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Table of Contents
On the Cover:
It’s about flipping time Good wood from bad Tips on deer-proofing Building yurts with purpose Expert Essays: The ABCs of amortization The roommate dilemma Contractors are key Rethinking remodeling 2015 Missoula Housing Report
6 10 16 20 26 28 30 32 35
The metal roofs on the cover photo and the photo above were manufactured by Missoula’s Epic Steel.
E
pic Steel offers a range of metal roofing products, from a rustic Montana look to more than 55 color choices. Why go metal? For one, a metal roof can withstand decades of abuse from extreme weather like high winds, heavy snow, hailstorms and even wildfires—basically, the type of weather typical in Montana. That unparalleled durability can save a lot of time, worry and money. Metal roofing isn’t just a good investment in your home, it’s also environmentally friendly. According to the National Association of Homebuilders Research Center, 20 billion pounds of asphalt shingles are dumped into U.S. landfills every year. Metal roofing, meanwhile, is 100 percent recyclable. For more information on Epic Steel and its metal roofing and siding options, visit epicsteelcorp.com.
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Mailing address: P.O. Box 8275 Missoula, MT 59807 Street address: 317 S. Orange St. Missoula, MT 59801
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2015 Homesteader52 pFINAL_Layout 1 3/27/15 12:23 PM Page 7
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here’s a reality television show for just about everything. Have a dog that needs to be whispered to? Check. Want to parade around the city acting like a diva with your “besties”? Sure. Want to run around a flea market, make an industrial pulley and boat propeller into a table and try to win cash? Well, that one is taken. It is called “Flea Market Flip,” aired by HGTV and hosted by Lara Spencer from “Good Morning America.” And unlike other reality shows, this one may come in handy for creative types looking for inspiration on the art of flipping when it comes to decorating their homes. The idea behind flipping is not to take something old and make it look new again, like sanding down a corner hutch and staining it to match a favorite picture frame. It goes far beyond that. As Jeremy Drake, education program manager at Home ReSource, puts it: “It’s creative reuse, where you take something and make something totally different out of it, or make it do something it was not originally intended to do.” Hence the pulley-propeller table. Home ReSource is one of many places residents can find diamonds in the rough for their next project. Yard sales, Secret Seconds, Teen Challenge Thrift Shop and Zootown Thrift are also prime places to hunt for what will become a new hutch or hanging organizer. Home ReSource, however, has made a festival of it. The annual Spontaneous Construction fundraiser is an opportunity for people to show off their creativity for a good cause. “For us it’s a way to get the community involved in a culture of reuse in fun ways,” says Drake. Spontaneous Construction is remarkably similar to the premise of “Flea Market Flip.” Teams find cool things, put them together in cool ways and then sell them to the public to see who can raise the most money—but they do it without a talk show host standing over their shoulders. Spontaneous Construction is held each September and is open to the public. The event, approaching its 11th year, draws about 500 people. With this event, and Home ReSource’s daily operations, over 1,300 tons of waste is kept out of Missoula’s landfill every year. That’s equal to eight-and-a-half times the weight of a single-story home.
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foot workspace his entire But perhaps competilife. That level of permations aren’t for everyone, nence, we don’t really have and there is already an object a grasp on anymore.” in the garage, the attic, or by “In modern culture,” the neighbor’s garbage can says Decker, “there is so that is begging to be used but much transience—tranhow, exactly, has remained sience in people’s workelusive. That’s where Josh place, and transience in the Decker, a 20-year Missoula products we put in our resident and carpenter, homes. So much of the junk comes in. people buy doesn’t have any Decker has spent years character, or personality, or finding new ways to make thought, or design. They old things fill beautiful were designed for shipping spaces. In his own home he minimums and maximums, constructed a handrail by Decker reused old elevator doors from the Wilma Theatre as doors for his and salability and color, welding together old tools bedroom closet. more than they were and hammer heads. catches my eye. You know that this object that “Personally, the parts of our culture that you are reusing was tooled in a factory in designed for functionality and longevity.” It is Decker’s goal to build things that stem out of design have plateaued in the mid- Toledo, for instance, by a Union steelworker century,” says Decker, “so that’s the stuff that that probably worked in the same 10-square- people won’t throw away, but employing “creative reuse” is also a way for him to stay interested in his work. There are only so many decks one can build or cabinets one can install before needing a break from the Need some tips for finding the hidden routine. treasure? Lara Spencer has shared Decker’s advice to people who want to many tips in her book, I Brake for Yard Sales, and on a variety of blogs. They include: start a reuse project is simple. Know what your style is. Comb “What I see people bump up against,” through design magazines, or dare to he explains, “is they don’t let the thing spend a day on Pinterest. changed. Make sure the thing has good itself guide the outcome. They start with a Always carry a notebook. Keep meas- “bones.” If a chair or table has a broken strong idea and really want it to become urements, sketches, and ideas in it in case leg, it will never be the same. something else.” you run across a piece you just have to have. Don’t go crazy. Never buy because It is good to have an idea, but sometimes it Look for solid pieces. Remember it’s a good deal, or else you will end up on is better to literally think outside the box. B that finishes, paint, and fabric can all be another reality show, “Hoarders.”
Flip tips
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Life. We’re in it together.
