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

[StupidLightweight]

I love Wyoming. We live here because my wife picked this over Alaska. In hindsight, she was right. However, I also understand why there's only 587,000 people. It ain't cheap to live here, and winters can last half the year. With two small kiddos, it's hard to do much outside when it's snowy and sub-zero.

 

[Flack]

...If its priced reasonable/logically it goes fast. Its hard to get a realtor to take you seriously when your from out of state apparently as well. Even if your preapproved, ready to spend a few grand to fly out for long weekend to tour houses and make offers and sign buyer agent agreement.

Why not rent? It will get you out there and give you time and proximity to figure something out. Also, if it doesn't work out you don't have a bunch of sunk costs in closing fees etc. and money tied up in any fixes etc. Just a quick zillow search, 5 month rental to get things figure out and looks super comfortable, and way less than a mortgage on what you are looking to spend: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/630-S-2nd-St-Lander-WY-82520/111021198_zpid/

After the real estate bid didn't pan out I really got to thinking about the work side... There's no way in hell I could ever go back to a dealership environment. Staying in auto repair out there would just be trading misery for misery with a better view and more/different recreation opportunities...with alot lower pay. That just doesn't feel conducive to the plan of enjoying life more.

So the search continues. Trying to shift my gears a bit more towards finding myself career wise and figuring out how to lateral current skills/experience to something available out there that's NOT in the retail auto repair industry or requires dealing with the general public in any way.

I've been in the same boat, I've done four career changes including returning to school... Here's the thing: work generally kinda sucks. Thats why they pay you to do it.

While I like my current career and job well enough for a career and job... if they weren't paying me, I'd be doing something else with my time. I've found that career changes can be great for getting you more pay if the career you're in has a low ceiling and you are strategic about it. But if you're in a miserable situation because of the actual job and pay is not the issue, that can usually be fixed by just getting a better employer. Good luck and I hope you find a situation you are happier with.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

Why do you think they house was over priced? Comp sales in the area dictate the value of the home. I burned some bridges on some real-estate in Cody because I thought the houses were over priced. That was 5 years ago and the prices haven't come down..that was just the new price for the area.

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They do dictate value...they dont dictate listing price. People are free to try to sell for whatever they want or think they can get. That doesn't mean they have a clue about what its actually worth. Most realtors wont push back or give much advise price wise, they just run with what the seller wants to list for or they are out of touch themselves and need to take some appraisal based continuing Education courses.
I think its overpriced because its been on market as long as it has and we were first offer made on it. It also lacked from other sales in last 6 months forvthe price range it was in.
Its got mechanical /electrical/well issues, exterior of was never finished. Lots of missing exterior finishing/trim components and very half ass finishing in other places. All flooring needed replaced, basement unfinished and what finishing was started needed redone. It was rough. The fact it was on market over 200 days with no offers speaks to my evaluation as well.

The one we didn't offer on was lacking a few finishing details but otherwise solid. If it had a basement and larger outbuilding and the water/well rights/agreement were in order and in writing we may have tried on that one. Even with those things it would have been 100k overpriced. Its still on market after about a year as well.
There are alot of places in tge mountain west that people own as second homes and dont NEED to sell. Ive seen them sit for years with no or minimal price changes or get taken off market for few months then relist for the same or slightly lower price. Its an odd market. Seems alot of stuff priced right sells quick, often before listings hit the public. Likeky brokerage in-house deals with buyers agents have had in their pocket waiting for the right thing to come along.
Thing about pricing homes is you often get one shot to get it right. Shoot way to high and it'll sit, and the longer it sits the worse it looks to potential buyers and the fewer and lower offers you'll get if any. Not ALWAYS the case, but often.
Many listing have had price reductions in that area last few months, a few sold, many havent.

I regard to @go_deep comment...thats partially true in the fact that I dont want it bad enough to put my family's finacial well being in jeopardy to make it happen or settle for housing that doesn't suite our needs and wants.
I wont lie though, Im pretty tired in general at this point. I may no want it bad enough right now. May need to regroup and reevaluate somethings in 2026.
Helena is still on the list and may just go spend a week with the family there this year to see how that feels.
Montana definitely has alot more to offer job wise. I hear they could use some more red votes as well.
To be continued.

 

[grfox92]

They do dictate value...they dont dictate listing price. People are free to try to sell for whatever they want or think they can get. That doesn't mean they have a clue about what its actually worth. Most realtors wont push back or give much advise price wise, they just run with what the seller wants to list for or they are out of touch themselves and need to take some appraisal based continuing Education courses.
I think its overpriced because its been on market as long as it has and we were first offer made on it. It also lacked from other sales in last 6 months forvthe price range it was in.
Its got mechanical /electrical/well issues, exterior of was never finished. Lots of missing exterior finishing/trim components and very half ass finishing in other places. All flooring needed replaced, basement unfinished and what finishing was started needed redone. It was rough. The fact it was on market over 200 days with no offers speaks to my evaluation as well.

