Where is the front door?

Exactly!! I am wife no. 2 and have no say about this. Wife no. 1 is legally blind. I am in contact with the realtor and they are changing the photos. I think this one should lead:

On top of this it's going to take 24-48 hours for the changes to be picked up. Sucks! Montana is a world unto itself. They got bison and elks. But they do have rivers, and this cabin should be marketed to people who fly fish. The movie, "A River Runs Through It," was taken at this spot.

I wish they would have taken the photo at dusk with the lights on, but they did not. I cropped the realtors photo to show the fish in the river.

Which is it, Hit You With Stuff or Kindness? ;) I often have trouble finding info on Realtors.com. How much land is with the cabin? I haven't the qualifications to advise about Montana cabin property, but it looks nice, and the setting is beautiful. I would love being able to spend time there.

The laundry room is a nice feature that would add quite a bit of value to me, being the one who would be doing the laundry. The washer & dryer were not listed in the appliances, so are they not included? For distant sales, sometimes it isn't worth hauling them out. I only asked in case they were inadvertently left off the appliance list. Good luck, Suzi.

I love your suggested lead photo. Very nice! Shows how close the cabin is to the water and how beautiful the area is.

It's just a lot, not acreage, but it's a special place. I'm on email with the broker's assistant. She is making changes, but I do HATE the photo they led with, and it will take 24-48 hours for them to change that. Is that normal? I have been to that cabin, and I wish they could take photos at night with that fire roaring, which it does. That is the most coziest fireplace I have ever encountered.

How are buyers to compare your property's value to other offerings without knowing the lot size? I would be annoyed to have to contact your agent just to find out the size of the lot during such a preliminary stage of my property search.

DH is a fisherman. He bought that place sight unseen. It was ON the Gallatin. Done deal for him and his buddy. It's not acreage. It's a cabin on a river. BUT there are no others for sale on that river. RARE opportunity. gry-falcon "A River Runs Through It" a movie, and it's part of that. There are no records of lot size that we can find. County property. Not city. It's just a fishing cabin ON THE GALLATIN! RARE!

gyr_falcon, we could find NO properties to comp in that area, so we went with Keller Williams, and it took them time to get a price for us. We thought it would be less, but they thought more. Hard to find a place like this ON the river.

AtomicJay007, the depth of the river varies with the seasons. But you make a good point. I've made a friend with the realtor's assistant, so I'll pass on your suggestions. DH says it's not the best place to fly fish. LOL! You can go out and snap a line. but the best you can snag is a 13"er.

A river is a river. Do we need 9 pictures of the same thing? Evidently we do! Thanks for your input!

I understand there are no true comps, but someone looking for a cabin will likely be weighing non-water cabins, too. Especially since cabins on the river are not generally available! Guess the county must have some use permit similar to the recreational permit cabins with the Forest Service. For those, a F.S. Special Permit Administrator often needs to be involved before transfer and there are Term Special Use Permits and such entanglements involved.

It is a really neat place. I love the skylight, and windows all around. And geez, even a dishwasher. I have to admit, I liked the river pictures too, but figured it was just because the setting is so pretty and I haven't vacationed for a while. lol One showing the cabin setting to the river, and one view upriver and one view downriver are probably sufficient for marketing though IMO.

For properties such as this, the buyer could be from anywhere. And the marketing might more run through the hobbyist route. Hope you will update us on how it goes!

When I look at this listing, I am seeing others that would be comps -- a 1/2+ acre lot with 100 ft river frontage for $239k and 3 cabins (large property divided for sale) on Hellroaring Creek that they say are right across from the river (3.2 ac lot for $250k, 2 BR 1 BA cabine on .74 ac for $415k and the main cabin -also 2 BR 1 BA on 3.99 ac for $599k. I think you do need to know the size of the lot and the river frontage -- both to market effectively and to make sure it is listed at a good price. Beautiful area.

I think your realtor has the worst photos of the lot (especially on the exterior and the river) and I agree with your choice on the lead photo.

I will keep you posted. Evidently my DH's fishing guide has a potential buyer. Any cabin on any creek or river is NOT a cabin on The Gallatin! This one is. Hide and watch. I'll keep you posted, and thanks for your enthusiasm. I'd love to keep it, but, second wife has no say.

Definitely your choice of pics should lead ... That definitely says "fly fishing from your front porch".

Remove a couple of the "nothing but trees and river" shots, but it's nice to see you aren't one of the crowded little enclaves

lazy_gardens, TY. I would love to market this place, but I do not wish to spam. I wish we didn't have to sell it. Coziest place I've ever known. Should be an easy sell.. There is a negative though. All those white crosses on Gallatin Road. Many have died there. Bad conditions in winter.

"and it will take 24-48 hours for them to change that. Is that normal?"

Yes it's normal, because it's one HUGE collection of databases and it updates in batches. They might make the change now but they have no control over when the update goes live. Preference would be probably given to getting new listings up, updating SOLD and price changes, and then the rest of the stuff.

"All those white crosses on Gallatin Road" Yes, we drove through there on the way to the SO's daughter's wedding in Helena. It's not a road I would like to try while tired or drunk, and I think a lot of people have one too many and then try to make it home.

Just spoke with my GF who is a Broker/Realtor. She says it's true. MLS puts a limit on the words you can say, but you can get around it on your own site. A lot of drama for me. Maybe too much.

I agree with AtomicJay ... you said the "fishing guide" might have a potential buyer. The pictures of the river capture that type of buyers heart strings ... to them it's a cabin ON A RIVER.