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treaks of blue and gray curl around knots in Montana Distillery’s new hardwood floor. The colors ebb and flow with the grain of the wood, complementing the galvanized steel and raw brick accents owner Mark Hlebichuk used to create an industrial theme he and his wife Shari felt would best suit the character of the 115-year-old building. continued on Page 12
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photo by Cathrine L. Walters
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photo by Cathrine L. Walters
Mark Vander Meer of Bad Goat Forest Products
But it’s the floor that’s most striking. The high contrast of the blue and gray with the light tan of the hardwood draws the eye. Each board has its own character. The surface provides texture and depth. “Why buy plain lumber and make it all fancy shmancy when that’s not what we are and that’s not what Montana is?” asks Hlebichuk. It’s a question getting asked more and more often. Local businesses that supply beetle-kill and reclaimed lumber are having a hard time keeping up with increasing demand for their products. Sustainable Lumber says it turns down one out of every two orders it receives. Bad Goat Forest Products reports that it can barely keep their items on the shelves at Home ReSource and have had to purchase new machinery to expand production. They don’t anticipate the trend slowing anytime soon, especially not with so many recent high-profile businesses 12
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showcasing their work. In addition to the floors at Montana Distillery, Missoula’s newest brewery, Imagine Nation, features a snaking bartop made of reclaimed ponderosa. “It’s just a nice feel,” says Hlebichuk of his beetle-kill floor. “It looks natural, not like you’re trying to impress someone.”
Natural hue The blue coloring of beetle-kill lumber originates from a highly pigmented fungus that lives in the mouth piece of the Rocky Mountain pine beetle. The fungus is introduced when the beetle begins to bore its way into the tree and it inhibits the tree’s natural defense, resin, from being produced. As the tree naturally dries, the fungus creeps deeper into the tree, coloring it more as it grows. Not long ago, this beetle-killed lumber was destined for the pulp mill. Only
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recently did its natural character become something of a rallying point for consumers looking for a rustic-chic appeal and a backstory of sustainability and reuse. “I think it’s just naturally beautiful,” says Ryan Palma, owner of Sustainable Lumber. “I mean, it’s basically handpainted by Mother Nature.” Palma’s company allows the dead trees to stand for about five years before they are cut down. The aging process allows the fungus to penetrate the wood deeper, giving it more of the blue color people love so much. But Sustainable Lumber doesn’t just focus its efforts on beetle-kill lumber. Palma’s company also provides Douglas fir flooring that is live-cut and uses reclaimed barn wood. He’s in the process of patenting a design for reclaimed palletboard walls. (Another local company, Heritage Timber, specializes in salvaging wood from dismantled buildings and
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providing reclaimed materials—yet another way old wood is being reused in the area.) Sustainable Lumber gets most of its beetle-kill and fir products from two privately owned ranches up Gold Creek. Their logger, Dallas Hunter, practices sustainable forestry by reseeding and considering the ecological health of the forest. He makes sure to leave stands behind for birds and bird habitat when he is logging and cleans up the bottom limbs of trees so that when a forest fire goes through, the underbrush burns, but not the trees he leaves behind. Palma notes that turning something that was once considered “garbage lumber” into something trendy and beautiful for the home can be fairly costly. “We lose quite a few orders because people are price buyers, not quality buyers,” says Palma. He explains that because the fungus is a precursor to rot, there are many splits and cracks in the boards. It’s difficult to find anything in these colored pieces of wood that can be salvaged. Production costs are also fairly high, at about $4.50 per square foot 14
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Homesteader 2015
for pre-finished boards. “When I started this company, I was like, ‘We’re going to specialize in super heavy color and character,’ but it’s a nightmare,” Palma says. Although the company only gets a usable product out of about 50 percent of its lumber, Sustainable does use 100 percent of the wood it cuts down. Leftovers are either fed into the wood-drying kiln for heat or donated to local ranchers for animal bedding.
A good reason M a r k Va n d e r M e e r , founder and CEO of Bad Goat Forestry Products, has been in the salvage logging business for 10 years. He says the rise in demand is “probably due to the massive guilt people feel for all the screwed-up forestry they’ve seen, especially in Montana.” Bad Goat employs four certified arborists who consider the ecologic integrity of the forest first. Vander Meer says they practice honest forest restoration. “We’re removing logs for a very specific set of reasons,” he says. “Usually it’s to increase diversity or to take out an insect attack. Fire-hazard reduction can be consid-
ered forest restoration in some situations. So there’s always a good reason for us to take a tree down.� Bad Goat is involved in the logging and restoration of many privately owned forests and works with the city, harvesting from Missoula’s urban forest as well. They will even take almost anything from your property and mill it for you. The products they create vary greatly, from outbuildings to solar fruit dryers to coffee tables. During a recent tour of the Northside shop, one of Vander Meer’s employees was attempting to make a continuous fishing net out of one large board. One of the company’s more popular products is a flitch-cut fence board that sells at Home ReSource for about $3 per 8-foot board. The fence boarding features “live edges,� or bark still attached. Bad Goat just planes it through the mill, nothing else. Still, Vander Meer can’t keep up with demand. He chuckles when he
photo by Cathrine L. Walters
Ryan Palma of Sustainable Lumber Co.
states that anyone else would see these pieces as garbage. “These logs, as you can see, suck,� says Vander Meer, motioning out toward a pile of logs waiting to be milled. “It’s our job to take something ugly and turn it into a product people want.� Whether it’s beetle-kill “garbage lum-
ber� or fence board that would otherwise suck, both companies have found a way to take unwanted materials and make them in vogue. It’s a simple business model resulting in an equally simple mantra for customers to follow. As Vander Meer puts it, “You just gotta look at what kind of stick you’re buying.�B
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photo by Chad Harder
F
irst things first: deer-proofing a garden is nearly impossible. Deerresistant gardening is the more accurate term because nothing is really deer-proof. Except perhaps for a rock garden, deer will try just about anything at least once. But there are steps to take to ward off deer and elk from devouring the daisies and Daikon radishes, and they range in price and practicality. “It is very important to note the difference between deer-resistant gardening and deer-proof,” says Bill Caras, owner of Caras Nursery and Landscape. “There is a hierarchy of methods we suggest for people who want to deter deer from their gardens and yards. Fencing is the most effective, but not everyone wants to fence in their yard or plot. Next is deer repellent sprays, then using deer-resistant plants.” Caras teaches one to two classes a year at his nursery covering deer-resistant gardening. “It is the number one question I get today,” Caras says. “No matter where I am
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in the country or what topic I’m speaking on that day, inevitably the first question I get is, ‘What can I do about deer?’ It wasn’t like that even 25 years ago. Deer have gotten used to foraging in towns, so they don’t want to go back to the wild for food.”
