Western Montana & Missoula Real Estate Blog & Area Information

Are Your Missoula or Western Montana Property Taxes Too High?

If you're like most of us, you recently received your notice from the Department of Revenue for the property taxes on your home or land in Western Montana. The Montana constitution and state law require periodic reappraisal of property and 2009 is a reappraisal year.

And if you're like me, your mouth dropped at the value that was assigned to your property - our appraised value was significantly higher than what our property is worth. If you're assessed value is high then the taxes assessed to your property may also be high.

So what can you do?

1.) Request an Informal Review: To do this, complete a Request for Informal Review Form (Form AB-26) and send it to your local Department of Revenue office within 30 days after you receive your assessment notice. This form allows you to attach information to it - such as a summary of similar properties and recent sales prices to show the market value. We provide a Free Comparative Market Analysis for residents in Western Montana upon request.

The completion of this form requires your property's Geocode and Legal Description, if you don't have that information, you can look it up online on the Montana Cadastral.

2.) You can also File an Appeal Directly to the County Tax Appeal Board. To do this, complete a Property Tax Appeal Form (which is much longer than the Request for Internal Review Form) and send it to the Clerk and Recorder in the County in which the property is located before the latest of these dates:

• 30 days after you receive your assessment notice
• 30 days after you receive the determination of your Informal Review Or
• By the first Monday in June

The forms are available by clicking on the above links, at your County Clerk & Recorder's Office or online at www.stab.mt.gov.

If you are appealing your property's market value or classification and your taxes become due before your appeal is resolved, you will need to:

• Specify the grounds of your protest in writing, and
• Pay the taxes disputed under protest by the due date.

If you are successful in your appeal, your County Treasurer will send you a refund.

Property Tax Assistance Programs

There are also several programs available for qualifying Montana property owners. Contact your County Treasurer for more information or visit the State's website at www.stab.mt.gov.

• Disabled Veterans or Spouses of Disabled Veterans
• Low Income
• Extended Property Tax Assistance
• Elderly Homeowner/Renter Income Tax Credit

Completing the forms just take a few minutes and could save you hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars on your property taxes.

I wrote a blog post earlier this week about Kevin's fishing trip with one of our friends /clients on the Flathead River near Paradise, Montana. While he was out, he took the following photos of Bear prints along the river - apparently he wasn't the only one fishing on the Flathead River!

A Day Spent Fishing on the Flathead River

For more information on the Flathead River or Western Montana, contact Kevin and Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-207-1185 or visit Riverfront Montana.

This is a great article about FHA Loans versus Convenetional Loans. If you are considering buying a home in Missoula or Western Montana, this will help you weigh your loan options.

You Mean Sharing Information Freely Isn't the Norm? It is on ActiveRain - Memories at ActiveRain

We gave a presentation at our local MLS last week on Using Social Media for Real Estate. We didn't have a huge turnout so we were able to really structure our presentation around the attendees, most of which were new to social media. It was a really fun presentation with lots of questions and good interaction. We shared what we knew and our experience with using social media to increase our listings, our sales, and our leads.

When the presentation was over, one of the brokers in the class approached us and really thanked us for being so willing to share with the group. She said that she's been a broker in our area for many years and that it's very unusual for agent to help other agents, especially from other brokerages.

I guess I realized that somewhat from our real estate transactions and what seems to be the competitive nature of the business.

However, we've been members of ActiveRain since Day 1 of our real estate careers, and agents on ActiveRain share information - AND LOTS OF IT! And they help each other out.

If it weren't for ActiveRain, we would be in a much different place than we are today. I told the agents at the presentation, and I tell all agents - Participating on ActiveRain is the SINGLE BEST THING you can do to improve your real estate career.

We've also attended two ReBar Camps where real estate professionals from all over the country gather together for the sole purpose of sharing information on real estate technology and social media. So many people have shared their knowledge with us that it only seems fair to share what we have learned with others.

Some (There are MANY - this is only a few) of my vivid memories of people sharing and helping us on ActiveRain - THANK YOU for sharing, and for making ActiveRain such a great place!

Missy Caulk - Missy is one of the best mentors on ActiveRain and is always willing to share her expertise. Missy went above and beyond sharing her blog posts but actually shared some of her checklists with me. I was so surprised and excited that she would be willing to do that for someone she's never even met.

Midori Miller - Midori has some great posts on low cost real estate tools that you can use to help promote your business online, as well as lots of great advice for agents. Midori's posts got me to explore many of the options out there for agents today.

Rebecca Levinson - Rebecca has a great blog called Blogging in the Rain, and she's also a genuinely nice person. Rebecca's encouragement and positive feedback on our Localism posts early on in our blogging kept us going and her positive posts continue to provide assistance.

Bill Gassett - Bill is one of the top agents on Localism, and for good reason, he knows how to promote his local area and shows up at the top for local search terms. So when Bill Gasset commented on one of my listing posts - this is a great listing but you'll never get found by the search engines with that title. So with some great info from Bill, I learned a lot about marketing listings online and getting them "found" by the search engines. 

