According to a recent article from Northwestern Mutual, your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life, as it’s used to set the rates you get on loans. A good score can make a big difference for your money.

That’s why it’s worth taking notice that one of the most common credit scores — known as the FICO score — will be calculated differently starting this summer. Fair Isaac Corp., which produces the FICO score, estimates that about 110 million Americans will see a change of less than 20 points, and about 80 million people will see a change of 20 points or more.

HOW DOES THE FICO SCORE WORK?

FICO scores are used by most lenders when they make decisions about things like giving you a car loan, personal loan, a mortgage or even

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On Wednesday, August 14, 2019, the Federal Housing Administration issued an update to its condominium rules, which go into effect October 15, 2019. The FHA said it expects the updates, which are intended to improve access to affordable and sustainable housing, will allow an estimated 20,000 to 60,000 more borrowers to qualify for condo loans.

Some of the key changes to the guidelines include:

• An individual condo unit in a building of 10 or more units may be eligible for spot approval if no more than 10% of the units are FHA insured. For units in buildings with fewer than 10 units, no more than two units can have FHA insurance.
• The recertification deadline for approved condo projects is extended from two to three years.
• FHA will insure more

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Student and Parent Update - January 2020

General Overview

As we kick off 2020, the excitement is building around the high school transition. We still have a lot of work to do in order to prepare for the BHS renovation and the opening of Gallatin High. So far we continue to make progress on our list of things to do with more than 60% completion. While we have a lot of work to do this spring, we are still on track in all categories.

 

If you're in the Board room at the Willson, be sure to check out our progress on the back wall.

How to Get involved

Parent Advisory Councils are up and running for both high…

 In an article in the Bozeman Chronicle recently, Bozeman’s economy was ranked the strongest in the nation for a micropolitan city for the third year in a row in a recent national report.

Since 2018, POLICOM Corporation has ranked Bozeman as the strongest economy in a city with fewer than 50,000 residents. The group uses 23 different factors over a 20-year period, including wages, unemployment and welfare. Bozeman has ranked consistently in the top 20 since 2011.

A “micropolitan” city is any city with at least 10,000 residents but not more than 50,000. Bozeman barely fits in that category; the U.S. Census Bureau estimated in July 2018 that Bozeman’s population had surpassed 48,000. Bozeman has long been ranked the fastest-growing

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Farmers and Ranchers have opportunities to utilize their land in more than one way to support the ranch: outfitting, movie sets, lodging, hunting opportunities, events and conservation easements. Ranches discovered years ago that folks enjoy the romance of working on a ranch and were willing to pay to help herd the cattle and pretend to be a cowboy for a week or so. Guest Ranches sprouted up around the state over time. Some now offer their barns for weddings and other larger events, another has had an antique store on the property or glamping in tents. Conservation easements can offer tax incentives while continuing to farm the land and can be beneficial to all in the long-run. They can be a small portion on the property rather than a large chunk.

In

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According to Bankrate.com, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage tumbled 7 basis points this week to 3.77 percent, according to Bankrate’s weekly national survey of large lenders.

This drop in rates comes ahead of next week’s first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year, where the Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged. Experts are eyeing the bond markets for signs of mortgage-rate movement, but rates have been in a narrow range for several months. This is good news for homebuyers and refinancers, alike.

“Even with more positive developments surrounding the U.S. and China trade negotiations and healthy retail sales data, investors seemed cautious and maintained their demand for safer U.S. Treasuries, which kept yields lower,”

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From the City to the Mountains

There's an undeniable hustle to city life. Everything in a city becomes entertainment; the speed at which everything moves guarantees it. 

Like watching television, city living means constantly being bombarded by information. Buildings display the information that people in other buildings decide will convince them to buy their products, even as those people have been convinced by someone else that putting ads up on a building is still the right way to earn clients. 

Even cities filled with greenery, like Portland, maintain strong energy. It's not an energy that everyone can handle. But it's hard to identify that when you've been in one your whole life. Whatever feelings you might realize you don't miss upon

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BOZEMAN YELLOWSTONE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

On the heels of the direct to Nashville flight with Allegiant starting May 21, 2020, Alaska will also begin operating direct flights to Seattle/Tacoma.  Two additional daily departures to SEA and Alaska’s daily departures to Portland, Oregon will continue to operate with 76-seat Q400 aircraft operated by Horizon Air. 

Delta Air Lines will convert seasonal service between Bozeman (BZN) and the airline’s largest hub in Atlanta, GA (ATL) to daily, year-round service beginning July 6, 2020 utilizing a 160-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

JetBlue in June will begin offering direct flights to New York’s JFK International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport.

“Boston is our number one market

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Over 70 teams will compete over 3 days in West Yellowstone for cash and prizes.

Equestrian skijoring consists of a team of a single horse, generally guided by a rider, pulling a person on skis who carries no poles and simply hangs onto a tow rope in a manner akin to water skiing.

Today, equine skijoring is a highly specialized competitive sport, where horses accelerate to over 40 mph in just three strides covering a straight track roughly 900 feet (270 m) in length. Skiers must navigate a series of jumps and gates and capture rings while being pulled by a rope at speeds up to 60 mph as they accelerate around turns. Jumps can reach 7 feet (2.1 m) in height, but are typically lower or roller style which are more friendly to

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