Congratulations Kat Palmiotti for successfully completing three entries for the March to a Solution|ActiveRain March 2023 Challenge. May I have the pleasure of presenting you with a virtual handful of GOLD for completing the ActiveRain March 2023 Challenge? Your entries will be very useful to new agents, other agents, sellers, and buyers. Kat, there must be magic and gold sprinkled in and around Glacier National Park  and the City of Kalispell, Montana because you've got the magic! You have the sparkle!  Any clients of yours will soon realize you are a treasure. Your achievements as Broker/REALTOR® are phenomenal. From your three stories on 1) Inspections, 2) Assumptions, and 3) Decisions, you share the lessons you learned from each as a result of your experiences. The key is to stay fo... 03/20/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it’d be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. If I can find enough interesting material, I hope to share one ordinance from each year. This week's post will cover a Kalispell ordinance I found from 1910 about vagrants. Ordinance #217 from 1910 addressed: Everyone ("except an Indian") who has the physical ability to work but does not seek or accept work Every healthy beggar who collects "alms" as a business Every person who roams around town doing nothing lawful Every idle person who is an associate of known thieves and roams around the streets late at night Every idle person who lodges in a shed, barn, outhouse, vessel or any place that's not meant for lodging without permission of th... 03/15/2023

This report covers the residential land market in Kalispell Montana as of the end of February 2023. Similar to last month, sales continue to remain low and available inventory has declined slightly. The residential land market in Kalispell has slowed from the robustness of the last few years. Additionally, unlike the residential home market which is still a slight sellers market, Kalispell land is currently experiencing a buyers market.  INVENTORYAs of early March 2023, there were 153 residential land parcels for sale in Kalispell which is slightly less than February's inventory of 161. This is the fourth drop in monthly inventory in a row but inventory remains much higher than last year at the same time.Five or more acresOf the land currently for sale only 26% of the listings include f... 03/08/2023

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of February 2023. This report covers the entire residential market, including single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.  While the Kalispell residential market remains on the cusp of a balanced market, in February sales, homes under contract and median prices increased while inventory decreased slightly. Time will determine whether we are headed back to a stronger seller's market.  Sales VolumeIn the month of February 2023, there were 46 residential sales in Kalispell which is 8% less than the same time last year and 35% more than last month. We won't know until next month, but the increase in sales could signal an early Spring season and/or could be caused by ... 03/07/2023

A huge congratulations to my buyer clients on their purchase of a beautiful Lakeside Montana home this past week! A month or so ago we visited several possible homes. On paper, one was a winner and it was still the top choice as we made our way to the last home. I opened the door. We walked into the lower level and out of the mouth of my client came the word, "Wow!" And that is how I knew their opinion on the top choice had changed. Their new home is located in Lakeside MT. While it is not on the shores of the lake, there are peekaboo views of Flathead Lake which could, with permission of the neighbors, be enlarged to provide a much bigger view. And of course, being so close to the lake, it will only take minutes to get to the nearby park and the boat marina. The home is also close to B... 03/05/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it’d be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. If I can find enough interesting material, I hope to share one ordinance from each year. This week's post will cover a Kalispell ordinance I found from 1909. A heads up: Dog lovers will not be happy with the 1909 ordinance.There must have been an issue with dogs running loose on Kalispell's city streets in 1909. Ordinance #204 which was approved on May 10th started by stating that the "running at large" of dogs anywhere in the City of Kalispell was prohibited. Any dog that was caught doing so would be impounded. If the impounded dog wasn't claimed within 48 hours, the pound master would attempt to auction the dog. If he did not get an offe... 02/15/2023

This report covers the residential land market in Kalispell Montana as of the end of January 2023. Similar to last month, sales continue to remain low and available inventory has declined slightly. The residential land market in Kalispell has slowed from the robustness of the last few years. Additionally, unlike the residential home market which is still a slight sellers market, Kalispell land is currently experiencing a buyers market.  INVENTORYAs of early February 2023, there were 161 residential land parcels for sale in Kalispell which is slightly less than January's inventory of 166. This is the third drop in monthly inventory in a row.Five or more acresOf the land currently for sale only 28% of the listings include five or more acres. I define rural as those properties in the 5+ ac... 02/06/2023