For deer fencing, 7 feet or higher tends to be an effective height for blocking out most nimble ungulates. Studies have shown that adult deer can easily jump a 6foot fence, most can jump a 7-foot fence, but less than 5 percent can jump an 8-foot fence. Caras Nursery and Landscape has
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photo by Chad Harder
installed a 7.5-foot deer fence around its property. Black plastic netting is a popular choice because it’s cheaper than wood fencing, and it is easy to install around large yards or small garden plots. It is also easy to see through, so it won’t detract from viewing one’s prized daisies. But not everyone wants to put up a fence, so the next level of deerresistance, in terms of effectiveness, is using deer- repellent sprays. These also have limitations. “There are a number of commercial and home remedy deer repellents available,” says Fred Cuddeback, general manager of Ibey Nursery and Garden Center. Cuddeback has been a professional landscaper for over 40 years. “Searching the Internet will yield all kinds of recipes for repelling deer, mostly with cayenne pepper,” he says, “but I have found cutting up a bar of Irish Spring soap and putting it where you want deer to stay away from works well too.” Deer repellents either work by creating unpleasing tastes or bad smells. But nearly all of them are intended for flowers and shrubs, not vegetable gardens. Common ingredients found in commercial deer repellents—sold under names like Liquid Fence, Plantskydd, Bobbex, and 18
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Milorganite—include the non-palatable “Putrescent Whole Egg Solids” and “dried blood (porcine and/or bovine) minimum 12%”. Other ingredients include garlic, cinnamon oil and Potassium Sorbate. “It’s nothing I would put on my vegetables,” explains Caras. “And you have to apply these repellents regularly or it’s all over. Once a deer decides something is edible, they can destroy it in a day. It is recommended to apply them twice a day, and
deer is planting what they won’t eat, but that too is far from a perfect science. “Before we put up deer fencing around the nursery,” says Amy Keil of Caras Nursery and Landscape, “we had a table outside set up with all our deer-resistant plants, and of course that’s the table the deer wiped clean first.” Deer evolve, and what worked one year will not always work the next. Even the manufacturers of deer repellents often
photo by Cathrine L. Walters
Fred Cuddeback inspects deer resistanat shrubs at Ibey Nursery.
after it rains, during the growing season. You’re essentially training deer that your plant smells or tastes bad.” One of the last lines of defense against
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change their recipes considerably each season so deer won’t get used to them. With deer-resistant plants, the best are generally not the showiest. They can have
Want to Plant Something Deer-Resistant? The following are recommended by Caras Nursery and Landscape: Russian sage Catmint Bleeding heart Peony Oriental poppy Yarrow small, prickly hairs on their leaves, like lamb’s ear, or no flowers at all, like ornamental grasses. “People are often under the impression that native plants are naturally deer-resistant,” says Keil, “but that’s not true at all. If you think about it, they are the plants deer evolved on eating. What it comes down to is trial and error. Deer may eat something in one neighborhood and avoid it in another.” One more way deer can do damage is in the fall when bucks rub on small trees. Since the living part of a tree is
Thyme Lamb’s ear Ornamental grass Sweet woodruff Allium (ornamental onion) Bulbs (daffodil, hyacinth) Lavender (nearly all herbs are safe from deer) nearest the bark, a rub can do severe damage to saplings. It is recommended to fence off young trees until they are tall enough to withstand a rub. “There is one last step I always like to mention,” says Caras, “and that is to just enjoy the deer. They can be fun to watch, so maybe that factors into your decision on gardening.” Deterring deer from a garden is an always-changing game between homeowner and their hoofed visitors. The key is to stay one step ahead and not let the deer get a taste of what it is in the ground. B
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photo courtesy Michael Lucid
T
he circular home blends into the landscape, with a white roof and an earth-tone exterior pinned against the sky. The inside is similarly unusual, and nothing like an average home. Diamondshaped woodwork lines the curved walls, and Montana lodgepoles fasten the roof to the skylight in the center of the ceiling. Everything in the yurt has a purpose, from the skylight that serves as the compression ring to the lattice woodwork that holds up the structure’s walls. Not only is the yurt efficient, but you can build it yourself, take it down, put it into the bed of a truck, and then rebuild it. Shelter Designs’ yurts stand out on appearance alone, but what separates their structures from most traditional housing and competing yurt builders is what happens behind the scenes. Co-owners Hays Daniel and Vince Godby spent years developing Shelter Designs’ production strategy, with the goal of maximizing sustainable living and efficiency. Specifically, the duo found local businesses to partner with and developed a building method that minimized resources.
