No House For YOU! The Truth About Home Prices In Montana

Can I Afford The American Dream In Montana?

Four years ago, I'd have said YOU BET!

Four Years Later, This Is The Story:

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In Montana, the average annual income is $54,525 a year. Just a couple of years ago, it wasn't even $30,000.

How Much House Can Someone Buy With This Salary In 2024?

According to Forbes, the average price of a home in Montana is $530,000. (Whoa! That doesn't make much sense considering what the average annual income is in Montana.)

How Much Do I Need To Make To Buy An Average Priced Home In Montana?

Here's where things get really dark:

According to Dollar Times to buy a $530,000 home, you'd first need $106,000 DOWN, with a 30 year fixed loan, you'll be spending a 28 percent of your income on a $2,680 house payment a month. In order to make that payment you will need a yearly income of just under $115,000. Just under THREE TIMES the average annual Montanans income.

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This Is On Top Of The State Being Overtaken By One Percenters

Just this week, there was an article on the uber rich in Dubai buying up Moonlight Basin and making it an exclusive club for the one percent. Read about it and see the pictures of the exclusive resort here. It's a very sarcastic take on the buy up of Montana. Going into the 4th year of this, I just don't know another way to handle the complete and utter destruction of our way of life.

What Can We Do About This?

I don't know. The only thing that comes to mind is elections. IT MATTERS WHO IS IN OFFICE IN MONTANA.

When you elect a Governor that can buy and sell anyone in the state, he will NO DOUBT, be out of touch with making $54,000 a year or less and how it is to live inside that money.
It means NOT ELECTING LANDLORDS who are only interested in lining THEIR pockets. Sure, they should make money on their property. But they should also try and make Montana a great place to live. Ownership comes with obligations.
And MAYBE, it means selling LIMITED acres of land to out of state interests. If we can do it to China, we can do it to anybody. Maybe we get real land possessive under the big sky.