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of January 2023. This report covers the entire residential market, including single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.   While the Kalispell residential market remains on the cusp of a balanced market, in January sales and available inventory decreased and homes under contract and median prices increased slightly. Sales VolumeIn the month of January 2023, there were only 34 residential sales in Kalispell which is 41% less than the same time last year and 13% less than last month. The lower number of sales could be attributed to buyers holding off on making purchases at this time due to economic challenges and could also be due to winter and holiday conflicts.  ... 02/05/2023

Congratulations to my sellers on the sale of their property at 301 Gleneagles Trail, Columbia Falls MT!!! On January 8th, 2023, this parcel of land became available in Meadow Lake Country Club Estates in Columbia Falls Montana and on February 2nd, it closed. The following is from the original post about this property going on the market.The country club's website indicates that this par 72 golf course was rated as a 4 1/2 star course by Golf Digest. They also indicate it's one of the top four public play golf courses in Montana. Golf Magazine adds that it is a "must play" course. Meadow Lake Country Club Estates has Tuesday night leagues, holds company or group golf outings, and has an onsite Eagles Nest Bar & Bistro for breakfast and lunch options.So what specific parcel of land is for... 02/03/2023

This post is an entry into the February 2023 Challenge: "What's Love Got to Do With it?" The challenge is being sponsored by Brian England and Debe Maxwell, CRS , and their instructions are to write 500 words about what makes your city/town/area so special.500 Words? How in the world could I possible summarize the best parts of Kalispell Montana in such a short blog...  Well, here I go, attempting to provide as much information as possible in just a few words. Kalispell Montana is beautiful.  It's so difficult to describe, but Kalispell Montana is surrounded by miles and miles of multiple mountain ranges. On a clear day, you could stand in one spot, and slowly swivel approximately 200º and still have mountains in front of you. But in addition to the mountain ranges, we've got the gorgeo... 02/01/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it would be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. If I can find enough interesting material, I hope to share one ordinance from each year. This week's post will cover a Kalispell ordinance I found from 1908. (PS, I'm skipping 1907 for now; I need some photos to finish that one!)There were actually several interesting ordinances from the 1908 Kalispell City Council, but the one I chose has to do with a simple thing, the hours that a saloon or bar could be open. That ordinance, #201, went into effect on April 1, 1909.The ordinance indicates that every saloon as well as all bars in every hotel, inn tavern, club or any other place in Kalispell where "spirituous, vinous, fermented or malt ... 01/28/2023

On January 8th, 2023, a parcel of land became available in Meadow Lake Country Club Estates in Columbia Falls Montana. The country club's website indicates that this par 72 golf course was rated as a 4 1/2 star course by Golf Digest. They also indicate it's one of the top four public play golf courses in Montana. Golf Magazine adds that it is a "must play" course. Meadow Lake Country Club Estates has Tuesday night leagues, holds company or group golf outings, and has an onsite Eagles Nest Bar & Bistro for breakfast and lunch options.So what specific parcel of land is for sale?The listing description reads:Have you been looking for the perfect golf community for your future dream home? Do you want to be close to Glacier National Park, skiing, hiking, and all the Flathead County area has ... 01/23/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it’d be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. If I can find enough interesting material, I hope to share one from each year up until now. This week's post will cover a Kalispell ordinance I found from 1906.Kalispell City Ordinance number 176 became official on May 7, 1906. It isn't really that unusual or interesting. After all, the ordinance just shares budgets for various city funds and also talks about salaries that are paid from the city's Contingent Fund. What makes this interesting is the difference in some of these line items between 1906 until 2022/3. Looking at salaries, the first column of numbers shows the annual salary for each of these job titles in the early 1900s. Police... 01/18/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it’d be intriguing to see what some of the ordinances of the past were. If I can find enough interesting material, I hope to share one from each year up until now. This week's post will cover a Kalispell ordinance I found from 1905. In 1900, there was a population of 9,375 in Flathead County. Currently, in 2022, the census indicates 24% of the people in Flathead County live in Kalispell. Assuming the same was true in 1905, we could estimate that perhaps 2,250 people lived in Kalispell. The energy.gov website indicates that in 1905 only .94 per 1,000 people owned a car. With that calculation, there were probably very few people who owned or drove cars at that time. But evidently there were enough for the Kalisp... 01/08/2023

