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Welcome to Bozeman, Montana The Bozeman & surrounding area is a special place that we are thrilled to call home. Soaring views of the Bridger, Tobacco Root, Hyalite & Spanish Peak Mountains can be seenfrom the Gallatin Valley. Bozeman is home to world class skiing at Big Sky Resort & Brider Bowl. Fly fisherman and fisherwoman stream to Bozeman to fish in our rivers and creekswhich meander through this scenic and fertile valley. Bozeman is the home of Montana State University, The Museum of the Rockies, which showcases an incredible dinosaur exhibit & historic Downtown Bozeman caters to the arts, cultural events, fine dining and boutique shopping. Whether its a day on the trail, a 3 day fishing adventure, a week of powder skiing, or strolling around downtown Bozeman, there is something for everyone. |
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HERE IS WHAT'S IN THE BOZEMAN NEWS
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Inhaling a whiff of lilacs on the morning commute isn't the only benefit of riding a bike to work and Bozemanites seem to be picking up on the trend.
"Not only are more people doing it, but it's growing into a culture," said John Friedrich, a mechanic at Bangtail Bikes.
Friedrich estimates that the small shop on Main Street has seen bike and accessory sales for commuters increase from about 5 percent of all sales last year to more than 30 percent this year.
Though actual numbers of bicycle commuters are hard to come by, Bozeman bicycle shop mechanics agree that pedaling to work is a growing movement.
"A lot of people are pulling out the old 10-speeds and tuning them up and recycling them for commuter bikes," said Ben Donatelle, a mechanic at Summit Bike and Ski Shop.
Based on the number of dust-covered bikes they are refurbishing, the numbers increase by at least one or two every day, his co-worker, Ben Dodge, said.
"Most of those bikes are older than me," said Dodge, a 25-year-old bike mechanic.
At Chalet Sports on Main Street, Brian Wolgamott estimated that they are setting up about three commuters weekly. That set-up usually includes adding lights, fenders and storage racks.
Andy Kemp, 30, lives on Kagy Boulevard and Tracy Avenue and commutes about a halfmile to work as the news director at KTVM television on South Wallace Avenue and Olive Street. He said it takes him 10 minutes or less on mostly trails. He was at Chalet getting a rear rack installed on his Elektra Rat Rod — a retro-style bike painted black with white and red flames. On the cross bar, a sticker indicates one reason he rides — $0.00 10 — 9 , it said in bold white numbers on a black background.
Kemp moved to Bozeman from Atlanta, Ga., about six months ago and specifically chose Bozeman because it is easy to ride everywhere.
"Having this as an option is just great," he said. "You could (bicycle) commute in Atlanta, but you take your life in your hands."
Shane Metolyak, 33, lives on the west side of Bozeman and rarely uses his gasolinepowered vehicle, he said.
"People say it's not safe (to bicycle to work), but it is if you follow the laws," he said.
Metolyak has a nine-mile, round-trip commute but also rides to go grocery shopping and for other errands. He points out that bicycles are considered vehicles and are subject to the same traffic laws as motorized ones. He also recognizes that many cyclists are not aware or simply don't obey those rules of the road — a situation that can be dangerous and create animosity between motorists and pedalers.
"I think motorists get upset when we act inconsistently, so I think if people would see more and more bicycle commuters out there obeying the laws, people would see it as a more viable means of transportation," he said.
Though the savings in gas are impetus enough, Metolyak said he's probably not saving much because he's continually buying "new toys" for his bike. He recently bought a $300 trailer that he's even used to haul wood to a bicycle trail.
"I just like riding bikes," he said. "If you want to ride, Bozeman is very conducive to it. I don't think I save a lot of money." But, he adds, "I lost track of the last time I bought gas — May, maybe?"
Apparently, many are drawn to pedal power by the increasingly unaffordable price of gasoline, but some have other reasons.
Elizabeth Bird, 51, said bicycle commuting accomplishes several goals. Bird is a member of the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board, a cancer survivor and a grants specialist at Montana State University. She bicycle commutes three to four times weekly, mostly on the Galligator Trail.
It's good exercise, saves in gas expenditures and saves the environment in the cost of burning fossil fuels, she said.
Bird said her committee mailed surveys in September to poll people about their walking and cycling habits. She said between 3,000 and 4,000 of them have been returned. Now the group is analyzing the data to determine where more bicycle and walking infrastructure is needed — things like bike racks, trails, curb cuts and bicycle lanes.
