Its been our dream, we want a log cabin in the woods…were do we start?
PART ONE

Its been your dream for years. You subscribe to all the log home magazines . It’s an ache you have and the only way to fine peace is to take the step and start down the path to having your own Log Home or Log Cabin in the woods. The first question is… where do we start? The best place to start down this path is with your land. With rural land there many options!

I think the first thing you have to figure out is where do I want this log home. Where do I want my log cabin? The first item on your list is to examine how you live. If you really intend to use this new log home, is it accessible? This is an important question. Only we know our own life styles. Some people will drive 6 hours in the middle of the night to catch fresh snow on the slopes or that perfect stream with grandpa’s fly rod. Others will travel a few hours at most and will feel its too much. Some already know, and have been looking for a place, but have not really seriously said to themselves, it’s time to buy some land, I want my own log home in the mountains. For my wife and I, we figured a days drive or access by air would be acceptable travel.

When my new bride and I began feeling the urge to get out of the city and possibly build a second home we had to look at the long term plan. We had to examine what we really wanted. We were newlyweds with two boys in high school and found that one thing we had in common was the peace that comes when we left the city and went to Beaver Island on lake Michigan and or our trips up to the Flathead Lake in Montana . Being from Montana I always longed for the smell of bailed hay in the fields and the smell of the larch and pines on our old family ranch. Our homestead ranch house was an old log home built in the late 1800s, as was the barn and I missed the place. The wood burning cook stove the wood shed and the two sweater outhouse I could live without.

We decided to find some land and build a log home in Montana that could be used in summer and winter. As we were not familiar with North Western Montana, we hired a local Realtor. The first Realtor was a real disappointment, sending us on a wild goose chase for over a year. This person never really took the time to listen as to what we were looking for and sent us looking at everything.

It is important to be real clear with what you want. You need to lay out your intention for yourself and your Realtor so nobodies’ time is being wasted. It is important to write your intentions down and its ok to refine them as you progress. With our budget , we had to decide that what was more important, being on a body of water or having more land. We decided we wanted a large piece of land with a view.

After stepping back and reassessing our intentions, we found a new Realtor at Coldwell Banker Wachholz & Company Real Estate. Becky Jones of Coldwell Banker in Flathead Valley was like an angel from heaven. What we liked her low key attitude and we didn’t feel like she was trying to sell us every dirt lot in the mountains. Every time we had a question or need some impute she was there. We finally felt like we were on our way to finding that perfect place for our new mountain home.

Cont. in Part Two............