The Montana-based yurt company continues to perfect the round homes it first started making about 10 years ago. Daniel and Godby recall their first customer, and how they had nothing to show but a website and their small workshop outside of Troy. In the old shop, the co-owners drilled one hole at a time to build each lattice. The operation took all day. In 2013, Shelter Designs moved to a new, larger Missoula workshop. Now, with new machinery, the company can build a lattice for a 30-foot yurt in an hour. “It’s just been countless hours of messing with jigs before we got it right,” Daniel says. “We didn’t take anybody else’s yurt apart in the beginning and say, ‘Oh, this is how they built it.’ It was years of trial and error, never in a bad way. Just, ‘Oh, we’ve got to fix that.’” The tinkering has paid off. Shelter Designs continues to grow, and in the last couple years the company’s sold anywhere from 30 to 40 yurts. “I don’t think that either one of us wants to become a giant yurt manufacturer, but we’re just getting better and better and
more efficient at it, and there is definitely room for us to grow,” Daniel says. To localize resources, the company reached out to several businesses in Montana, including Missoula’s Bitterroot Welding & Hydraulics for hardware, Broadway Splicing & Supply for cables and Boyce Lumber & Design Center for wood products. Shelter Designs also partnered with a Billings company, Reliable Tent & Awning, to produce the fabric that wraps around the yurt. Each yurt is a customized design for the needs of the client, and factors in specific details like the location’s weather conditions, from typical wind speed to snowpack. Buyers can also decide the color of fabrics, the placement of windows and door, and if they need the Arctic Insulation package for colder weather. “We’ve done all the engineering work, we know all the snow and wind ratings that they can handle,” Daniel says. “That’s what we hear time and time again from folks is the level of craftsmanship that we have with woodworking.” Daniel and Godby met in 1999, while working in West Yellowstone. There, they
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lived in “furt,” or their first yurt. A spare tire served as the ceilings’ compression ring that helped hold up the support beams. Daniel says he and Godby started building Shelter Designs’ Eco-Yurt because they didn’t have money to buy lumber, and lodgepoles were everywhere. Now the thin pine trees are a part of their standard yurt package, used for the support beams and coated in a non-toxic and environmentally friendly finish. The lodgepole wood and safe chemical finish help separate the Eco-Yurt from Shelter Designs’ Big Sky Yurt. On average, the Big Sky Yurt costs 20 percent less, and uses standard lumber and a wood finish. For a Big Sky Yurt, a 16-foot model goes for $6,195, and can get as big as a 30-foot yurt for $10,695. Shelter Design’s Eco Yurts are a little bit more money, starting at $7,435 for a 16-foot model and $13,365 for a 30-foot yurt. “It’s not like we’re making more money off of Eco-Yurts,” Daniel explains. “We make the same margin, but it just takes that much more to do it. Nobody else is doing anything
in the yurt world like this. There’s nobody else doing these hand-peeled, locally harvested lodgepoles.” While the co-owners have developed a solid production strategy over the last decade, they still see room for improvement. One thing they’d like in the future is a more sustainable fabric for the low-carbonfootprint homes. “They’re not the most environmentally friendly during production, but they ’re extremely stable once they’re made and it’s kind of a protection of your investment,” Daniel says. “All of us in the yurt industry would love to see a more sustainable fabric, and energy efficient, trying to make these energy-code compliant.” Daniel says there’s no across-the-board statute that defines yurt building regulations, and every county has different codes, including, for instance, his reference to energy efficiency. It’s a gray area, and it’s something that those in the yurt industry would like to see resolved. Even though regulations can introduce challenges, Daniel says the business continues to grow at a steady pace.
photo by Cathrine L. Walters photo by Cathrine L. Walters
The company attracts buyers from around the world, and has shipped yurts to Scotland, Tasmania and Hawaii. Even though Shelter Designs can ship yurts, clients can also pick them up. Godby says buyers have grabbed their kits and constructed their new home in two days. First, the walls go up, then tension cables are put in, the doors and windows are installed and the roof is raised. Lastly, the fabric is wrapped around the exterior of the yurt. “When it comes to purchasing your own home, what you choose to live in says a lot about who you are,” Daniel says. And, Godby adds, these homes offer a distinct space that can reflect each owner’s preferences. “I think that’s refreshing for our clients,” Godby says. “You go into a house and it’s kind of obvious where everything goes, but in a yurt you do it. What is the space you want to live in?” B photo courtesy of Pro Outfitters
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photo by Cathrine L. Walters
The ABCs of amortization How to be mortgage savvy and save money by Barry Nielsen, Opportunity Bank of Montana
I
If you have a mortgage or are thinking about buying a home and don’t know how mortgage principal and interest payments are calculated, shame on you! The purchase and financing of a home is the single biggest financial decision most people make, but very few people understand how a mortgage really works. Essential to understanding a mortgage is an understanding of how a mortgage “amortizes.” Every mortgage has an amortization schedule. An amortization schedule is a table that lays out each scheduled mortgage payment in a chronological order and how each payment is broken into an interest payment and a principal payment. Early in the amortization schedule a large percent26
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age of the total payment is interest, and a small percentage of the total payment is principal. As you make monthly mortgage payments the amount of each payment which is apportioned to interest decreases and the amount which is apportioned to principal increases. There are many mortgage amortization calculators available on the web. If you have basic spreadsheet skills, you can also find instructions on how to build your own mortgage calculator. If you make an extra principal payment in a certain month, then the amount of interest paid in subsequent months is less than it would be otherwise. Making extra principal payments reduces the total amount of interest
Homesteader 2015
you will pay over the life of the mortgage and shortens the life of the mortgage. Making extra principal payments early in the life of a mortgage also has a greater impact on the amount of total interest you will pay over the life of the mortgage. Lastly, the shorter the mortgage term, the less total amount of interest paid. Spend some time and make an effort to understand how your mortgage amortizes. Amortization is to a mortgage what compound interest is to a savings account—use it to your benefit. Barry Nielsen, CFA, is mortgage secondary marketing officer at Opportunity Bank of Montana.
