Going on 4 months and still no luck at housing...what gives? (Minneapolis: affordable houses, neighborhoods)

[uptown_urbanist]

You'll also have better luck if you expand your search parameters. Nice, older houses are tougher to find in many of the suburbs you list, as there are just fewer of them around. Granted, I haven't look at current houses on the market (and I do think that timing has a lot to do with it -- you'll start to see more inventory this spring), but from what I've seen in Minneapolis, anyway, I think you should be able to find a nice older updated house in that price range. Edina has some very nice older updated homes, but they're going to cost more. SLP has some, so maybe you'll start to see those in the spring or summer. Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, etc. are just very young suburbs (with some older homes mixed in) -- out there you're going to get bigger houses and bigger lots, but the inventory of quality, older homes is going to be more limited, and in the newer construction people seem to generally go the bigger is better route. Maybe check out Golden Valley, too? There may be some decent reasonable-sized houses in your budget, either now or coming on the market soon. There are some prewar houses there, and a lot of postwar homes with bedrooms on the same floor, some of which have been nicely maintained or updated -- or are affordably priced and would give you a budget to do upgrades yourself.

[northsub]

We saw the same thing looking in the northeast metro. There were a lot of houses that were original owner houses built 20, 30, 40 years ago. The price of the house seemed to be completely independent of the amount of updating. Many of the houses that were updated and without significant other flaws seemed to sell before being listed (apparently a ridiculous % of houses in our area were selling before even hitting the market). I've heard a theory that in the top school districts folks spend their money on their kids and kind of ignore their house (or maybe stretched a bit financially to be in a certain district and aren't able to do much with their house?). I also wonder if this is a phenomenon based on original owners not even noticing their house has become dated/in need of repair.

It is frustrating though. We contemplated trying to even double our budget, but it seemed that wouldn't have resulted in an updated house. We would just get a house that was completely gigantic or on expensive land (lake, huge lot, etc.). I think you need to be lucky in finding something pre-market. I would guess having a realtor who knows a lot of other realtors (or maybe from a big office?) would help on that front.

[uptown_urbanist]

I don't know about that theory -- Edina has the reputation as one of the best districts, and they're certainly not hurting for housing updates. In fact, one of Edina's big issue are monstrous huge additions or tear-towns. Southwest Minneapolis has also had to deal with the issue of tear-downs and new out-of-scale new homes.

Now original owners not seeing their homes in need of updates (or with unrealistic expectations), I could well imagine that being an issue.

[rambling homebrewer]

Originally Posted by northsub

We saw the same thing looking in the northeast metro. There were a lot of houses that were original owner houses built 20, 30, 40 years ago. The price of the house seemed to be completely independent of the amount of updating. Many of the houses that were updated and without significant other flaws seemed to sell before being listed (apparently a ridiculous % of houses in our area were selling before even hitting the market). I've heard a theory that in the top school districts folks spend their money on their kids and kind of ignore their house (or maybe stretched a bit financially to be in a certain district and aren't able to do much with their house?). I also wonder if this is a phenomenon based on original owners not even noticing their house has become dated/in need of repair.

It is frustrating though. We contemplated trying to even double our budget, but it seemed that wouldn't have resulted in an updated house. We would just get a house that was completely gigantic or on expensive land (lake, huge lot, etc.). I think you need to be lucky in finding something pre-market. I would guess having a realtor who knows a lot of other realtors (or maybe from a big office?) would help on that front.

BINGO- It's like you reached into my brain and extracted that! That is exactly what I am getting and exactly what is happening. My realtor works at a big office so I am ok there I think, but still very little to look at so far this season. That may change.

How did it end up working out for you?

[northsub]

Originally Posted by rambling homebrewer

BINGO- It's like you reached into my brain and extracted that! That is exactly what I am getting and exactly what is happening. My realtor works at a big office so I am ok there I think, but still very little to look at so far this season. That may change.

How did it end up working out for you?

We ended up buying a house a bit out of our target location. We looked at it and made an offer before it went on the market. Heard about through a realtor. I wish we could have found something that would have been a better commute, but the housing market just seemed so random that we kind of settled.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I don't know about that theory -- Edina has the reputation as one of the best districts, and they're certainly not hurting for housing updates. In fact, one of Edina's big issue are monstrous huge additions or tear-towns. Southwest Minneapolis has also had to deal with the issue of tear-downs and new out-of-scale new homes.

Now original owners not seeing their homes in need of updates (or with unrealistic expectations), I could well imagine that being an issue.

I'm not talking about additions or tear-downs. Things like the age/quality of carpet, appliances, kitchen cabinets, hardware, etc. It's like someone could spend $50k on a nice kitchen renovation and it doesn't affect the listing price at all over someone who has whatever the builder put in 30 years ago and is showing its age.

I couldn't tell you what things are like in Edina on that front. Maybe they are different.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by northsub

I'm not talking about additions or tear-downs. Things like the age/quality of carpet, appliances, kitchen cabinets, hardware, etc. It's like someone could spend $50k on a nice kitchen renovation and it doesn't affect the listing price at all over someone who has whatever the builder put in 30 years ago and is showing its age.

I couldn't tell you what things are like in Edina on that front. Maybe they are different.

Your budget won't support buying a house in Edina..with the exception of maybe getting something facing 169.

Location does matter so I don't know if some of the houses you are looking at with old kitchens are in a better location off-setting the condition of the kitchen, maybe they have more finished square footage, etc. It's hard to know without seeing the exact houses you are looking at, but again, you are looking in a very expensive part of the metro where there is still build-able land so you are looking at houses that are move up from a starter home so people are typically looking to get the square footage vs the finish of the house.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Your budget won't support buying a house in Edina..with the exception of maybe getting something facing 169.

Location does matter so I don't know if some of the houses you are looking at with old kitchens are in a better location off-setting the condition of the kitchen, maybe they have more finished square footage, etc. It's hard to know without seeing the exact houses you are looking at, but again, you are looking in a very expensive part of the metro where there is still build-able land so you are looking at houses that are move up from a starter home so people are typically looking to get the square footage vs the finish of the house.

Who are you addressing this reply to? No one has discussed a budget with relation to buying a house in Edina.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by northsub

Who are you addressing this reply to? No one has discussed a budget with relation to buying a house in Edina.

He listed his price range in his first post

[northsub]

Originally Posted by golfgal

He listed his price range in his first post

And isn't looking in Edina.