Wally Byam Caravan Club International
Published in the Bozeman Chronicle, July, 2008.
As recently reported in the Chronicle, the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (best known and easily identified as “the aluminum airstream campers”) are in to town for their annual rally. Bozeman is fortunate enough to be the only destination to host this international rally on five different occasions. The club is estimated to bring 2,000 people and $3 to $5 million to our area in a one week period. Club members, with the average age of 60 years old, are very active and love the cool weather, the beautiful setting, and the abundance of outdoor activities found in Bozeman.
This event brings up an interesting concept of luxury RVs as a second home. While many people purchase second or multiple homes in areas they chose to vacation and spend time in, there are a growing number of people who are deciding that their second home should be mobile with a new view every day.
Manufacturers such as Prevost and Newell dominate the highest end of this market which is the $1 million+ price range. Superior technology, attention to details and interior design features makes these RVs truly an “estate on wheels”. There are about 325 RVs sold in this price range on an annual basis which shows that it is a viable market segment. And although the price tag seems high, it can certainly compete with condos or homes in resort communities and also offers the versatility of choosing a new vacation destination each trip.
Certain trends are also emerging in the high-end RV market. Fractional ownership of models that range in price from $250,000 to over a million dollars is now possible with the services of delivery, pickup, repair/maintenance, storage/cleaning, and roadside assistance coming standard. This type of RV arrangement can fit the lifestyles of those who want the luxuries such as large plasma TVs, fine leather, top of the line linens, and Italian marble flooring for a few weeks of the year without tying up a large amount of capital. Shares can range from a few weeks to half of a year of annual usage depending on how much time is desired each year.
Another concept that goes hand in hand with the high end RVs is Luxury RV resorts that go above and beyond basic hook-up features. Some amenities include spas, heated swimming pools, boat rentals, golf courses, tennis courts, and much more. A one week stay at many of these resorts can cost about the same as one night at a traditional resort hotel, further adding to the appeal of this type of lifestyle. Some of the most opulent of these gated RV resorts are located in Palm Springs, CA , Hilton Head, SC, and Naples , FL.
Financing an RV as a second home involves the same weighing of options as the purchase of a traditional second home. Self-financing by “borrowing from yourself” is one choice to consider. Bank financing is of course a popular option with different loan programs available depending on how much you are willing to put forth as a down payment (10-20% down for a new vehicle is the norm) and length of the loan (maturation generally runs 10-15 years). Used RV loans usually require a larger down payment and shorter loan term. One additional point of interest in this area is using a Second Home tax deduction on the loan interest when applicable. To qualify, the RV must simply meet the criteria of a second home which includes being equipped for sleeping, living, bathing, food preparation, and dining activities which are all standard features on any RV.
Wally Byam’s simple philosophy of showing people that they could essentially bring “home” with them as they traveled near or far appears to still be going strong. The ability to find out what’s over the next hill while feeling at home in the process is a timeless feeling.
Robyn Erlenbush is owner of ERA Landmark Real Estate (with offices in Bozeman, Big Sky, Livingston and Clyde Park) and Intermountain Property Management. She can be reached at robyn@eralandmark.com.
Visit our website http://www.stuartandsally.com and http://www.eralandmark.com
Black Bull Golf Community – Luxury Club Homes
| A remarkable convergence of spectacular high-country terrain and refined country living has made southwestern Montana’s Gallatin Valley one of the most desirable rural retreats in the American West.Black Bull is a 378-home premier golf community established on 485 acres of the historic Leachman Ranch in Bozeman, Montana. It has the services and amenities you’d expect from a premier resort, but in a relaxed, rustic-yet-upscale atmosphere true to its roots.
Black Bull is an ideal home for the outdoor enthusiasts with abundant opportunities for fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, skiing and snowmobiling in the adjacent Gallatin Range and Spanish Peaks. And, Yellowstone National Park and the Big Sky Ski Resort are just an hour away. Nearby Bozeman offers a vibrant restaurant scene and a good selection of shops and services. Black Bull Golf Community
Club Home |
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Acreage: 485 acres (196 hectares) |
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Lots: 273 custom, single-family lots vary in size from one-third of an acre to one acre. Costs range from $195,000 to $650,000. |
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Club Homes: 105 distinctive Club Homes are inspired by Locati Architects and designed for turn-key convenience. Club Homes range from 2,200 to 4,000 square feet. Prices range from $795,000 to $1,300,000. |
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Golf: The 18-hole championship course was designed by former PGA star Tom Weiskopf. The quality of the course rivals that of the nation’s top golf clubs, but with the relaxed attitude that permeates everything here. Because the course is private and membership is limited, there will be virtually no need to reserve a tee time. The club features a 16-acre practice facility, which is the largest in the Rocky Mountains. |
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Clubhouse: At the Clubhouse, members will have access to a fine dining restaurant, a full-service pro shop, a fitness center with spa and massage services, men’s and women’s lounge areas and meeting rooms. |
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Swim and Tennis Center: The Swim and Tennis Center features a bar, indoor and outdoor casual dining areas, locker rooms and direct access to our hard-court tennis courts and swimming pool. |
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Concierge: Concierge services allow community members the opportunity to enjoy their surroundings by providing amenities such as monthly updates of activities in the area, cleaning services, floral deliveries, special event tickets, restaurant reservations, day trip planning and scheduling, and more. |
Click here to find out about additional amenities and to connect to the Black Bull Website.
