Does the outdoor space of your Bozeman home contradict the idea of “Big Sky Country”?  Love the wide open space available at your fingertips, but want the same feeling when you walk out your back door?  Don’t think of your microscopic yard as a curse. So what if it’s technically a small concrete slab that baaarely accommodates a half-sized Weber grill? Or if your flagstone patio is just big enough for you, a lounge chair, and a good book? Your tiny outdoor spot is actually an opportunity to get creative.

To live large with a small footprint, try these functional tweaks to make your minuscule outdoor space feel like it belongs in the Montana outdoors.

1. Divide the Space

Wait, what? That’s right. Even if your square footage is relatively small,…

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Life in Montana has its own “feel”.  For many, it’s the reason we choose to be here.  Quite often obtaining this feeling within your home means furnishings that are appropriate to “rustic” or complement what it means to be “Montanan”.  If this means wood furnishings or components in your home, these tips are for you.

Quality wood furniture can last a lifetime and is often a treasured heirloom, passed down through multiple generations. Still, even the highest quality wood is susceptible to scratches and abrasions if not properly cared for.

When purchasing furniture, it’s always a good idea to ask for specific cleaning and care instructions. For furnishings already in your home, here are 10 tips to keep the wood looking its best for many generations…

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Montana 406 can get you top dollar for your cherished home, but any improvements made will assist in the process. Springtime in Bozeman is not only the best time of year to give your home a good cleaning, it’s also the best time of year to take on several home improvement projects. Spring projects like these can improve your home’s looks and performance, and rarely cost more than $1,000, so you can easily take care of these issues before they have a chance to lead to bigger problems down the road.


Siding Repair

 Montana weather can really do a number on your siding. Painted wood siding frequently needs to have sections replaced that have been subjected to moisture over the cold, wet months. In most cases, repairing a section of siding can help…

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Think 10 Steps Ahead

When one of our clients updated a tiny kitchen in one of his Bozeman rentals, he installed a brand-new, expensive refrigerator — and then built a peninsula countertop extension.

Sounds like the greatest idea, right?  But adding the peninsula narrowed the space in front of the refrigerator, making it impossible to remove the refrigerator without lifting it entirely up and over the extension. (Ever tried to lift a fridge?)

DIY Lesson: Measure once, measure twice, measure again, and think through every possible scenario before changing a room’s layout.

Don’t Go with the Least Expensive Option

Speaking of kitchen appliances: our client above was looking for an island range hood, which can be extra-expensive because it needs to be…

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Homeowner tax Breaks

From mortgage interest to property tax deductions, here are the tax tips you need to get a jump on your returns.

Owning a home in Montana can pay off at tax time.  

Take advantage of these home ownership-related tax deductions and strategies to lower your tax bill:

 

Mortgage Interest Deduction 

One of the neatest deductions itemizing homeowners can take advantage of is the mortgage interest deduction, which you claim on Schedule A. To get the mortgage interest deduction, your mortgage must be secured by your home — and your home can be a house, trailer, or boat, as long as you can sleep in it, cook in it, and it has a toilet.

Interest you pay on a mortgage of up to $1 million — or $500,000 if you’re married filing separately — is…

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Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell for the fifth straight week.  This is great news if you are searching for a new home in Bozeman or the southwest Montana area.

 The average rate fell to 3.72 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, The Associated Press reports. 

 The average rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 3.01 percent, according to the AP. 

 Mortgage rates continue to fall despite the Federal Reserve raising the short-term rate for the first time since 2006, the AP says.

Remember, if you need any assistance or have any questions regarding brokering your real property and/or finding a new home for sale in the Bozeman, Livingston, or Manhattan areas, give us a call or send us an email – 406.404.1960 or…

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Bozeman Homes for saleIt’s so easy (and so unfair) how quickly your entryway can go from clean to chaos — and that chaos makes trying to get out the door brutal….especially here in Bozeman, in the winter! Think of all that time wasted hunting for your keys and umbrella, or digging through a pile of coats in a desperate attempt to find your buried purse.  Five minutes spent riffling through your endless piles of stuff each morning becomes 35 minutes a week, or more than 30 hours a year!

Breathe easy. You’re not alone. And you can reclaim that crucial time.

“Most everyone that I’ve worked with has basically the same kinds of problems,” says professional organizer Yve Irish.

Corralling your clutter can feel overwhelming, but with the right mindset and a few clever hacks,…

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Recently I was thinking about how we could embrace our “cozy kitchen” and not have to go into full remodel mode – this, of course comes after the holidays when my wife goes into “kitchen exile” for a few weeks.


Also, when your living is brokering and selling homes, you become fascinated with what other people see in certain parts of homes and what it is they are drawn to, over and over again as home buyers.

So…. How do chefs organize their home kitchens? Smartly, thank you — and not as lavishly as you might think.

For homeowners who love to cook, the kitchen is a sacred space. It needs an inviting ambiance and a practical workflow more than shiny new appliances or endless counter space. In fact, many professional chefs say they don’t need a…

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Home TipsSix “To-Do” Tasks for Your New Home…

 

Moving into your first home is exciting! But it also means you’ve got work to do.

When we bought our first house (even though it wasn’t in Bozeman), our timing couldn’t have been better: The house closing was two weeks before the lease was up on our current house. That meant we could take our time packing and moving, and we could get to know the new place before moving in.

We recruited friends to help move (in exchange for a beer-and-pizza picnic on the floor) and, as a bonus, we got to pick their brains about what first-time homeowners should know. 

Their help was one of the best housewarming presents we could have gotten. And thanks to their expertise and a little research, here’s what I learned about what…

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Don’t break your back shoveling snow. Try these tips to make winter less of a burden.

 

If you’re a Montana homeowner, chances are good you rue the winter: All that snow has to go somewhere, and it’s not getting there itself. 


Cue the snow shovel.

Barring a move to a snow-free state or barricading your family inside all winter, there’s no way to avoid the endless task of shoveling snow.  There are, however, ways to make the process much easier.  Here are three simple hacks to make the morning after a snowfall much less stressful.


1.  Spray Your Shovel with Cooking Oil

Snow sticking to your shovel makes an already arduous task even more obnoxious. Avoid it with this hack: Lightly coat your shovel with non-stick cooking oil to make snow…

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