Williston north Dakota

myheaven · #1 09/13/12, 09:04 PM

Can anyone tell me about and around Williston. Preferable more out skirts farm areas. Dh may work out there full time and we would Like to stay as a family and rent a farm. Would love To have friends and a church there before we moved. Dh employer provides housing for his guys but If we stay as a family we will rent our own place. Any information would be great. And yes I know how brutal the storm are and the little growing season. Thanks guys you all are always great.

ErinP · #2 09/13/12, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Dh employer provides housing for his guys but If we stay as a family we will rent our own place.

Not around Williston you won't. I know a guy this summer who was tickled to death to have found a treehouse. Seriously. A treehouse.
He was paying $300 a month and got an extension cord, WiFi from the house, and access to the basement bathroom.

If you manage to find housing, and that's a HUGE if, it's highly unlikely it will be an acreage of any sort. Rent is astronomical. You can expect to pay over $1000 a month for a one bedroom.

Good luck!
I hope you can find something within 100 miles or so...

thesedays · #3 09/13/12, 10:45 PM

Because of the oil workers, the place has become incredibly crowded and crime-ridden. A 1-BR apartment starts at $2,000 a month if you can find one.

GREEN_ALIEN · #4 09/14/12, 07:39 AM

About two weeks ago I was passing through Williston and saw a rental sign on a house just outta town. It read "Basement Room w/Bathroom - $2100 Month".

If your DH gets a job there he will have to live in the man camps, pretty much the only way you can get hired in ND unless you can prove a residence. Most of the guys living there leave their families at home where they belong.

Right now the affordable area with small farms for rent just outside of Williston is about 200 miles away. I am not kidding...

Don't just run, run fast.

Middle River · #5 09/14/12, 07:47 AM

We moved here last year from WI to Stanley, about 75 miles or so from Williston...You will have a very hard, if not impossible time finding a place for a family much less any kind of farm. We are lucky in that there is a lot of family land here so my father gifted us a small spread to build our new farm...which in itself is a HUGE pain due to everybody being so busy around here already. We are having to do most ourselves, which means winging the things we have never done.

If you are serious you need to start looking now, and saving up $, as if you do find something it will be at a VERY high price.

We do love it here, west ND is a very pretty place, winter is not any worse than WI except that a small amount of snow can look like a lot due to drifts. The season from what we have seen and heard (DH has been here for 2 winters now) actually comes later and leaves for good earlier.

Good luck!

hiddensprings · #6 09/14/12, 10:17 AM

My husband works contracts up in Williston. His company builds housing for the oil workers. Housing is near impossible to find and if you are lucky enough to find something, it will be very expensive. Thus the reason, my hubby's company continues to build. Mostly man camps.

majiksummer · #7 09/14/12, 10:46 AM

We live in Sidney, about 50 miles out of Williston. And finding a house by itself is hard, with acreage, to rent? Not a chance, there are a few places for sale out this way, but no way will you find something any closer to Williston. If you do it'll be 10K a month, not even joking.
That being said, I wouldn't live in Williston if you paid me, but where we're at it's really nice small town not too crazy. Great people!

DW · #8 09/14/12, 12:55 PM

My hubby got back f/biking vaca a month ago...he was in shock how much oil business. We do have it here but nothing like there. They stayed in nat park campgounds which were nice but they checked everyone to make sure they were not oil hands. They had to go to Dickinson to ER...could not find a motel rm at any price. The nurses let them spend the night in an empty room. One man (oil hand) was thrilled that he could park his 5th wheel behind a man's house for mega bucks.

Dusky Beauty · #9 09/14/12, 04:28 PM

Not related to nd, but my dh commutes as far as 55mi one way for a crap job-- id suggest you start looking 50 and 60 miles away from work by freeway, i think given the pay a 90 min commute in any direction is reasonable... maybe even 2 hours. I would start looking as far away as you can manage for best chance at reasonable housing, and get your hubs a little stick shift commuter with obscenely good gas mpg.

After settling in we would look to change the job to a closer one and edge out of the boomtown- wages will still be on the high side, and the housing close to the work sites isnt going to get any cheaper.

myheaven · #10 09/14/12, 04:37 PM

We would prefer 200 miles away. He would stay at the house his boss has during the week. And at the rental house during home time. I do not want to be in the middle of crazy. We are 778 miles from Williston. 200 would seem to be a cake walk.

debmac · #11 09/14/12, 05:23 PM

If you want to rent a farmstead and be together as a family, I would recommend that the family look around the Harvey area. It is a ways from Williston, but still affordable and there are some places for rent although they go quickly these days. We are about 3 hrs from Williston. It's lovely here with great people.

blufford · #12 09/14/12, 05:59 PM

Could someone live in a camper there?

barn-apart · #13 09/14/12, 06:22 PM

I have a house in Goodrich ND nees woor but will sell for $7,500 cash

myheaven · #14 09/14/12, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debmac

If you want to rent a farmstead and be together as a family, I would recommend that the family look around the Harvey area. It is a ways from Williston, but still affordable and there are some places for rent although they go quickly these days. We are about 3 hrs from Williston. It's lovely here with great people.

We almost moved to Harvey about 4 years ago. There was a lovely 80 acre farm I just adored. Do you have a website for the local paper?

majiksummer · #15 09/15/12, 02:54 AM

There was a place in Saco mt for sale, might be a little far, but 243 acres with a house and outbuildings for 189K. Steal of a deal! We considered it pretty hard but we eventually want to move back to Idaho so decided not to buy anything up here.

debmac · #16 09/15/12, 09:34 AM

Well, the paper is only published on Saturdays and doesn't have much in it except high school sports and the little things town folks have done. Here is a link to some real estate agents. I was surprised to see how much prices have gone up.
Vorland Land Company - Real Estate Listings in North Dakota

Check out the cute place in Fessenden.

Deb

debmac · #17 09/15/12, 09:36 AM

I would recommend that you contact a real estate agent and tell them what you are looking for. Things go very quickly. I worked with an agent from Bismarck when we moved here. He was just incredible- we looked at every farm or sale between Drake and Valley City. PM me if you want his name.

Deb

SunRiverMan · #18 09/15/12, 11:56 AM

I heard Halliburton flies workers in from Kalispell, Montana and home again each week. I don't know if it is true. The Kalispell area is awesome. SRM

rider · #19 09/16/12, 10:47 AM

You might think about down around Lemmon South Dakota its right on the state line and its a straight shot north to Willliston couple hundred miles or so but the boom has not affected much down there so I have heard anyway, and if you get down around here things havent gotten too outa hand yet but we are almost 300 miles from williston, but there are poeple living in Miles City Montana and driving to williston

Pheasant283 · #20 09/17/12, 07:22 AM

Just as rider suggested, I would suggest you start looking in Northern South Dakota first, as the hosusing market is still a fair market price and it is a much better place to raise a family. There are a few people that have bought houses in or around Lemmon SD, for the family to stay while the man goes and works in the oil field.