Back at Bangtail, Friedrich said he commutes only a half mile each day but sees about eight others on his ride each day. "And they don't seem to be out on a pleasure ride," he said.
And it's getting easier to do.
Friedrich is a contributor to a locally produced free newsletter called "the Practical Pedal." In it are articles and advertisements geared towards, well, gear and the practicality of using a bicycle as a primary source of transportation.
Friedrich said commuter bikes were the overriding theme at Interbike - an industry trade show held in Las Vegas in the fall each year.
"Commuter bikes are becoming more fashionable in everyday life," he said.
Several companies make bicycles specifically designed for traveling to and from work or on errands. Typical accessories such as racks, fenders and lights come standard on many. Commuter bikes also are designed for comfort, safety and efficiency with road-sized tires for speed, small wheel-bases for maneuverability and upright seating for comfort and visibility. And if one already has a bike that needs retrofitting with practical pedaling accessories, mechanics say it can be done for as low as $100.
"There are so many types of commuter bikes these days," Donatelle said. "And the airconditioning is automatic."
Ten Foot Tall and 80 Proof powered on veggie oil for Music on Main
By JESSICA MAYRER Chronicle Staff Writer
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
When 10 Foot Tall and 80 Proof cranks out its "Honk-A-Billy" music this Thursday at Music on Main, the amplifiers, lights and instruments will be powered entirely by locally grown vegetable oil.
"It's completely off the grid, and it's completely made in Gallatin County," said Preston "Professor" White, a piano and mandolin player for the band.
Joel Lindstrom from Leonardo Technologies harvested 4,000 pounds of camelina seed grown on Ted Turner's Flying D Ranch, crushed it and produced 50 gallons of oil. The oil goes into a portable generator and produces energy.
Using the 50 gallons of oil made in this trial batch, Lindstrom has demonstrated how camelina may be used to fuel engines and amplifiers around western Montana.
He used the oil to power the Northern Rockies Bioneer Conference at the Emerson Cultural Center in October, providing energy during four days of music, performances and speeches with 20 gallons of seed oil.
Ten Foot Tall encountered Lindstrom at a sustainable energy conference in Big Sky. During the conference they performed using Lindstrom's souped-up generator, which has been adapted to run on seed juice.
Ten Foot Tall and 80 Proof play bars and private parties all over the state, and, White said, they'd like to offer vegetable oil as an option to traditional electricity.
Camelina grows well in cold climates and doesn't require much water or herbicide to grow, so it's more efficient than other vegetable oils, Lindstrom said.
"Camelina is far greater of a biofuel than corn-based ethanol," he said. "We're not taking food out of anyone's mouth when we grow camelina."
Ultimately, Lindstrom and Leonardo Technologies, which works with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop alternative fuels, would like to see farmers grow camelina and turn it into oil to fuel farm equipment, while using the byproduct to feed livestock, he said. "That's the long-term picture," he said. In the meantime, he's looking at powering other events. "We're looking at getting involved with Sweat Pea," he said. In Europe, it's not unusual to see cars run on camelina. "It's 100 percent viable," Lindstrom said. But educating folks about how to grow the seed and modify engines to process it is necessary if camelina is to catch on, he said. "There's just a lot of work that needs to be done," he said. "It can't power the world," he said. "But it can be a substantial piece of the energy puzzle."
Jessica Mayrer can be reached at jmayrer@ dailychronicle.com or 582-2635.
The unemployment rate may be up, but some local hightech employers say creativity is still required to attract and retain top talent.
BY NICOLE ROSENLEAF RITTER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS LEE
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
7.1.08
GOING TO THE DOGS SEEMS TO BE A WINNING STRATEGY. So do Fun Committees, charitable giving programs and the chance for continuous learning. An emphasis on family doesn't hurt either. Three of the area's leading "new economy" employers — Zoot Enterprises Inc., RightNow Technologies of Bozeman and PrintingForLess.com of Livingston — offer such unusual perks. Human resources staff at the three enterprises emphasize that the sometimes quirky benefits are necessary to find and keep employees — even in a local economy that is softening. "The kind of people we want to be a part of this organization have choices all over the world and in all kinds of different companies, and they're the most important ingredient to what we do," Kevin Boylan, director of human resources for RightNow Technologies, explains. "We want to be sure we're doing all we can to recruit and retain the best employees.
"These are not people who are going to be having trouble finding jobs," he adds.
