Jason Frey's Montana Real Estate: Montana Land For Sale

Showing posts with label Montana Land For Sale. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Bozeman Ranked #1 Place to "Live to Ski" from Powder Magazine by Jason Frey

The November 2010 issue of "Powder" Magazine ranks the top 20 places in North America to "Live to Ski" with Bozeman, MT ranked #1.

The magazine considered area population, the price of lift tickets and season passes, vertical feet of terrain available, annual snowfall and important things such as room rates and best bars. Powder says, "Bozeman is the perfect mix of ski town and skitropolis; it's more affordable that Jackson Hole, less crowded than Salt Lake City, and more of a real town than Whistler." They also comment that the area, "lays claim to three blue-ribbon trout waters all within an hour's drive, three distinctly different yet exceptional ski resorts in Bridger Bowl, Big Sky, and Moonlight Basin, Yellowstone National Park, and boatloads of backcountry ski opportunities."

Powder comments on the sub-community that is Montana State University as well. The magazine notes that "Montana State University and its 13,000-person enrollment give Bozeman a young, active, and open-minded community", and that "It's not uncommon for MSU teachers to cancel class when the BBC (Bridger Bowl Cloud) settles in overnight and drops a foot of cold smoke."

Of the town itself, magazine touts "Bozeman enjoys a rich music and art scene and a robust nightlife full of tasty eateries and copious watering holes." additionally noting that "this town retains a small town feel with bigger city options, and has world-class outdoors directly out the back door."

In regards to the area mountains, columnist John Stifter asks, "Do you want a big resort with over 4,000 feet of vert and ample elbow room or a grassroots, not-for-profit ski area that holds some of the rowdiest inbounds terrain in the States? Or how about an average of 400 inches between the two with some of the lightest, driest snow in th world?" He continues, "Big Sky's 11,166-foot Lone Peak offers a multitude of 2,000-foot-plus descents while a legitimate terrain park entertains others on the lower flanks of Andesite Mountain. As for Bridger, the installation of the Schlasman's lift last year only added to the mystique of the renowned Ridge. The new lift distributes skiers over a wider area, allowing for more stashes to remain stashes."

All three resorts are gearing up for the 2011 season, Bridge Bowl's opening date is slated for December 10th, Moonlight Basin's is December 11th and Big Sky Resort's on November 25th snow conditions permitting.

For information on Bozeman area real estate, contact Jason Frey.

All photos courtesy of www.bridgerbowl.com

All best,
______________________

Jason Frey

Agent

PureWest, Inc.

406-579-4582

jason.frey@purewestproperties.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfreylifewideopen

www.PureWestProperties.com

Friday, September 17, 2010

Homebuyer tax credit: 950,000 must repay - Reposted by Jason Frey

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly half of all Americans who claimed the first-time homebuyer tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to repay the government.

According to a report from the Inspector General for Tax Administration, released to the public Thursday, about 950,000 of the nearly 1.8 million Americans who claimed the tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to return the money.

The confusion comes because homebuyers were eligible for two different credits, depending on when their homes were purchased.

Those who bought properties during 2008 were to deduct, dollar for dollar, up to 10% of the home's purchase price or $7,500, whichever was less. The catch: The money was a no-interest loan that had to be repaid within 15 years.

Had they waited to buy until 2009, they could have gotten a much sweeter deal. Congress extended the credit and made it a refund rather than a loan.

Now, the IRS is developing a strategy for separating the 2009 taxpayers who are required to repay the credit from those who are not.

A review by the Inspector General earlier this year found that the IRS could not easily distinguish between home purchases made in 2008 and 2009. That heightened concerns that some claims could be erroneous or even fraudulent, that buyers could, for example, claim their purchase came later than it actually occurred.

Thursday's release reported that 73,000 claims, more than 4% of the 1.8 million homebuyers who received the credit, had incorrect purchase dates recorded by the IRS.

Some of the inaccuracies counted against the taxpayers, Nearly 60,000 were listed as purchasing in 2008 (meaning they had to repay the credit) or had no purchase dates at all, rather than their correct 2009 purchase dates, which would free them of the obligation to pay it back.

It is also taking a look at all those deceased taxpayers who received credits.

The inspector general reported that 1,326 single people listed as dead by the Social Security Administration claimed more than $10 million in credits. The IRS threw out 528 of those 1,326 claims, saving $4 million.

All best,
______________________

Jason Frey

Agent

PureWest, Inc.

A Christie’s Great Estates Affiliate

Bozeman, Montana 59715

jason.frey@purewestproperties.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfreylifewideopen

www.PureWestProperties.com

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Family Hike to History Rock by Jason Frey

I had the opportunity this past weekend to take a morning and enjoy it with my family, which is something we do not get to do as often as I would like. My wife and I currently have two children, our son is almost 4, our daughter is 18 months, and we are expecting #3 in December. We are not crazy but, if the family continues to expand at this rate we may be soon. Spare time is at a premium and enjoying it all together is rarer still. So when the opportunity arose for a family hike we were all excited. As I have said previously, the most difficult part of recreating in the Bozeman area is choosing what to do and where to do it. The possibilities are as near endless as it gets. My wife and I are stealing an idea from my cousin Seth and his wife Brooke, we are taking 52 hikes in the Bozeman area and writing each of them on a playing card. When it comes time to choose a path, we simply choose a card and head out, it makes the selection process much easier and when we have done the first 52 we can add, cull, supplement our favorites and re-shuffle.

History Rock is a short, 2.4 mile loop that begins a short distance below Hyalite Reservoir in the Gallatin National Forest. The name of the hike is derived from a large limestone rock poised along the trail that has had a number of names scribed into it over the years. According to our hiking book there are names on the rock that date back into the 1800's from hunters and settlers in the area. The hike starts from a well maintained parking area and crosses a large meadow before heading up into the lodgepole pine forest. The trail shadows a small creek for most of the way and the sound of water can be heard from multiple locations along the trail.

We started out just after 9:30am so the wildlife activity was not as high as I would have liked but we had a great time pointing out different animal tracks in the moist trail. My son is enamored with all types of wildlife and asked a never-ending string of questions about each track. Why did the horse have shoes on? Why are elk toes pointed? Are coyotes really like dogs? Can I step in that? He also saw a "really big bird" when running ahead of us and, sure enough, when we caught up with him there was a large owl stirring about 20 feet up in the pines.

Our youngest grew tired of being ported along in the luxury of our kid-carrying backpack and insisted on walking for a portion of the trail. This forced us all to slow down a little, we all took a little deeper sniff of the roses, feeling the warmth of the late summer sun cutting through the cool of the trees. We came across one other hiker along the trail, a older gentleman who looked to be in his late 60's or early 70's. We stopped and exchanged pleasantries, he commented on the beauty of the morning and commended us for getting the whole clan out and about. I told him we could not bear to waste the morning, and had to get out on the trail. He looked wistful as he talked of his children and grandchildren's adventures on the very trail that we were following and encouraged us to keep at while we could. "Times go fast", he said, "and before you know it, you'll be out here alone."

We continued on, upon reaching our destination, we took a few minutes to crawl on the rocks, gather moss and pine cones so when we clean out the car in a month or two there is something more to remind us of the morning, snap some photos, then began our return to the trailhead. After getting back we loaded up and headed about a mile farther up the canyon to the reservoir for a picnic lunch and quick splash on the boat ramp.

The hike took about 2 hours round trip, adults without kids or with older children would probably be able to complete the loop in closer to one hour. It was time well spent and we look forward to drawing another card soon.