Following is an overview of the Kalispell Montana real estate results for the residential market as of December 2022. This report covers the entire residential market, including single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes.  While the Kalispell residential market remains on the cusp of a balanced market, sales, available listings, properties under contract and median sale prices fell in the month of December.  Sales VolumeIn the month of December 2022, there were only 39 residential sales in Kalispell which is 61% less than the same time last year and 26% less than last month. The lower number of sales could be attributed to buyers holding off on making purchases at this time due to economic challenges and could also be due to winter and holiday conflicts.    Inv... 01/05/2023

This report covers the residential land market in Kalispell Montana as of the end of December 2022. Land sales continue to remain low and available inventory declined slightly. The residential land market in Kalispell has slowed from the robustness of the last few years. Additionally, unlike the residential home market which is still a slight sellers market, Kalispell land is currently experiencing a buyers market.  INVENTORYAs of early January, there were 166 residential land parcels for sale in Kalispell which is slightly less than December's inventory of 178. This is the second drop in monthly inventory in a row.Five or more acresOf the land currently for sale 31% of the listings include five or more acres. I define rural as those properties in the 5+ acre category. Those are most li... 01/05/2023

I recently found an online directory of Kalispell City ordinances and thought it'd be interesting to see what some of ordinances of the past were. So first, I went back to the very first entry in the online directory, which is from 1904. It's ordinance number 169 so there are probably 168 ordinances that aren't available online. So this post won't cover the very first Kalispell ordinance which would have been fun, but it will cover the very first available online ordinance.In June of 1904, Kalispell (and many areas of Montana) were dealing with a pest infestation that was resulting in infected fruit being sold in markets. The pests were Codling Moths, an insect that mainly impacts fruit trees such as apple and pear. The larvae doesn't feed on leaves, but instead they enter the fruit thr... 01/02/2023

On the last afternoon of the very last work day of 2022, my buyer clients were able to close on their townhouse at 140 Barron Way in Kalispell Montana. They purchased this as an investment property and are planning to rent this three bedroom, two bath home first thing in the New Year!140 Barron Way is part of Phase V of the Empire Estates development which is located on both sides of Route 93-Alt between Three Mile and Four Mile drives in Kalispell. There are approximately 370 total homes in the development, consisting of both townhouses and single family homes. The development also includes three parks, one of which is right near 140 Barron Way! Besides being close to the highway, this development is close to all Kalispell has to offer. It's just a few minute drive to the medical cente... 12/30/2022

Joan Cox recently shared new laws that will be effective in her state as of January 1st, 2023. I thought doing that was a great idea - to share information about new legislation so residents would be aware. So I decided to do the same thing for Montana and subsequently did a bunch of research online. I used various search terms to find out what was going to be new in terms of Kalispell or Montana laws. And here's what I found: The minimum wage in Montana is rising to $9.95 on 1/1/2023. That is it! I couldn't find anything else in terms of new laws - which is part of the reason most Montanans love Montana - regulations are not onerous. So then I thought, well, maybe it would be useful instead to share laws or ordinances that were put in place in Kalispell during 2022. Perhaps there are t... 12/29/2022

We all have our own traditions when it comes to the holidays. And when it comes to Christmas trees, some people swear by artificial trees. Some love fresh trees. We're in the second camp, and here is how we go about getting our annual Christmas tree.So to those who suggested that I should have gotten my tree weeks ago since all I have to do is go outside and cut one down, it's not that simple! Not only because I don't live in a Christmas tree farm with perfectly shaped trees but because almost all of those trees are up a hill and not easily accessible. And walking in a foot of snow lugging a sled with equipment in it isn't the best way to keep the Christmas spirit! haha.So if you live in Kalispell and want to cut your own tree down, you can certainly do so! If you don't have your own tr... 12/18/2022