Landscape Design and Build Sprinkler Installation and Maintenance Fertilizer and Weed Control Parking Lot Sweeping Pruning • Mowing
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The roommate dilemma Can’t live with them, can’t make rent without them by Katherine Brady, ASUM Off-Campus Renter Center
L
iving with roommates certainly has its benefits. Cheaper rent. Getting to live in a larger unit than you can afford on your own. Having a built-in social component. These are some of the top reasons people opt out of living on their own. On the other hand, we’ve probably all experienced some of the negative aspects of living with roommates. How about the one who lets the dishes pile up for days on end? Or the one who decided that your living room was the perfect space for band practice? I could go on. Roommates have the potential to make your life pretty miserable. The good news is that although there is no magic formula to tell you whether or not you and a potential roommate will make a good pair (if only that existed!), there are many things you can do to increase the likelihood that the person you select will be a good fit. There are also steps you can take at the beginning of your tenancy to minimize conflict down the road. Here are some tips to making your roommate experience a good one: 1. Understand what you’re getting into Too many people don’t fully understand 28
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what it means to enter into a legal contract together with another person. When you sign a lease agreement with a roommate, you are jointly responsible for upholding your end of the lease agreement. That means that if your roommate unexpectedly leaves town and ditches out on rent, it is on you to pay both your portion and theirs. This can be a risky situation to enter into with someone you don’t know well enough yet to trust. 2. Meet up Just like you should never agree to rent a unit sight unseen, you should also never agree to move in with someone without first arranging to meet with him or her in person. Here are some general compatibility questions that should be covered: sleeping schedules, cleanliness, drug/alcohol use, shower schedules, whether they have a reliable source of income, pets, and how often he/she expects to have guests over and how many. It is also important to be honest with them about your lifestyle and expectations in a roommate. 3. Sign a roommate contract: Start things off on the right foot and sign
Homesteader 2015
roommate contract at the beginning of your tenancy. Having a written contract between tenants sets clear expectations and avoids conflicts later on. You can download a template roommate agreement online or make your own. Either way, make sure it covers the following: • utilities (who is responsible for paying each and what percentage each person is responsible for paying) • house policies on guests, pets, subletting, cleaning, the thermostat, household duties, etc. • policy for breaking the lease. • whether you will share groceries and household items. Specify which items will be shared and which are off-limits. In the end, living with someone else is a valuable learning experience, whether it turns out good or bad. And you never know, you might even end up making some friends along the way. Katherine Brady is the director of the ASUM Off-Campus Renter Center. Learn more about the center at umt.edu/rentercenter.
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Your home financing goals deserve our attention With a variety of programs and dedication to personal service, you can feel confident that we’ll provide you with the information you need to help you choose the home financing to fit your current needs and future goals.
Call us today! Bonnie L Gabelhausen Home Mortgage Consultant Office: 406-728-2851 Cell: 406-544-1828 1800 S Russell, Ste 200 Missoula, MT 59801 bonnie.gabelhausen@wellsfargo.com www.wfhm.com/bonnie-johnson NMLSR ID 442549
Bobbie Sorenson Home Mortgage Consultant Office: 406-258-1033 Cell: 406-240-4531 3553 Union Pacific St. Missoula, MT 59808 bobbie.sorenson@wellsfargo.com www.wfhm.com/bobbie-sorenson NMLSR ID 836912
Information is accurate as of date of printing and is subject to change without notice. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. NMLSR ID 399801. AS1054107 Expires 1/2016
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Your home is a puzzle Here are five key pieces
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imply put, the act of building or remodeling your home means placing the right pieces in the right places to give you the look, feel and performance you want. I run a small construction company called Energetechs. We work on both new buildings and remodeling projects with a focus on creating comfort, using less energy and making buildings last a really long time. There are five key pieces to solving the look, feel and performance puzzle: 1. Seal it up and give it clean lungs Make your building airtight and use a Heat Recovery Ventilator, or HRV. In the winter, cold air leaking into your building steals heat away from your body and increases your monthly energy bill. More 30
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by Skander Spies, Energetechs importantly, the source of this air leakage can contain potential health risks for you and your family. When you seal up air leakage, you get rid of drafts that make you feel cold and you save money on energy. In the winter, warm air from the house that leaks into the walls and roof can condense in hidden places. Condensation in unseen places can often lead to mold growth, which is no fun to deal with and is dangerous to your health. The first key piece is to seal as many air leaks as possible to minimize drafts and condensation risk, and lower your energy costs. At the same time, you also need to add lungs to the house. A controlled ventilation system provides a constant, measurable supply of fresh filtered air year round, with no risk of condensation, and the cool system actually
Homesteader 2015
recovers heat from the outgoing stale air and gives it to incoming fresh air. 2. Insulate that bad boy You may not think of insulation as being sexy, but when it’s minus-10 degrees outside and your nose hairs freeze, you’ll realize insulation is key to being comfortable without breaking the bank. Insulation keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It also protects your family, saves you money and has a huge impact on our environmental footprint. Using the right insulation product in the right place will ensure that you get the best bang for your buck, without causing the air leakage and moisture problems I mentioned above. One important point: some insulation products do not seal up air leaks, and some
do. Insulating really is more complicated than just blowing in another foot of cellulose in your attic. We like to use cellulose and spray foam for just the right mix of performance and cost. Putting the right product in the right place will have a huge impact on your energy bills as well as make you more comfortable. The right contractor can explain which products will best meet your needs and your budget. 3. Windows aren’t just for looking through Windows do a lot more than fill a big hole in the wall. They let in light and views while keeping out water, wind, heat and cold, depending on the season. Any part of the building that interfaces with the exterior is insulation, which means that your windows are a big part of your insulation system as well. The best windows insulate well, let in lots of light and are really durable. Often the insulation value of a window is what people notice most—you want an insulation value higher than R-5 (or less than U-0.2) to prevent problems like condensation on the inside of your window. Windows can also be hard to replace later in the life of your building, making it even more important to get the very best windows possible the first time around. At Energetechs, we use Alpen fiberglass windows and Glo European windows and doors in our projects to get that key mix of durability, insulation and light, and our clients love them.