Meet Stuart Tilt & Sally Uhlmann!
Meet Stuart Tilt…
Since graduating from Duke in 1978, Stuart’s career has focused on communications, sales and marketing, beginning with her work at New York City’s Wells Rich and Greene Advertising. This led to many years in advertising sales for several publishing companies including Cahners Publishing. As an account executive for the noted Ketchum Advertising Agency, Stuart’s clients included the AT&T Bell Companies.
Stuart’s career took a different path while raising her two children in Washington D.C. As the owner of her own interior decorating firm, she successfully facilitated both residential and commercial clients to find their own distinctive visual styles.
In 2001, Stuart moved to Bozeman and turned her skills in sales, marketing and interior design in a different direction – real estate. Her background has been instrumental in her success as real estate agent specializing in the high end market.
Always involved in her community, Stuart is currently a member of the board of directors for the Gallatin Valley Land Trust and has served on the Museum Ball Committee for two years and the Heart of the Valley Humane Society Board. She looks forward to continued community service in the area she now calls home. Stuart loves to entertain, fly fish, ski and move to a new “project” house every three years or so all with the help of her husband Whitney.
Stuart fishing on the Big Horn River
Meet Sally Uhlmann…
While still a teenager, Sally began designing and creating clothing for performers and major recording artists in her home town of San Francisco. She attended Antioch College before moving to Ibiza, Spain. By the age of 24, Sally had built her own fashion business as the founder and president of Salaminder, a designer clothing company. When she sold Salaminder in 1990, the firm had over 1,200 active retail accounts including the prestigious Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores as well as Harrods’s in London.
During this time, newspapers from around the world did stories on this dynamic young entrepreneur who would roller skate from one end of her factory to the other.
Sally “retired” to raise and train 3-Day event horses on her ranch in Kansas. Her interest in this field led directly to her role as one of the three founders of Ariat International, now the leading equestrian boot company in the world. Utilizing her own sales and public relations background as the CEO of a clothing design firm, Sally concentrated on setting up the marketing and product introduction for the Ariat line.
As one of Kansas City’s best-known home chefs, Sally’s passion for cooking established her credentials as a writer and editor; Sally was the food editor of Kansas City Magazine and the entertaining editor for Home Design Magazine for five years.
Sally’s wide range of interests has led her to travel all over the world. It was a conference for one of her international projects that first brought her to Bozeman in 2002 and she immediately fell in love with the region and permanently moved her family to Montana the following year.
Sally has served on many civic boards and as an enthusiastic Bozeman resident, she has chaired the Museum of the Rockies Wine Classic for 2006 and 2007. The 2006 Wine Classic was the most financially successful gala in the history of Montana.
Flying high in Big Sky Country
BELGRADE – When Gallatin Field General Manager Ted Mathis began working at the airport in 1981, there were 29 hangars for private planes.
ERIK PETERSEN/Chronicle Jets line the tarmac as Yellowstone Jet Center workers tend to them over President’s Day weekend, an especially busy time for the Jet Center. Today, there are 165, including the 17 new ones built last year.
When it comes to expensive toys, private planes are right up there. A modest model costs about the same as a new diesel pickup, around $50,000, and renting one of those new hangar spaces can cost hundreds of dollars a month. And then there’s the insurance and fuel.
Clearly, a lot of people in the Gallatin Valley have a lot of disposable income.
Most of the local planes run on propellers, but 27 private jets are registered here, too, Mathis said. And they comprise only a fraction of the private jet traffic.
The $100M house ….. (Big Sky, Montana) that Blixeth built…
By SCOTT McMillion Chronicle Staff Writer
BIG SKY – This is the house that Tim Blixseth built, and it starts with 120,000 square feet – almost three acres – of boards and timbers and stone called the Warren Miller Lodge at the Yellowstone Club.
ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE A pair of skiers rides the lift at the Yellowstone Club where 15 lifts carry a thin stream of passengers from mansion doorways to mountaintop, and lift lines are nonexistent. “That’s your basic $100 million lodge,” Blixseth said.