While anecdotal evidence has indicated an easing in the employee shortage in the greater Bozeman area, statistics have only recently begun to back it up. In April 2008 — the latest month for which statistics were available — the Montana Department of Labor and Industry confirmed that unemployment has risen in Gallatin County. The 3.2 percent rate was lower than Montana's statewide average — 3.9 percent — but more than one percentage point higher than the rate just a year ago.
The rise should be good news for HR departments seeking to hire, but RightNow, PFL and Zoot all note that staffing is still hard work because of the caliber of employee they seek.
As Zoot Enterprises HR director Ruth Kronfuss notes, "It's always a challenge to find the right people. We are continually looking at our benefits and what we have to offer to make sure that we are attractive."
DOGS AND KIDS
Every day is a dog day afternoon at PFL and Zoot, where employees are allowed — even encouraged — to bring their (well-behaved) dogs to work. Suzie Lalich, PFL's benefit specialist, says that the company's dog policy helps draw potential employees to the company — and keep them there once hired. "When we're recruiting people, the dogs at work program is one of the main attractors," Lalich says.
The company recently celebrated Pet Sitters International's "Take Your Dog to Work Day," with dog contests and agility training. On regular work days dogs and their owners can take outdoor breaks on the company's campus on the outskirts of Livingston, and even the non-dog-owning employees often keep puppy treats at their desks.
PFL's founder and CEO Andrew Field is one of the policy's chief proponents. He noted in a recent press release that the policy "helps staff morale and builds camaraderie among employees." His own dog, Jesse, is a daily presence at PFL.
Field and his counterparts in management at Zoot have found that allowing dogs not only aids in recruitment and retention, but also contributes to the business's bottom line. A PFL press release indicates that having pooches around "aids in creating a more productive work environment, helps stimulate employee creativity, offers a great social catalyst for relationship development between coworkers and decreases employee absenteeism."
PFL took family inclusion one step further in 2003, when it founded Montana's first companysponsored onsite daycare for employees' children. Benefits specialist Lalich notes that the facility is another huge draw for potential employees and also contributes to lowering turnover rates.
"If you have your child in the childcare facility, you'll probably have to really think about whether you want to leave the company," she explains. She notes that since the daycare was founded, other Montana companies have contacted PFL wanting help setting up their own or similar facilities.
"In that way we also like to be trendsetters for Montana employers," Lalich says. "We want to help integrate progressive practices into Montana workplaces, which sometimes lag behind in benefits."
Zoot, too, offers its employees help with childcare. CEO and founder Chris Nelson provided money for the startup costs of a group of employees who wanted to start a daycare that would be convenient for Zoot workers. While it is maintained as a separate company from Zoot and is not technically sponsored by the organization, HR director Ruth Kronfuss explains that Zoot helps support it using some of the money it collects for
below-ground parking fees.
"There's a lot of strong support from Zoot for the center," she adds.
SWEET CHARITY
Welcoming family — of both the human and canine variety — is one way that local high-tech employers compete for talent in the larger workplace. Empowering employees to be involved in the community and to keep learning is another.
At RightNow and Zoot, employees are eligible for matching funds to support the charitable causes of their choice, up to $250 per year. "It ends up being a big chunk of money," RightNow HR director Kevin Boylan says. "And that's decided entirely by employees, not by the company."
RightNow also makes it easy for employees to give their time, not just their money, to local charities and nonprofit organizations.
"We encourage all employees to donate 40 hours a year to community service," Boylan says. Popular causes include Big Brothers Big Sisters, Eagle Mount and Habitat for Humanity.
With more than 750 employees worldwide, RightNow can have a tremendous impact in their communities, he notes. "If all of our employees contribute 40 hours a year, that would be the equivalent of 30,000 hours per year or 14.5 full-time employees for the nonprofit sector," Boylan indicates. "And our employees feel proud that the company will pay them to work on causes that they care about."
These companies also support continuing education in the form of company training, professional development or even academic studies for their employees.
RightNow offers a $5,000-per-year tuition reimbursement for employees pursuing advanced degrees or additional training. Both PFL and Zoot have extensive in-house training programs for new employees. At PFL, most new employees go through a 10- to 12-week paid training program before they are integrated into the company.
"We want to invest in and develop our employees," PFL's Lalich says. "We find that it keeps them wanting to learn and grow with the company."
BRINGING THE FUN IN
One unquantifiable element — fun — represents an additional "benefit" that these companies offer their employees.