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4. The attic and crawlspace aren’t that scary You know, above your ceiling, where it’s dark and dusty, and who knows what is lurking there? That’s the attic, and understandably most people do not want to climb up there. Our goal is to make the attic above your ceiling and the crawl space beneath your floor as safe and healthy as we can. We view the crawl space as a miniature basement, where we insulate, air seal and isolate the ground and the pests, and whatever else is down there, from entering the house. 5. Choose the right team Who you hire and why you hire them will have the greatest impact on your experience of improving your home or building a new one. Construction projects involve many decisions, and many types of expertise. The biggest piece of the puzzle is having a contracting team that you really trust. Your contractor (or the subcontractors you hire) will be your guide through these decisions. They will constantly think ahead about which pieces need to go where and when. This ensures you get the look, feel and function that you want. The right contractor will listen to your goals attentively, and ask questions that help balance competing goals together. Skander Spies is a project manager at Energetechs, where they believe that buildings enrich our environment, our quality of life and our community.
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406.721.2741 | www.glowindows.com Homesteader 2015
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photo by Jesse Jaeger
Rethinking remodeling Trimscoting and other creative reuse ideas by Jeremy Drake, Home ReSource
I
f you’ve spent any time at Home ReSource you’re probably already an expert in reuse. Perhaps you took home a toilet. Maybe it’s still a toilet, or maybe it’s a planter in your yard. Or a punchbowl for your parties. Sound familiar? Then you probably know, like a good party punch, the recipe for creative reuse is simple. Mix innovation and a little effort with old or discarded materials. Chances are you will brew up something that has an entirely new function or purpose, as well as character, originality and sustainability cred. Why? Because reuse inspires creativity, produces distinct results and conserves resources. Along the way, it also has a 32
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knack for building community as great reuse ideas get traded like great recipes. Reusing materials in a remodel gives you an opportunity to find creative ways to reduce waste and add style to your home, office or business. What materials you reuse and where they come from is not important. What is important is how you think about the materials you reuse. Look at materials as opportunities. Recognize their hidden possibilities. Identify their inherent properties. Then grab a handsaw, a hammer, and a box of nails, don your safety goggles and start brewing. Remodeling need not be a huge undertaking. With just a few tools and some low-
Homesteader 2015
cost or no-cost materials, you can transform the look and feel of your space by adding some simple decorative embellishments. To get the wheels of creative reuse turning, here are some examples from Home ReSource’s crack team of creative reuse experts.
Paneling with (re)purpose Store Manager Simon Detar calls it “trimscoting,” the front paneling that gives the Home ReSource check-out counter its funky look. A play on wainscoting, the interior design practice of wall paneling with precisely milled, usually expensive wood,
trimscoting uses scraps of wood trim of different shapes and colors. Whether installed vertically or horizontally, the effect is a fun and affordable twist on an old English design, which can have the added benefit of adding R-value to your walls’ insulation. Change it up by paneling with recycled pallets or other found or reclaimed wood. Highlight contrasting grains, textures and colors with an assortment of hard or soft woods. The look can be as rustic or as wild as suits your style.
Trimming outside the box If the view from your window is pretty as a picture, why not put a nice frame around it? Even the smallest scraps of wood can add big life to a boring window border or windowsill. A few short lengths of 1-by-4 pine is all you need to install a classic ranch-style trim around a window. For a more unique look, experiment with a layered approach. Start with a 1-by-1 wood border around the entire window. Then frame that with a variety of short wood scraps arranged in a pattern that appeals to you. Try a 45-degree angle, a chevron or a checkerboard pattern. Finish it off with a wider wood border and you have a one-of-a-kind custom creation. Take it one step further by using the same principles on a windowsill. Finally, add a touch of rustic elegance by drawing a nice long line across your wall between the window and the ceiling with several end-to-end lengths of found wood of the same width.
Low-hanging fruits of your labor After all that cutting and hammering, you’ll need a place to hang your work shirt and goggles. Fill a bit of empty wall space with a custom coat rack. Start with a piece of wood with character and look around for objects that can function as hooks, such as an old wrench or screwdriver, vintage door knobs, old bolts or railroad spikes. You will need to drill out appropriate-sized holes and mount your hooks securely before mounting the rack to the wall. Creative reuse can make a small decorative remodel project fun and affordable. As awareness grows around waste reduction, we are all challenged to find ways to reuse more and waste less. Businesses like Home ReSource provide local green jobs and help build a culture of reuse by offering affordable building materials and opportunities to gain skills to do reuse. A new-to-you toilet or a fresh, new color from a half-used can of paint are two easy ways to invoke the spirit of reuse to transform your space. But if you are ready to spike the punch, a little inspiration and the right materials can take you a long way.
The staff of the Bitterroot Building Industry Association (BBIA) as well as the Missoula Building Industry Association (MBIA) know the ropes. They can help find a professional builder or give you the information you need to make an intelligent choice. The point is: A good professional is—more often than not—a member.
