an older estate sale property...that way I know I'm just filling in a void from a deceased resident and not taking up any previously unused space, that just sounds like the polite thing to do.
Thanks!

MT is full as well.

 

[tony]

You just compared Ohio to MT? . The reason why land is so cheap in Ohio is because there’s no mountains. Honestly 400k for land without mountains sounds like a rip off

We have “hills”
Funny thing is most of Ohio is flat, people get to this part of the state and are marveled by the “mountains” down here

I actually live in WV, we have mini mountains here.

 

[Dust Rider]

Your thinking about moving to a region that is lacking in women. Every dude will try to bone your wife, twice. They don’t care if she is married and has kids. Those cowboys are relentless.
You never loose your wife, just your turn.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Your thinking about moving to a region that is lacking in women. Every dude will try to bone your wife, twice. They don’t care if she is married and has kids. Those cowboys are relentless.
You never loose your wife, just your turn.

I realize you're joking, but lack of women could be a serious concern for a family with teenage sons.

 

[Plainsman79]

Just do it. You can adjust if it’s not what you thought is was going to be.

We moved here from Nebraska so the wind and winters aren’t much of a shock. After we moved we would compare our current city to the last and it was really comparable, with summers in Wyoming winning hands down.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

My GF was in Bozeman last week visiting a friend. Friends 2 bedroom condo on the 3rd floor was $300,000.
GF looked a lot in Bozeman $300,000
How does the average hippie making coffee or working in a bookstore afford to live there?
I make decent money in the medical field and those prices give my chest pain.

Just looked at a house with 56 acres here in SE Ohio for $400,000. Our winters are getting milder and the summers hotter.
If you’re moving for the weather, there are more reasonable prices out there.
I’ll be 56 in a few weeks, I really don’t know if I want another house

East of here has no draw for us, but eastern Ohio/WV are certainly not without their own kind of beauty.
I don't get the draw to Bozeman...from what we saw on our pass through there doesn't seem like any place that special for the price of admission.