Mary McKnight - Mary doesn't post as much as she used to on ActiveRain but her blog has some of THE best information on SEO on the Internet, and it's in language that you can understand. I was, and am still impressed that she would share so much great information when others charge a fortune for far less.

Rolando Gill - Rolando posted information about improving the results at at Open House and provided us with the information sheet he has visitor's complete. Using the form has helped us to be able to share quality feedback with our sellers, and learn more about what each potential buyer is looking for.

Some of my other favorites and friends on ActiveRain include Clint Miller, Kim Daugherty, Jason Crouch, Renee Burrows, Jeff Turner, Brad Andersohn, Mike Mueller, Carole Provenzale, Jeff Dowler, Rene Fabre, Jeff Belonger, Nick Bastian, and Kathy McGraw.

Thank you for making "Sharing the Norm" on ActiveRain and at ReBar Camps!

The Sanders County Fair and Rodeo is held during the last week of August or the first week of September every year in Plains Montana. It's small town living at its best. Plains, MT is located approximately two hours northwest of Missoula. The parade is the kick-off to the Fair which features rides and games, a rodeo, a demolition derby, vendors, and live music. It's a great event for the entire family.

Photos by Kelsey Ray.

Kevin and one of our friends and clients recently took an afternoon to go fishing on the Flathead River between Paradise and Perma, Montana. It was an amazing early fall Montana day and the weather was perfect. They caught a few fish and enjoyed being on the river.

For more information about Montana's Flathead River, visit RiverFrontMontana or contact Kevin and Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-207-1185 or at www.YourMT.com.

Kevin took this photo in one of his favorite areas at the top of a mountain near Pardee Creek in Superior. It overlooks the Lolo National Forest towards the towns of Paradise and Plains, MT.

This area has abundant wildlife, and as you can tell, lots of timber and is a local favorite for recreation, hunting, and I guess picnicking!

69 Saint Mary's Lake Road, St. Ignatius Montana 59865 - A Beautiful Home in the Mission Valley

Beautiful home on nearly a full acre with fruit trees, lots privacy, and views of the breathtaking Mission Mountains. Country living just seconds from the center of town.

This home features beautiful hardwood floors, a cozy fireplace, large carport, a half-court concrete basketball court,  loft area over the family room, woodstove, basement, a wonderful private deck with purgola and lots of original details.

Property also has heated shop with a wood stove and an insulated and finished outbuilding previously used as a sound studio, could be detached bedroom, office or studio.

View Property Website for 69 Saint Mary's Lake Road, Saint Ignatius Mission, MT 59865

View the Virtual Tour for 69 Saint Mary's Lake Road, St. Ignatius, MT 59865

Located a short 30 minutes from Missoula, 30 minutes from Flathead Lake, 15 minutes from the National Bison Range, and minutes from abundant recreational activities in some of the most beautiful country in Montana - the Mission Mountains, you will enjoy all of the the convenience this home offers.       Photos Courtesy of Riversong Photography Read more about the area and also about Missoula Montana Move-in ready - make it your home today! For more information, or to schedule a personal tour, contact Kevin and Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-207-1185 or 406-822-7653. You can also visit our website at www.YourMT.com.

Features List

Hardwood Floors Cozy Fireplace Woodstove Open Living Area Clawfoot Tub Built-in Dressers Galley Kitchen Basement Finished Loft Area Separate Studio Double Carport Basketball Court Fruit Trees Lots of Privacy Mountain Views Fenced Yard Large Patio Great Location Move-In Ready!

I Thought Your Office Would Be Much Larger based on Your Internet Presence

Creating a strong internet presence through the use of websites (with good SEO), blogs (like ActiveRain and ActiveRain Outside Blogs) and posting your listings on other national sites, can help you reach more potential buyers and establish yourself as a local authority in real estate.

We had a buyer/investor from Texas contact us this week when he was in Missoula about looking at investment properties in the area. Kevin spoke to him on the phone several times about what types of properties he was interested in and they agreed to meet at our office.

When our client arrived he said,

"I thought your office would be much larger based on your internet presence. I was expecting you to have an entire two story building or something. When I was searching online, you guys took up the top 10 places on Google for what I was searching."

While we maintain two small offices, we are highly mobile and work mostly on our laptops. Our internet presence and marketing is our priority. We maintain several websites, blogs (including ActiveRain and our Outside Blog), and online ads. As a result, we tend to do very well in the search engines for local real estate terms and often come up before the larger real estate companies in our area.

What we've learned is that

1. The internet can be a great equalizer for smaller real estate brokerages, and
2. The size of your internet presence does not have to correspond with the size of your office space or the number of agents you have working for you.

How is your internet presence and how does it help you in real estate?

Speechless Sunday: Hey Good Looking!

Photos by Kelsey Ray (Krayphish)

My daughter Kelsey took these photos of the Llamas / Alpacas at the Plains Fair that was held last weekend in Plains Montana. I thought it looked like he was whistling at someone. A lot of people in our area have llamas/alpacas with their horses or sheep to help protect them.