"We try to provide a fun, friendly work environment," Zoot's Kronfuss notes. "And our surveys find that one of the things people like most
continued on next page Work's Perks continued
about working here is that environment." Both Zoot and PFL have employee-driven "Fun Committees" that organize on- and off-site activities such as picnics, athletic events, parties and work-time diversions.
"From summer golf outings to family pumpkin carving contests, the company comes together and enjoys being together, improving morale and employee relationships," Kronfuss explained in a follow-up brief. "Even small things, like ice cream socials to celebrate birthdays each month, make a big difference."
RightNow celebrated a successful first quarter this year by offering employees in all of its locations a day off from work. In Bozeman, the company sponsored a workday outing to Bridger Bowl, HR director Boylan says. "Everybody went up and skied for the day," he notes. "The lift tickets were paid and the lunch was paid, and everybody got to have a day off work."
While offering several hundred employees free skiing would represent a significant outlay for most businesses, PFL's Lalich notes that not all "fun" benefits have to be costly.
"You don't have to spend a lot of money to do some of these things that make employees happy," she insists, citing the examples of negotiated discounts for employees at local businesses.
Overall, making employees happy is an emphasis at all three enterprises.
"Happy, comfortable workers are productive workers," Zoot's Kronfuss noted in her brief. "Through fun, teamwork, respect, and an orientation to the importance of family, Zoot attracts the best and brightest — and keeps them."
It's a sentiment that her human resources colleagues at PFL and RightNow would no doubt echo as they go about their still-challenging job of trying to find and keep the talent that drives their businesses.
Editor's note: The author's husband is employed by PrintingForLess.com in Livingston.
Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter is the managing editor of Business to Business and At Home.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- United Express made its first flight to Helena from Denver on Thursday - marking the beginning of daily service between the two cities.
The addition of the flight provides Helena with daily service to four hubs - Seattle, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City are the others - and gives local travelers better access to the East Coast through Denver International Airport.
"I've waited all these years to get in here," said Paula McKinnon Kuberski, a United flight attendant and Helena native.
The service was made possible by a matching fund that helped secure a Small Community Air Service Grant from the Department of Transportation.
Daily flights are expected to leave Helena for Denver at 6:42 a.m. and 4:06 p.m., with flights arriving from Denver at 3:40 p.m. and 11:56 p.m.
The route will be served by 50-seat regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines.
Information provided by the Helena IR, www.helenair.com
Last night my husband and I were invited to attend the "soft" opening of Ted's Montana Grill (located in the Historic Downtown Bozeman's Baxter Hotel), with the Press and Local VIPs in attendance. The food was fabulous, specializing in bison burgers and entrees. Ted Turner and his associates were there to for the opening to sample the food as well. See below the feature article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Ted’s Montana Grill welcomed by downtown businesses
By TREVON MILLIARD Chronicle Staff Writer
Ted’s Montana Grill opens its doors at 4 p.m. Monday in the Baxter Hotel, and many neighboring business owners expect the restaurant — co-founded by media mogul Ted Turner and specializing in bison - to be an attractive bonus to the downtown district.
“It’s like Broadway,” said Paul Grossman, owner of Looie’s Down Under, a couple blocks east. “The more Broadway shows that are hits, the better. Broadway grows.”
It’s the same for downtown Bozeman.
Grossman said Ted’s is a popular chain that will bring more people downtown who might otherwise go other places, so it will help Looie’s too.
Although Ted’s opens to the public Monday, the cooking started Wednesday with dinners for Turner’s family and friends. Tonight, the restaurant will host a ribbon cutting and dinner for the media. And VIP dinners are planned Friday and Saturday for local business owners, community service clubs and the Chamber of Commerce. On Tuesday, Ted Turner visited the restaurant for the first time since its restoration. “We’re really excited,” Turner said while greeting restaurant staff who were preparing for the opening. Designed to seat 128 people indoors and 96 on two patios, Ted’s will offer a variety of menu choices from shrimp cocktail to bison burgers and short ribs. Prices range from about $10 for a blue plate classic to $32 for a bison tenderloin filet.
Carla Hill, owner of John Bozeman’s Bistro, said seeing Ted’s open just a stone’s throw from her restaurant is a good thing. It pays to be close to the excitement, she said. Most likely, people will have to wait for tables at the Grill and neighboring businesses will reap the benefits, she said.