Jeremy Drake is education program manager at Home ReSource, a building materials reuse center in Missoula (homeresource.org ). Homesteader 2015
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20 2015 15 2015 20 15 MISSOU MISSOULA LA MISSOULA MISSOU LA
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Housing 2015 by Missoula Organization of REALTORSÂŽ
We are pleased to present the 2015 Missoula Housing Report. This is the tenth annual report on housing in the city and county of Missoula, and the content has evolved based on current trends, available information, and feedback from readers like you. Always, our objective is to provide a comprehensive, credible, and neutral picture of Missoula housing that can be used as a tool by community members, businesses, nonprofits, and policy-makers as they seek to serve Missoula’s needs. When read comprehensively, we hope the data provides a more complete picture of this community, from affordability issues to neighborhood prices, homelessness issues, mortgage lending, and 36
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the demographics of the area. We think these pages reveal a number of opportunities and challenges requiring our attention. Additionally, this report highlights improvements over the years, of which the Missoula community should be proud. Please let us know your thoughts on this report and how we might improve it. After reading this report, if you are interested in getting involved in meeting the housing needs of our community, please contact any of the public or private agencies engaged in local housing mentioned in this report. Additional housing resources are listed on the Missoula Organization of REALTORSÂŽ website at missoularealestate.com.
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Housing Sales
After the number of homes sold in Missoula increased 23 percent in 2013, the market slowed in 2014. Lower overall inventory, as well as poor conditions in early 2014, played a role in the slightly lower overall number of sales. In 2014, a total of 1,265 homes sold, compared to 1,322 in 2013. The median price, however, increased for the fourth year in a row, reaching an all-time high of $225,000.
Table 1: The number of homes sold in the Missoula urban area decreased slightly in 2014, although median sales price increased – reaching the highest point in 10 years.
Rattlesnake
250 Downtown/Northside
200 U-Area/Slant
150 100
Fairviews/S.Hills
50
Lewis & Clark
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Central Missoula
Miller Creek
Figure 1: Sales were strongest in the $200,001 to $275,000 price range. Ta arget Range
Mullan Rd./Expressway
600 Grant Creek
500 $200-$275,000
K
K
50 $3
K
00 $3
K
50 $2
K
00 $2
K
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Figure 2: Condominium and townhouse sales remained strong for a second year in a row, though slightly below 2013 sales. 38
50
$350-$425,000
0
00
100
E.Missoula/Clinton
$1
$275-$350,000 $0-$150,000 $425,001 +
0K
200
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300
$5
$150-$200,000
$0
400
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Figure 3: The median sales price increased or stayed the same in nearly every Missoula neighborhood.
Comparative Trends in Home Prices The Housing Price Index (HPI) is a broad measure of the movement of single-family home prices. The information is obtained by reviewing repeat mortgages transactions on properties purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When a home is sold, the price is compared to previous sale prices for the same home. The data is compiled quarterly. For reference, an index value of 100 equals the value in January 1991. Missoula typically has had higher repeat home prices than other Montana markets and the U.S. national average, and that trend continued in 2014 (Figure 4). This indicates that single-family homes in Missoula appreciate well.
exhaust the supply of current inventory. As a general rule, the absorption rate defines various market conditions: • Less than three months is under supply. • Three to nine months is a normal market. • Nine to 12 months is an over-supply. • More than 12 months is an overloaded market.
Pace of Home Sales
The absorption rate is one of the best ways to measure the pace of home sales, as it takes into account both the days a house is on the market and the number of available homes for sale. It is calculated by dividing the total number of available homes on the market by the average number of sales in a month. The resulting absorption rate shows how many months’ worth of inventory is listed for sale. For example, if an area had 20 listings and five sales in the last 30 days, the absorption rate would be four, which means that, based on the market’s prior activity, it would take four months to
Figure 4: In 2014, the Housing Price Index for Missoula homes continued to increase.
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0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Figure 5: After rising to 11.2 in the first quarter of January 2014, total market absorption rates fell back into the normal range and continued to decline throughout the rest of the year.
The Missoula Organization of REALTORS® keeps track of segmented data at certain price points, allowing for a better illustration of which price ranges are showing better overall market health. Missoula experienced a spike in its overall absorption rate in 2010, with most housing entering the “normal” market range by the end of 2012 (Figure 5). Market absorption rates rose across the board in the first quarter of 2014. This makes sense, given the corresponding fewer number of sales in the first part of the year, due in part to higher interest rates and bad weather in Missoula. Total market absorption rates fell back into the normal range and continued to decline throughout the rest of the year.
120 100
$425k+ $350k-$425k $ $275k-$350k $
80
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60
$150k-$200k $
40
0-$150kk
20 0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Figure 6: Absorption rates remained the highest for the more expensive properties. 40
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Short Sale
200
Housing Finance
REO
In 2014, homebuyers found that mortgage lenders required more documentation and adhered to stricter standards. However, interest rates remained low, ending at 4.12 percent (Figure 7). The Missoula market exhibited a renewed strength as both short sales and foreclosures declined significantly in 2014 (Table 2 and Figure 8). Bank foreclosures decreased by 42.5 percent. Many residents are utilizing homeownership programs, such as Homeword’s homebuyer education counseling and foreclosure counseling. These programs appear to be having a positive influence, as housing stability has increased.
150
100
50
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Figure 8: Distressed sales made up a smaller portion of 2014 total sales.
Figure 7: Interest rates remained steady and low in 2014.
Table 2: Net foreclosures declined by 42.5 percent in Missoula County – to the lowest level since 2006. Homesteader 2015
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Rental Housing 4% 3% 2% 1% 2011
2012
2013
2014
0%
Figure 9: Annual average vacancy rate for 2014 was 3.9 percent, down slightly from 2013.