The one we didn't offer on was lacking a few finishing details but otherwise solid. If it had a basement and larger outbuilding and the water/well rights/agreement were in order and in writing we may have tried on that one. Even with those things it would have been 100k overpriced. Its still on market after about a year as well.
There are alot of places in tge mountain west that people own as second homes and dont NEED to sell. Ive seen them sit for years with no or minimal price changes or get taken off market for few months then relist for the same or slightly lower price. Its an odd market. Seems alot of stuff priced right sells quick, often before listings hit the public. Likeky brokerage in-house deals with buyers agents have had in their pocket waiting for the right thing to come along.
Thing about pricing homes is you often get one shot to get it right. Shoot way to high and it'll sit, and the longer it sits the worse it looks to potential buyers and the fewer and lower offers you'll get if any. Not ALWAYS the case, but often.
Many listing have had price reductions in that area last few months, a few sold, many havent.

I regard to @go_deep comment...thats partially true in the fact that I dont want it bad enough to put my family's finacial well being in jeopardy to make it happen or settle for housing that doesn't suite our needs and wants.
I wont lie though, Im pretty tired in general at this point. I may no want it bad enough right now. May need to regroup and reevaluate somethings in 2026.
Helena is still on the list and may just go spend a week with the family there this year to see how that feels.
Montana definitely has alot more to offer job wise. I hear they could use some more red votes as well.
To be continued.

That all sounds solid. I wasn't doubting it, just wanted to make sure you weren't underestimating the market itself as some people often do. Thinking prices will come back down and they never do. But it sounds like in this case you were correct.

A lot of realtors around me won't let sellers ask dumb prices for their stuff because it makes them look bad. It seems like a lot of the time when something is overpriced it's a newer or desperate realtor.

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[StuckInTheEast]

That all sounds solid. I wasn't doubting it, just wanted to make sure you weren't underestimating the market itself as some people often do. Thinking prices will come back down and they never do. But it sounds like in this case you were correct.

A lot of realtors around me won't let sellers ask dumb prices for their stuff because it makes them look bad. It seems like a lot of the time when something is overpriced it's a newer or desperate realtor.

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Read a statistic somewhere earlier this year that 74% of realtors didn't close a sale in last 12 months...wanna say that was from sometime in 2024-same time 2025.
There is alot more going into that stat than what you see at face value...but it still says alot about how many are hurting to close and perhaps ignoring some guidelines/better judgement in the process.

 

[Flack]

Montana definitely has alot more to offer job wise. I hear they could use some more red votes as well.
To be continued.

Something to consider and check is if your wife’s employer will allow her to continue working remotely for them if you establish residence in Montana (if you haven’t already). It’s the only state that’s not at-will and some companies won’t let you stay employed if you move there (my current and previous employers, for example).

 

[Jethro]

When it's priced right, real estate in Wyoming sells very fast.

That’s 100% true. We looked at couple dozen houses from February till September. The house we ended up buying, we were making an offer at almost same time the seller was signing contract to list it. Our offer was accepted 2-3 days before the listing hit Zillow.

Houses that I felt didn’t live up to the asking price are still for sale

 

[wyosam]

That’s 100% true. We looked at couple dozen houses from February till September. The house we ended up buying, we were making an offer at almost same time the seller was signing contract to list it. Our offer was accepted 2-3 days before the listing hit Zillow.

Houses that I felt didn’t live up to the asking price are still for sale

Good properties priced right are like that in a lot of places. When we left Wyoming to move to AK, the place we bought was that way. We got really lucky with timing. Our main home in WY took a month or so to sell, which meant we were priced a little high. We had very few comps to work with for pricing. Our cabin/2nd place we sold by owner pretty quickly (was never really listed. Just let friends know we were selling). Miss having a place down there, but the equity put in a decent ocean boat, so it was a good trade.


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[Hnthrdr]

Read a statistic somewhere earlier this year that 74% of realtors didn't close a sale in last 12 months...wanna say that was from sometime in 2024-same time 2025.
There is alot more going into that stat than what you see at face value...but it still says alot about how many are hurting to close and perhaps ignoring some guidelines/better judgement in the process.

Yeah… doesn’t make a lick of sense for them them to keep prices high then… if anything they would be begging sellers to lower prices so they can make a quick sale. Properties you described are likely owned outright or in a situation where there doesn’t need to be a sale, they are fishing