“I think it will be really complementary,” Hill said. “The overflow goes to the next door down, which just so happens to be us.”
David Smith, president and CEO of the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce, said the restaurant will bring more people downtown and keep others there after they leave work, thereby improving business in an area that has been difficult for restaurants, on the west end of the Main Street district.
“Most restaurateurs will say that their patronage will take a hit,” Smith said. “But it will rebound for them if they provide good service.”
Kay Johnson, owner of Miller’s Jewelry, called the new restaurant a positive change that will help keep downtown alive.
“Every business and activity we can have is positive,” Johnson said. “There’s no reason to complain.”
Hill said many of her customers at the Bistro come downtown just to walk the sidewalks and take in the history that lines the streets, like the 79-year-old Baxter Hotel. And with Ted’s renovating the first floor area that used to be the Robin Bar and Baxter Grille, she expects a resurrection for the hotel, which had fallen into disrepair.
“That building is worthy of life,” Hill said.
Built in 1929, The Baxter provided more than 70 guest rooms but now has 20 condominiums on the upper floors. The hotel used to be a mainstay but lacked stable businesses occupying the first floor, so the hotel suffered as maintenance was put off, said David Loseff, owner of the Baxter’s commercial space.
The fact that Ted’s Montana Grill, a successful restaurant chain with 57 locations in 19 states - none of them in Montana before now — has invested so much money in the Baxter, has given Loseff the confidence and money to restore other areas of the Hotel, he said.
The hotel’s ballroom, which is not a part of the Grill, has seen its maple floor renovated and the area cleaned for weddings and other events, Loseff said. The lobby also has been returned to its original grandeur, including the removal of carpeting that for two decades covered a terrazzo, or marble-flecked stone, floor.
Loseff said he hopes to have the vacant Bacchus Pub leased out by a business soon, with Ted’s Montana Grill inspiring confidence. And, Loseff said, the grill doesn’t detract from the turn-of-the-century style of the Baxter.
Ted’s restaurants are designed in honor of Montana’s early 19th century design of the Arts and Crafts period, which is “actually from the period of this building,” Loseff said.
Bruce Traucht, the proprietor of Bozeman’s Ted’s Montana Grill, said he’s worked to keep the hotel’s architecture a part of the restaurant. The two patios are still overshadowed by the original steel fire escapes with their faded-green paint and rust stains. The walls are mahogany wood from floor to ceiling, and the floors are walnut.
“It’s a benefit to the Baxter,” Traucht said. “It’s a turn-of-the-century concept in a turn-of-thecentury hotel.”
| Publication:Bozeman Daily Chronicle; | Date:May 25, 2008; | Section:Economy; | Page Number:D1 |
Bozeman housing prices starting to recover from 2007, but big inventory of homes makes it more of a buyers’ market
On the rebound
By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer
“Prices have stabilized and are going up,” Bailey said. “People wanting to hit the bottom-of-the-barrel market missed it if they’re still waiting. ... Basically, 2007 was the low period.
“This is a good time to buy a nice home, at a good price and there’s a lot to pick from.”
Robyn Erlenbush, broker-owner of ERA Landmark Real Estate, predicted recently that 2008 will see relatively flat prices and a good summer selling season. It will take a while to sell off Bozeman’s inventory of new homes, which will keep prices from rebounding quickly.
Still, Bozeman’s market is supported by a “very, very healthy, stable economy,” Erlenbush said.
David Smith, Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer, agreed.
“Yellowstone Park’s not going away, Montana State University’s not going away,” Smith said. “I think it’s a very strong economy. The strongest economy in the state.”
One sign of how much Bozeman’s housing boom has cooled is a classified ad in last week’s newspaper that offered home buyers the incentive of a “paid vacation” in Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas or Walt Disney World.
Other sellers have been advertising cash to help buyers pay closing costs.
“Supply is high. Demand isn’t,” mechanical engineer Andrew Miller said.
He has been trying since October to sell a three-bedroom home in the 4 Dot subdivision between Belgrade and Manhattan at an asking price of $279,900.
