There should be a permanent posting at the top of the classifieds. Housing is very tight in Miles City. Housing for people with dogs is almost non-existent.

I really feel for people moving here because we have a long history of a shortage of housing and no sign it is going to get better in the near future.

It's not as bad as it was in the early Milwaukee days but, wow, it is hard to find. No one can afford to build affordable housing for one thing. I keep expecting tents to pop up!

Is there a solution? Seriously. It is a hard to say, come start your company here, bring in your employees and, oh, by the way, there is no place to live.

Why is there a housing shortage? Too many people, not enough places to live? Too expensive to buy land and to build? Or are the places "not good enough"? Interesting thread Amorette. Thanks for posting, it is making me think...this could be frightening. I'd like to hear why people think there is a housing shortage here.

Carli

1) The town's population has been virtually stable since 1917. Up a thousand, down a thousand, slowly, over decades but around 9000 for more than ninety years. So there has never been a huge incentive to build like crazy.

2) Where to build? To the west? Fort Keogh? To the north? No water and Fort Keogh. To the south? Clay soil that does not lend itself to construction. Plus we are surrounded by useful agricultural land we hate to see covered by tract housing.

3) Speculators LOVE to build high end houses or more unneeded retail space but don't like the returns on low end housing. For one thing, there are no returns on low end housing. This is a national problem, not helped by the current economic mess.

There are plenty of empty million dollar condos around here. Poor rich people can't afford vacation homes - I wonder how many people you could house for the price of one of those.

One of the reasons for the shortage is the cost of building in a town that has few jobs to cover the cost of rent. On the low end a 1500 sqft house will cost 135-140k to build ($90/sqft). As a speculator it is difficult to to spend that kind of money and then rent to people making $8.00/hr. Not many of them can afford 900/month for rent.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (7/27/2009)]

I still can't fathom why so may small, older homes are sitting vacant. Are the owners paying the taxes, etc.? Do they not sell them because there is no market for rentals? There are many of them that look like they'd be livable with a little elbow grease!

There is a shortage of homes to rent. Why not look at the huge amount of homes for sale, there are over 60 listed with the real estate agents (Hardesty, Hometown, Mitchell,etc.) Owning your home has to be one of the most rewarding accomplishments, you can have dogs, cats, kids, smoke, decorate and paint the colors you like,etc. Looking at what people are paying to rent here is quite high it appears monthly housepayments would be similar to the cost to rent, yes, you have to consider taxes but they are deductable. Insurance also but most renters probably purchase renters insurance. Some people probably don't have good credit but it is time to start working towards that goal. After each rent payment you have nothing but a place to stay after each house payment you are investing in a home which will be sellabe (if you take care of it) and you'll get money back after selling. Every person that is trying to find a house to rent should at least check out the option to buy.

A lot of folks have the "House Hunters" syndrome. They want a HUGE house with a big master suite and several extra bedrooms and huge kitchen etc. etc. They have unrealistic expectations and just can't imagine living in a house like their parents did. So there are several houses for sale in my neighborhood, some with with lovely vintage woodwork, but only one bath or an old kitchen, that people just can't picture themselves living in because the countertops aren't granite.

Another problem is sellers who KNOW what is wrong with a house and refuse to fix it before selling. I watched a house near me sit on the market two years until the owners dropped the price $5,000. . .the cost of replacing the bad sewer line. If they had bit the bullet and replaced the sewer line in the first place, I bet the house would have sold much more quickly. Anytime you see that listing that says the sewer has to be cleaned out twice a year, it means you are looking at $5,000 to replace that line. I know. I replaced mine last February.