I'd have your client list it on some of the Fly Fishing forums classified section, and also in sportsman type magazines. Also see if they can somehow list it on any Montana travel sites/vacation sites. Also, Airline pilots association puts out a monthly newsletter/magazine. I believe it has a classified section. Pilots like to vacation/play/engage in outdoor sports and have the money to buy a vacation home. Also, at the FBO at the local airport (maybe Bozeman), they should have a bulletin board in the pilot's lounge/flight planning area. See if you can get some fliers put on the bulletin board. I'd also try to put some up in any sporting gear shops on the bulletin board there, if they use one. Or buy the cashier/checkout.

I'll have DH check with his realtor about those ideas. Thanks!

I'd put flyers in every fishing gear shop in the area, hoping to snag a rich tourist.

First offer came on Sunday. $300,000 plus we throw in the stuff in the garage AKA Boat, Raft and BBQ. So we countered at full price and agreed to throw in the garage stuff. They accepted. It's sold! Woo Hoo!

Nice! A shame to have to give up such a sweet cabin, but at least you got your price and quickly, too.

Please find out how the buyer first located the property. I am curious.

Congrats.

Ack-- I want this house, and I looked at the thread too late! Who cares what the inside of the cabin looks like or that it has a laundry. It's a short cast to the freakin' Gallatin!!

@ncrealestateguy The buyer viewed the house through the listing agent's realtor assistant. DH had a chat with her when she presented the offer to find out if they would consider full price. He told her to mention the only other house on the Gallatin was $1.7 million, so they'd be lucky to get it at full price. He asked the realtor what the couple's comments were, and she said they spent an hour at the property and discussed how they might rent it out now and then. When DH speaks with her again, I'll have him find out how they found the place.

@rwiegand, maybe you can be one of their first renters :-)

@gyr_falcon, it's sad to give it up, but we'll vacation there now and then. The SUV, fishing gear and clothing are being stored close to the airport for easy access. We'll just stay in a hotel. I'll spa it while he fishes!

We were happy to get the call yesterday afternoon saying they had accepted the offer. Thanks for your congratulations. Now we wait for the inspection report, do the fixes, and it is scheduled to close Sept 21st, right after their last fishing trip of the year.

Isn't there a big ski area reasonably close?

Yes, lazy_gardens. Big Sky, Montana is a 30 minute drive, albeit a dangerous one on very slippery roads. There is also access to some cross country ski trails very close.

@ncrealestateguy, DH spoke with the realtor yesterday. She had to go to the showing to let the people in due to the fact that they fear theft since the cabin is empty but full of furnishings. The couple who purchased it have been vacationing in Montana for 20+ years and have been working with a realtor to find something they could own full time. When this came up, the realtor contacted them, arranged a showing, and they made an offer.

@rwiegand, no sale is complete until it's done, so if you really want the property you could always place a backup offer. Donnie Olsson Phone: 406-522-7000 (866) 522-7715

Sadly, reality intrudes. I'm afraid I'd need the private jet to make a vacation house 2000 miles away practical, and that's not happening in this turn of the wheel. I fished the Gallatin once, and it was right up there on the "best days ever" list. Look forward to coming back.

We have a backup offer. Just came in today for $10,000 more than asking. BUT the commitment is to the first offer and we are waiting for the inspection to happen and maybe hoping that they will want too many things done, which we will have the freedom to say "no" and hope they walk so we can take the higher offer. Getting interesting.

Nice position saddsc.

This leads in nicely to something I have wondered about.

If someone agrees to buy a property at a certain price, has an inspection done and then wants X,Y and Z carried out by the seller, how does this make sense?

I have always thought that the buyer buys 'as is'. Unless of course the inspection reveals some major disaster about to happen in which case the buyer would probably back out or possibly negotiate, depending on the problem.

tete a tete, I can only think that after an inspection if the buyer wants the seller to fix X, Y and Z, but the seller refuses, it's now up to the buyer to continue with the buy or walk. I think negotiations can continue until escrow closes.

Yes Suzi, I understand in the case above, but I am talking in general here.

If someone agrees to pay a certain price, has their inspection and is still going to pay the same price but wants X, Y and Z done, and hoping to sneak in W as well, why is this considered kind of 'normal'?

I didn't realise that this sort of thing happened anywhere near as much as it does.

Suzi,

Good deal on the back up offer. But I would advise to not play hardball too much as far as trying to get the primary buyers to terminate the contract. After all, your secondary buyers presented you an offer, not a contract. A BIG difference.

If you really are going to put roadblocks up in the path for the primary buyers, then have the secondary buyers execute a backup contract. This will offer you a lot more leverage than your current situation.

Thanks for citing how the buyers found your property... Although the above suggestions on marketing to pilots, grocery store customers and fishing guides is all fine for some, I have found to spend the resources and energy on where ultimately buyers find properties... on line and through their agent. In other words, the MLS.

Not to worry. We have a back up contract signed by all parties, but we are still working with the first offer. Inspection hasn't happened yet. Things do move slowly in Montana.

Also, be aware that some agents/buyers will come in with a terrific back up contract knowing that if and when they become the primary contract, that they will renegotiate downward sometime during the process, knowing there is a good chance that the seller will be reluctant to kill yet another deal.

Just another thought to ponder.

Update. First offer fell through. They couldn't get financing. Contract has been signed for the second buyer and their inspection is going to happen soon. Closing date is the same as the first offer, but the sale price is $10,000 more! This one should go through. They are cash buyers.