Might move West.. Discuss please..

[Hank]

We've toyed with the idea of moving to the BH area for some time.    I have enough job function flexibility we could make it work,  and we're getting tired of East river climate and spending every possible weekend traveling to places to do the things we enjoy.     FFD to this spring,  after one of the longest winters in memory, and we put our house up.   Long story short we have an offer.    Haven't accepted it yet but all the sudden this is getting real.

Our first choice was Spearfish,  but we're also seriously considering Rapid.   Spearfish schools look good as do Rapid's southwest middle and Stevens.      Sturgis schools scores are in the dumper comparatively.   Spearfish housing is much more limited than Rapid.

We've lived a few miles from town with 2.5 acres for the last ten years.    We're debating how happy we'd be moving back into a "neighborhood "  but the right one with a little space might be OK.   Ideally I think we'd want an acre (or 3) a few miles from town  We need some storage because it seems I have a few motorcycles.     

We've browsed a million realtor listing,  but maybe someone knows a private listing or something that is a "must see".    Ideal price is <350k.

Opinions on schools,  towns,  any insider info or opinions is much appreciated.


Sent from my Pocket Altair 8800

[loingrader]

After living in the country I would never choose to live in town again.  If the house sells fast I'd move and rent out there.  Find some land and build.  I'm thinking you would not move again for several years if ever.  I would not settle on house or location just because your house may sell quick (awesome BTW). I'd prefer spearfish schools.  This is an east river opinion but you asked buddy!

[Fletch]

Spearfish is nice than rapid, but rapid is more affordable I imagine? Quit a few semi rural subdivisions right outside of rapid that would probably for your budget.

[Hank]

I think similar places in Spearfish or the outside of town subs in RC are fairly close in price, maybe 10% higher in Spearfish, but there is just much more to choose from in RC.

Seems like adequate storage could be a challenge.    We've seen a lot of houses that have double, and in a few cases single stall garages and nothing else.    That seems really weird to me.   Who doesn't at last have 2 cars and a lawnmower etc.      I could get by with a 3 stall and a back yard storage shed.

[Fletch]

Kaski homes does some ice stuff with a small pole Shed on 5 acres or so

[greatbuffalo]

Hank, I wish I could say that I'm right behind you headed West but that's not gonna happen any time soon.

[Lonesome Dave]

Hank this is great!  I sent you a pm.

Damn, now I know I'm going to have to buy orange paint!

[Bogus Jim]

We've seen a lot of houses that have double, and in a few cases single stall garages and nothing else.    That seems really weird to me.   Who doesn't at last have 2 cars and a lawnmower etc.      I could get by with a 3 stall and a back yard storage shed.

I am looking and have the same dilemma... you can find houses with 3 stall but they have huge square footage and 5-7 bedrooms. One option is buy a 2 stall and add the 3rd, but make sure the HOA will allow it.

If you need high-speed internet for your job, check on availability, it gets sketchy outside of RC/Spearfish city limits.

[Hank]

Dave - PM returned and thanks for all that.     

GB..  I know there will be some snags with me doing this now, but I just turned 45 and decided I'm not waiting until I'm 60 to live where I want.    Working remotely is gonna have some challenges but we'll overcome them, and its just not that far.  Its a 5.5 hour trip home for me from Rapid... I've done it round trip with a 4 hour meeting in a day.   If I need to spend a week of every month back in Watertown I can do that.

Bogus - the high speed internet is a good point and yes it will be absolutely mandatory for this to work.   We rented a place by the stratobowl last Feb for a few days and it had "high speed" DSL and it was terrible.    It would never work for working remotely.

[Dr Psyko]

, I think you should buy a perfect lot and build the perfect house. We built our current house, and I made sure we had a huge garage, never been sorry.

[Fletch]

Working on house plans myself, so far looking like 1600sq ft garage and 1250 house? But hey, cars are bigger than people right?

[Black Hawk]

Hank there is one below me for sale

3to4 acre  two shops   one 800sf  one 1000sf

high speed internet 40meg

quick  access to trails

no covenants

if interested call me 787 485six   dick

dave knows the area I live in

[Robmicgrn]

The schools you have mentioned are good choices. I have two daughters, and the eldest will be attending West Middle next year. We have been very pleased (and lucky) with the quality of schools and teachers so far, and have heard nothing but good about West and Stevens.

I would recommend renting for a while to explore the different areas and neighborhoods and give yourself a chance to get it all figured out.

Internet is spotty outside of City Limits.

All in all, you cant really go wrong moving to Rapid, especially since you are bringing your job with you.

One last thought, if you travel for work and need to fly, Rapid is a bit pricier than east river. Depending on the project I am working on, I will usually drive or often times catch flights out of Denver. I avoid flying out of Rapid if at all possible. No real reason for elevated ticket costs other than they can, and it drives me nuts! Frontier left Rapid a few years ago and ticket prices are out of control, especially for short notice trips (which is what I usually need).

[Hank]

Thanks Rob,  more good info.  Really good to hear more feedback on the schools.

I knew Rapid airfare was bad.   Hadn't really come up with a good solution for that, other than a drive to SF (or just bite the bullet).

Renting would be a hard thing to do.  1 dog, 2 cats, bikes, atv, etc etc.     A storage unit would be an option but the cats would get awful lonely

[plumber mike]

Congrats. We made the move from Denver several years ago. If I had to do it again, spearfish on a paved road...no question...especially today. 2' here 2" spear. 15 miles away.

There is a reason spearfish is so expensive. It is nice. Good public and private schools, weather, etc.

You might check out St. onge addresses as well. It will be east spearfish soon. I think the whitewood kids have a choice between spearfish schools and sturgis schools, so something in a whitewood address would work.

I'm not a huge fan of Rapid, so no help there. Plenty of others here can help with that city.