How to move to Williston: Part 2: Housing

Housing in Williston, ND          

Like I mentioned in How to Move to Williston: Part 1, don't come out here assuming you'll be gifted a place to live.  So many of the complaints I heard about coming out here is that they ended up living in their car for who knows how long before they finally either left or found really expensive housing.  

(I told myself to make this less snarky, but it may be hard.)

First of all, who moves and doesn't secure a place to live first??? There are 50,000 people in a town that was previously build for 12,000.  Do you really think housing grows on trees, especially here?  If you do, I apologize for not holding in the snarky, but you're wrong.  Ok, snarkyness over, promise.  

I'll give you a little sneak peak into the housing options here, including; 

• Campers and RV's
• Apartments
• Brick and Mortar Houses
• Mobile Homes
• and Resources for each

Housing Options 

Now for the Helpful Stuff.

Housing in Williston, ND is not impossible to find.  The city has been building nonstop to try to catch up to the amount of people that how call Williston their home and they're actually doing pretty well.  

Off the top of my head I can think of at least two neighborhood being built right now, and many have already been added.  The town itself has expanded its limits to better accommodate it's people.   

Campers and RV's

Campers fill the housing need for much of the population here.  There are multiple rv parks to choose from if you have one of these mini houses.  It may seem a little strange, but if that's the route you choose to take, know that you're not the only ones.   Sooooo many people here live in campers.  It's like saying you live in an apartment, it's just not a big deal here.  

If you live in an RV park you'll pay a few hundred to close to a 1,000 dollars a month in a lot rent, as well as a few utilities.  In other parts of the country, paying hundreds of dollars to park a camper seems crazy, but here it's the cheapest option by far.  

Apartments

Apartment buildings are popping up all over, but are expensive.  (Some of these may actually be extended stay hotels, hard to tell when their only half built. But there are a lot of these here too.)  The price of renting an apartments in Williston, ND has been compared to renting an apartment in Manhattan, NY.  You'll be looking at paying at least $2,000 for a small unit.  

Brick and Mortar Houses 

Houses are available to buy just like any other real estate market, but the prices are high.  

A house that might go for 175k in Duluth, MN would easily be 300k here.  If you can afford it, and if you stay here long enough you probably will, there are beautiful homes here.  And of course you can always build your own.  

There is so much industry here that town the isn't the only thing that's booming, the housing market is as well.  

Trailer Homes or Mobile Homes

Mobile homes are another route that many people here take.   
If you don't want to live in a camper, buying a mobile home is probably the next cheapest option.  

Paying a mortgage is usually cheaper than renting, and the same is true here when buying a mobile home.  While I still consider 100K for a trailer home is expensive, the mortgage on that will be MUCH cheaper than renting an apartment.  

So there you go...

Now you know why so many people choose campers.  Seriously, there are entire camper neighborhoods our here.  We live in one.  

Search for what you need ahead of time, whether it's an rv park or an apartment.  Treat it like you would treat anywhere else.  If you don't want to live in your car, have a game plan.  

Here are some housing resources...

• Centennial Homes  (mobile home dealer)
• Apartment Guide for Williston, ND  
• Williston, ND Real Estate 
• Zillow (another real estate page)
• Fox Run RV Park 
• Williston RV Village 

I hope some of this was helpful.  If anything, know that it's not impossible to find a place to live.  As long as you treat it like moving to any other town, you'll be fine.