Minnesota-Related Issues

[StPaulGal]

For example, are frozen pipes common or uncommon?

Definitely not common. The only time people really worry about the pipes freezing would be during relatively long periods when the house is unoccupied. By that I mean your pipes are incredibly unlikely to freeze when you are home. But if you go on vacation during the winter, just keep in mind that you can turn your thermostat DOWN but not OFF. And if buying a foreclosed/abandoned house, check to make sure the pipes were properly drained before winter set in.

What sorts of things do people write into home purchase contracts to account for issues that are specific to Minnesota?

I will add to golfgal's statement about appliances by mentioning that window treatments here generally convey, too. Another thing to keep in mind when choosing a house would be the amount of sidewalk you are responsible for. When it snows, you are required to clear the snow from any and all sidewalk associated with your land within 24 hours or so. I live on a corner lot, and that is a pretty substantial amount of sidewalk to shovel. (I love my corner lot for other reasons, but a snowblower is pretty much a necessity. Something to keep in mind, anyway.)

Or here's another example. If I'm buying a house built in the 50s, do I need to put a radon mitigation system into it? (How would I know if it wasn't working?)

You can do a radon test if it gives you peace of mind.

And finally, we have a 10 lb dog. What sorts of critters should we plan for? Are rodents a problem? Rogue giraffe herds? Feral llamas?

Agree with golfgal that rodents aren't generally much of a problem in houses. We do have some pretty big house centipedes that tend to freak out newbies from time to time. They are harmless (and they eat other teeny critters!), but they also have a whole lotta legs and they run fast! Chiggers...not really. You might come across them if you are doing a lot of walking in rural areas with tall grass, but I doubt the average person has even heard of chiggers. Cockroaches are also pretty much a non-issue. What is an issue: bunnies! In my neighborhood there are more wild rabbits than you could shake a stick at. They are cute and fluffy, but they can be a problem in people's gardens.

I don't know anything about flood insurance because nobody I know carries it or has ever had any flooding concerns whatsoever.

[WriterDude]

Thank you so much for the post! Lots of great information here.

Originally Posted by StPaulGal

Definitely not common. The only time people really worry about the pipes freezing would be during relatively long periods when the house is unoccupied. By that I mean your pipes are incredibly unlikely to freeze when you are home. But if you go on vacation during the winter, just keep in mind that you can turn your thermostat DOWN but not OFF. And if buying a foreclosed/abandoned house, check to make sure the pipes were properly drained before winter set in.

Good points - we haven't really finalized the area where we want to settle, so we haven't really decided about what we'll be getting. This helps me get my head around the common-sense issue, though.

Originally Posted by StPaulGal

Another thing to keep in mind when choosing a house would be the amount of sidewalk you are responsible for. When it snows, you are required to clear the snow from any and all sidewalk associated with your land within 24 hours or so. I live on a corner lot, and that is a pretty substantial amount of sidewalk to shovel. (I love my corner lot for other reasons, but a snowblower is pretty much a necessity. Something to keep in mind, anyway.)

Wow, this is a HUGE bit of information. I hadn't caught this anywhere before now.

Originally Posted by StPaulGal

You can do a radon test if it gives you peace of mind.

Good point. I just don't want to get totally mental about it - my understanding is that it's not an issue-issue, but more of a maybe-sorta-issue.

Originally Posted by StPaulGal

Agree with golfgal that rodents aren't generally much of a problem in houses. We do have some pretty big house centipedes that tend to freak out newbies from time to time. They are harmless (and they eat other teeny critters!), but they also have a whole lotta legs and they run fast! Chiggers...not really. You might come across them if you are doing a lot of walking in rural areas with tall grass, but I doubt the average person has even heard of chiggers. Cockroaches are also pretty much a non-issue. What is an issue: bunnies! In my neighborhood there are more wild rabbits than you could shake a stick at. They are cute and fluffy, but they can be a problem in people's gardens.

Hmmm. I'm guessing the centipedes would create a crisis, but it's good to know they're out there. So most of the screened porches are due to the number of mosquitoes during the summer? Do you have to deal with mayflies or plagues of locusts or anything like that?

Back in Michigan, you could also get chiggers from shallow lakes - are most of the Twin Cities' lakes swimmable?

Originally Posted by StPaulGal

I don't know anything about flood insurance because nobody I know carries it or has ever had any flooding concerns whatsoever.

Awesome! Thank you.