REMAX of Bigfork

Real Estate Resources

Resources, articles and notes of interest for buying or selling real estate in NW Montana.

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Dock and Shoreline improvements

Whether you own property on Flathead Lake, or another greater Flathead Valley area lake or river you’ll need a permit to do any improvements on your shoreline,  adding or fixing a dock, or even attending to trees and brush along the waterfront area.  Reading over the shoreline regulations through Flathead County Planning or Lake County (continued…)

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Heat Pumps (Geo-Thermal Systems)

Improving home energy efficiency is no longer a trend — it’s mainstream.   Scott is one of those people early on who built his home using a Geothermal (or “ground-source”) heating and cooling systems.   A geothermal system uses the temperature of the ground to condition the air that is distributed through the house using conventional duct (continued…)

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Our New Mobile Website – What, Why, and How answered!

Follow this link to see our mobile realty website! What:  After the recent launch in August of our new website, our stellar design team started work on changing it again to be “smartphone” and iPhone compatible.  It is now ready for you to use! Why:  Not only will you be able to do normal searches, (continued…)

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“Analysis Paralysis” can be costly

While working with a number of client sellers this year, I’ve come to note in some a state of “Paralysis by Analysis”.  Brought on by the recent falling market and the uncertainty of whether we are at the bottom of the market (and coupled with an unknown election outcome) there is real loss of direction (continued…)

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Haggling (otherwise known as Negotiating)

I’ve been watching an interesting show on PBS called “Market Warriors” which is about 4 antique buyers who are given challenges to buy and sell antiques.  The four buyers are followed around and you can watch their different methods of haggling to get the best deal.  The four have vastly different personalities and in any (continued…)

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State Leased Property

On Echo Lake and Rogers Lake you’ll find properties for sale that have really low prices in comparison to other lakefront home.  Why the huge difference?  These are “State-Leased” properties.  These is real estate where you don’t own the land, the State of Montana does.  The purchase price is for only the improvements on the (continued…)

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Pricing wisdom

Words of Wisdom:  “Price your property high enough so that you can sleep at night, but not so high that buyers in the marketplace will feel that your property will be available for any length of time.”  

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Buyer Feedback… or the dreaded silence

How to interpret Buyer Feedback and Showing frequency: 1.  If there are no, or a low amount of inquiries, and few or no showings, then the market (Buyers) have rejected the price.  Pricing has missed the mark and is in need of a significant repositioning.  We typically recommend a 10% change in order to shift (continued…)

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How big is the RE/MAX reach?

Hot off the presses is the recent news from RE/MAX that international house hunters can visit global.remax.com and find over 300,000 properties around the world.  Most impressive is that the website can be seen in 33 languages and includes the all important currency converter!  Anyone who has a home listed with a RE/MAX agent is (continued…)

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1031 Exchanges

Large and small real estate investors looking for tax relief from capital gains take advantage of the tax code commonly knows as a 1031 exchange.   If an investor sells property they pay tax. Taxes are paid on capital gain, not equity or profit. However, property that qualifies for preferential treatment under Internal Revenue Code §1031 (continued…)

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Home design for aging

Its no surprise that when we show property to folks over 50 (and sometimes 40) that there is a concern about how the home will function for them when they reach their golden years.   I saw this home design that puts some thought into creating a versatile living space for usability as one ages (continued…)

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6 areas to fix up before selling

We often get the question from prospective sellers, “What do I need to do to get my home ready to show?”  First, if you ask that question, you better be ready to hear a little hemming and hawing from us real estate people.  And here’s why.  Its a touchy subject to comment on another person’s (continued…)

The Hollinger Team

Can we answer any questions for you?

With a lifetime of experience living here in Montana's Flathead Valley, we can answer any question you might have—we've got a ton of real estate expertise, but we can also help with the practical stuff too, like where the best fishing spots are, when ski season begins, and what to do if a moose wanders into your property.

Give us a call, or drop us a note, we'd love to introduce ourselves...
(406) 837-5531 | email: Scott, Diana, Kellie, Drew, or Dane

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