The lodge contains ski shops and restaurants, lobbies and bars and lots of big, gas-fired fireplaces. Fine art adorns the walls, bronze statuary stands guard everywhere. The wine list will blow your hair back, or at least the prices will. Almost everywhere you look, an employee is cleaning something. The furniture is heavy. The spaces are expansive. Ceilings rise and rise and rise. The heat bill must be incredible.
Upstairs, you find condominiums, some serviced by private elevators. The biggest condo measures 5,900 square feet and each one of those square feet recently sold for about $1,100. That works out to roughly $6.5 million.
And the lodge is just the gateway to this very private and expensive club, where nobody enters until the security guard gets the OK.
Money Changes Everything…
By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer
EDITOR’S NOTE: The economy in the Gallatin County area has boomed in recent years, in large part because wealthy people have built homes here. That trend has spread a lot of money around. This week the Chronicle takes an in-depth look at this new economy. Staff Writer Scott McMillion looks at business, philanthropy, agriculture, the environment and the people driving the new economy. Opinions differ as to whether the new wealth is a godsend or an affliction. Either way, the effects are both profound and critical to the region’s future.
ERIK PETERSEN/CHRONICLE Yellowstone Club owner Tim Blixseth stands in front of the 120,000-square-foot Warren Miller Lodge at the club. “That’s your basic $100 million lodge,” Blixseth said. Robert Redford and Tim Blixseth don’t have much in common, aside from their big impact on Montana’s landscape.
One is a Hollywood actor, movie producer and liberal environmental activist. The other is a jet-setting billionaire who wheels and deals in luxury real estate.
But they both changed Montana. Between them, they’ve helped shoulder the state into a new economy, one increasingly based on real estate, construction and recreation. It’s what economists call an “amenity” economy, one that relies on scenic views, pleasing lifestyles and portable money.
Redford, with his beautifully produced and photographed 1992 movie “A River Runs Through It,” made a movie star of both Brad Pitt and Montana’s scenery. The film generated tons of glowing publicity about the state, ignited a new craze for fly fishing and started a population influx and demographic shift that the Montana Department of Commerce has dubbed “A River Runs Through It Syndrome.”
Click Here to Read More…
Why now is a SMART time to buy!
Daily Real Estate News | March 11, 2008
Why Now is a Smart Time to Buy
Now is a great time to buy a home, say the financial gurus at the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal calls it a buyers market and offers these suggestions for first-timers getting their feet wet. While their advice is solid, it’s not revolutionary, but some potential customers might find it reassuring.
Remember this is a place to live not a stock market investment, they say. Lenders want buyers to spend no more than 28 percent of their gross monthly income on mortgage payments, real estate taxes, and home insurance. Buyers shouldn’t count on stretching further because lenders won’t approve their loans.
Spring has almost sprung in Bozeman!
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Spring has almost sprung!There is still time to ski the 3rd snowiest winter in 20 years! As the powder days of winter transition to spring’s blue, sunny skies and warmer temperatures, now is the ideal time to get out and enjoy our surrounding ski areas. Big Sky Resort has received 374 inches of snow on the upper mountain and 246 inches at mid-mountain. Snowfall at Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin is currently 15% above the 20 year average. Bridger Bowl, recent hosts of the NCAA alpine championships, received over 263 inches of fluffy powder as of February 21, 2008. Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center offers 27 km of scenic skiing in the Bridger Mountains. Big Sky’s Lone Mountain Ranch offers skiers a change of pace. Whether enjoying a horse-drawn sleigh ride dinner or a tour of the 80 km Nordic trail system, natural beauty surrounds you. Please contact our Downtown Bozeman Office at 406-556-5001 or our Big Sky Office at 406-995-3444 for discounted Moonlight ski tickets, information about special Big Sky Resort rates or just to check the current snow conditions. |
ERA Landmark is currently working on their new and improved website. We are all so excited for it to be completed and will keep you posted.
We’d like to thank Robyn and the team at ERA Landmark for all their valuable information we use in our blogs and our website. It’s great to be a part of such a wonderful and interactive team!
Robyn and her staff do an incredible job with market updates and reports. We would be happy to share them with you upon request. Our local MLS here, Gallatin Association of Realtors, also does a magnificent job with their reporting and stats as well.
Thanks again and don’t forget to visit our website for any new listings and to see how wonderful it is to live in Bozeman, Montana!
So sad, the trickle down finally gets to Montana…
“A national slump in housing starts and the shaky health of the home mortgage industry are key factors in RY Timber’s decision last week to temporarily shut down its mills in Townsend and Livingston.”
Read More: Click here!
By MARGA LINCOLN
Independent Record
Published 1/20/2008
Yes, it’s finally happened. It finally came and is effecting us here in Bozeman/Livingston area. Because of the slow in the housing market in the rest of the U.S., our timber community has been negatively effected. Read the article to learn more about how this happened.
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