Five years ago, he bought a house there for $130,000 and was able to sell it three years later for $220,000. But today’s market is a lot tougher. “I thought I’d offer an incentive,” Miller said. So he advertised $5,000 toward buyers’ closing costs. “The market is flooded with options,” Miller said. “It’s a buyers’ market.” Tricia Bailey, immediate past president of the Gallatin Association of Realtors and broker-owner of 45th Parallel Realty, said she doesn’t care for that label. Calling this a buyers’ market could give the wrong impression that sellers are desperate and buyers can get homes for a steal, and that’s not happening, Bailey said. Sellers
MARKET CHANGES
Southwest Montana Multiple Listing Service statistics show the dramatic changes in the housing market over the past five years. The median sales price for homes in the city of Bozeman zoomed up from 2003 to 2006, from $190,000 to $309,500.
House sale prices in that period increased by 21 percent, 16.5 percent and 15.5 percent per year – rising far faster than the 5 to 7 percent that’s more typical for Bozeman, Bailey said. Home sellers didn’t need to offer vacation incentives then.
“They could get five offers within two weeks,” Bailey said, “and they were above-price offers.”
But then in 2007, the big national subprime-mortgage crisis hit, scaring lenders and buyers.
At the same time in Bozeman, a lot of new lots and spec homes that had been in the pipeline came on the market.
“In a nutshell, I believe we overbuilt,” Bailey said, “and people stopped buying because of the mortgage scare.”
In 2007, Bozeman’s median home price fell by $10,500 or 3.3 percent. Houses that had sold in an average of 44 days in 2004 sat on the market for 80 days last year.
Bozeman never saw home prices plummet as they did in places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami and Los Angeles, where prices fell 22 to 24.5 percent from their peak.
“Price reduced” did pop up on house-for-sale yard signs and ads in Bozeman. Realtors blame a lot of that on sellers’ expectations that home values would keep rising at steep rate.
“Sellers are still kind of in La-La Land,” as one agent put it.
Bozeman had also seen some speculation, as investors bought homes expecting to “flip” them for a quick profit.
BOZEMAN PRICES
EDGING UP
So, as the 2008 home selling season gets in full swing, has the Bozeman housing market really turned the corner?
MLS statistics show the median price of homes sold this year through May 15 has stayed pretty flat, inching up by just $1,000 to $300,000.
However, the homes sold in the first four and a half months of 2008 sat on the market much longer, an average of 104 days.
Renee Gaugler, a certified mortgage planning specialist with First Horizon Home Loans, pointed to new numbers from Sidders Appraisals, which reported that house sale prices in the first three months of 2008 have started edging up from the last quarter of 2007 at a 2.6 percent annual rate.
Appraiser Mike Sidders said the first-quarter 2008 prices were still 1 percent below firstquarter of 2007, but definitely improving. He pointed to similar news in an Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight report that came out this week. It found that overall U.S. home sale prices fell by 3.1 percent from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, the biggest decline in 17 years.
However, the report cited Montana as one of seven states that didn’t decline. Montana had the third biggest rise in home prices from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, a 4.9 percent increase.
“The national market scared people,” Gaugler said. “We saw a lot of buyers sitting on the fence” last year in Bozeman. But now, she said, the number of buyers is increasing as they’ve seen Bozeman doesn’t have “a doom and gloom” market.
“People have started to realize this is a good time to buy,” she said. “Prices have come down a little but ... we’ve kind of hit bottom and it’s started back up now. Now is the perfect time to get in and start buying. Who knows how long mortgage rates are going to be this low?”
START MODEST
Interest rates are close to a 40-year low, she said. People with good credit scores can get 30-year fixed-rate conventional loans at 6 percent or less.
Lenders have tightened up their requirements. For five to 10 years, buyers could easily get 100 percent financing with zero down payment, Gaugler said. Now lenders are requiring 3 percent down.
On a typical Bozeman home sold for $300,000 that 3 percent comes to $9,000 for the down payment. Closing costs are another 2 or 3 percent, which means another $6,000 to $9,000. It’s hard for many buyers to come up with that much cash, and that’s why sellers are offering cash incentives to help with closing.
Gaugler’s advice to prospective buyers is to clean up their credit rating. The better their credit score, the lower the mortgage rate they’ll qualify for.
First-time buyers shouldn’t expect their first house will be their dream home, she said. They should plan to start with something more modest and later try to move up to the home of their dreams.
Buyers need to be realistic about how much they can afford. The mortgage plus taxes plus insurance should total less than 40 percent of the buyer’s gross income.
“The No. 1 reason I can’t qualify someone is because they have too big a car payment,” Gaugler said. “If you want a big fancy house, don’t have a big fancy car.”
Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com or 582-2633.
Lee Enterprises, Inc.: Montana Real Estate
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