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The rental market had a lower vacancy rate (3.9 percent) in 2014 than it did in 2013 (4.6 percent) (Figure 9). Keep in mind many new units came into the marketplace in 2013, increasing the overall vacancy rates for that year. A number of new multiplex units opened in 2014, and more multiplex rentals are currently being built. With all of the multifamily housing development in recent years, the vacancy rates of types of units, particularly two-bedroom units, is of interest. The greatest drop in vacancy rates in 2014 actually occurred in
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8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0%
Studios
1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 3 Bedroom 4+ Bedroom
Figure 10: The 2014 rental vacancy rate declined for all unit types except four-plus bedrooms, which remained the same.
studio and one-bedroom units (Figure 10). The two-bedroom vacancies for 2014 (4.3 percent) remained nearly the same as in 2013 (4.5 percent). Nationwide, the national rental vacancy rate in 2013 dropped to 8.3 percent, its lowest point since 2000, according to Harvard’s “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2014” (based on 2013 data). Low rental vacancy rates are common in college towns due to the pressure exerted by the student population. Homesteader 2015
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Rental Costs The average cost of rent increased in almost every category in 2014 (Figure 11). Two-bedroom multiplexes increased by $14 in that same period. However, reporting practices do not account for incentives or tenant negotiations, such as move-in bonuses or other tactics used to attract renters.
HOUSES
Studios 1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 3 Bedroom 4+ Bedroom Studios
DUPLEXES
1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 3 Bedroom 4+ Bedroom Studios
MULLTILEXES TILE T
1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 3 Bedroom 4+ Bedroom $0
$300
$600
$900
$1200
$1500
Figure 11: Rent cost increased in nearly every category in 2014, with the largest increases coming from four-plus bedroom units. 44
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Rental Assistance Programs Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers make private-market housing affordable for low-income families and individuals by paying a portion of the family’s rent. The Missoula Housing Authority (MHA) has 774 available Section 8 vouchers. Another 262 vouchers are provided in Missoula by the Montana Department of Commerce. Varying federal funding means that not all of those vouchers can be deployed every year. In 2013, budget cuts affected the vouchers issued. In 2014, with more funding, MHA was able to regain footing and by January 2015, MHA had leased 771—nearly the full 774 allowed. In September 2014, the number of households on the Section 8 waiting list was 1,595, down from 1,751 the year before, thanks to active efforts to lease more vouchers (Table 3).
2011
2012
Table 3: In 2014, the waiting lists for MHA Section 8 Vouchers decreased by 8.9 percent, and the number of families on the MHA Homeless Project waiting list was cut by 54.8 percent.
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Conclusion and Outlook Missoula’s housing market has entered a more stable and encouraging phase. Based on the data in this report, we continued to gain more confidence in the Missoula housing market in 2014. Current homeowners sit in a positive position, with homes continuing to appreciate while inventory numbers, lot sales, building permits, and home sales were all in a healthy range. Coupled with a large drop in distressed sales and bank foreclosures, it presents a positive picture for Missoula. Residential lot sales, as well as their median sales price, increased in 2014. Building permits also increased, with the greatest number of new permits being issued for multi-family
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development, which will help in addressing Missoula’s growing population and the demand for rental units. While the total number of home sales decreased slightly in 2014, sales began to outpace previous years by the third and fourth quarter. Condo and townhouse sales also remained fairly strong. The medi-
an price of a Missoula home reached an alltime high of $225,000. Affordable homes saw the highest demand, with 59 percent of all home sales falling in the $100,000 to $250,000 range. Based on the inventory of homes on the market and the length of time they remained on the market, Missoula was solidly in a “normal� market
again, after what equated to an oversupply in the market until 2012. In addition, the sharp drop in foreclosures and short sales equated to fewer below-market-value sales. Potential homebuyers may see a further increase in competition for affordable homes and sellers may see less downward pressure on prices.
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While homebuyers now face more stringent lending standards, interest rates have remained low, and Missoula residents appear to be entering the homeownership process more financially informed than in previous years. The demand for rentals in Missoula kept rental vacancy rates below the national average once again while the cost of rent continued to increase in 2014. However, the growth in multi-family construction and permitting appears to be recognizing this demand. Missoula still faces several challenges, especially in meeting the needs of those who seek financial housing assistance and those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. The data on the affordability of rental housing shows that a high percentage of renters in Missoula still spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Coupled with a poverty rate of 18 percent, these facts offer evidence of a significant population that struggles to find affordable housing. The Missoula Housing Authority was able to increase the number of Section 8 vouchers to assist with rental costs in 2014, but the demand for such assistance remains high, with more than 1,500 names on the waiting list. 48
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Missoula began to make headway with the “Reaching Home: Missoula’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.” While the number of literally homeless individuals did not decline in 2014, a large number of homeless people gained housing through various programs.
The number of homeless or at-risk children, which had been extraordinarily high and worrisome in previous years, declined significantly, though the problem has not disappeared. Overall, Missoula’s housing market exhibits strong statistics for 2014, though
the data still reveal a number of challenges for buyers, sellers, and renters. It is clear that the economy is rebounding, the market is stronger, and Missoula is working hard to make this community a viable home for all.
• Help build your own home • Get out of the renter trap • Have an affordable house payment • Low interest USDA RD loans • Purchase a home with no down payment • Acquire the knowledge and skills to become a successful and responsible homeowner • Build instant equity
To find out if you qualify, contact Holly Moore at the Missoula Housing Authority 549-4113 ext. 125 or hmoore@missoulahousing.org USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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