Rough Neighborhoods in SW Minn. area? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: condo, crime, buying a house)

[gm1033]

I am new to Minneapolis and MN in general. I am a college grad, who will be moving within commuting distance to Eden Prairie. I am searching for a fixer-upper home under 150K, but "realtors" claim that anything that I will find will need to be demolished or is in a "rough" neighborhood. My question is where are these rough neighborhoods and how bad are they? Thank you to any responders

[golfgal]

Anything you find for under $150 in the twin cities metro area is going to be in Minneapolis or St. Paul. Honestly, in the twin cities if you want a house, plan on spending about $100K more then that. You might be able to find an older condo or town house for $150K.

Your title is misleading, you will be able to find a house in SW Minnesota for less then $150K that isn't a fixer-uper but, you will have a 2 hour commute to EP so I am not quite sure what you are really asking.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

You could find something in Minneapolis if you search hard enough. And as far as an area being rough, it's all relative. This is Minnesota, its not gonna be that rough, this is one of the nicest places to live in the country.

[EricBrewer]

Do not know of fixer uppers available in the southwest suberbs. The few if available would be bough up quickly to resell for the 200k plus that it will cost to buy out there. The areas around eden prairie are some of the priciest in this city. Do have many fixer uppers over here in north minneapolis. The commute to eden prairie would be nice. I do not consider the north side to be the worst area of Minneapolis for car commuters. Do not think one can do better for 150k. Would help to have someone tell you the parts of the north side to avoid. And then it would be mostly issues of various noisy music, cars and people.

[politikally]

Well I think you're being a little unrealistic on the housing scene here. I would expect to spend at least 200k for a "fixer-upper" in the burbs near EP. Housing in the Twin Cities Metro is horribly overpriced.

As for crime, it's basically all in Minneapolis and St. Paul proper. As for Minneapolis the Crime is mostly on the North side.

I also agree with the other posters, the houses you're looking at must be in Minneapolis or St. Paul Proper.

However if you are buying a house in the Western, Southern, or South Westerly burbs - there's really nothing to worry about other than housing prices.

My final word of advice - EP is NOTORIOUS for traffic. 169 and 494 in that area are both pretty bad for commuting. I think you should evaluate that before you buy any house you're looking at.