What would it take you to buy a home right now? (Minneapolis: bank owned, cul-de-sac)

[Jeanie Hoholik]

I see lots of benign questions about where to live, etc. I bite my tongue and don't say too much. And I pretty much read every post.

However, I would love to spill my guts about the Minneapolis area to you guys. Some things I don't say because it would be illegal and some things I don"t say because it's just plain rude.

Here's my question: If you had anywhere to live, including the suburbs, and the type of home you would like to have, what would it be?

I am a Realtor and have seen lots of negative comments about us. That being said, just spill it. I want my clients to look to me for help and professionalism.

What do you want?...seriously. What would it take you to buy a home right now?

[kuan]

Have the company move me, give me a $20,000 signing bonus, and pay my closing costs. But that ain't happening. But hey, other people are always moving into the area.

[Jeanie Hoholik]

Be serious, sweetpea! My question is...

[Haver]

Serious answer: I don't know yet. That's why I'm hitting open houses for a while. After I get a general idea of what I want and I've done due diligence with cleaning, finances, research, and gut-check ... things will move.

The places I thought I wanted just left me cold after I visited them.

Ok, fantasy house? Someplace nice in Edina on a cul-de-sac. Not a monster house, just something nice and well laid out. Or a house with a bit of character and history in Laderdale or Mendota, again, not large, maybe a bit well-worn but reeking of history. You'd have to find me a job nearby as well, since there's no way I'm making the eastbound rush hour commute from Minnetonka. Well actually, my fantasy really involves myself being 20 years younger with my current skills and income, living in Köln or München with a girlfriend who wears thigh high*bbzzzzccckk* OK, back to reality.

[Astron1000]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Hoholik

Here's my question: If you had anywhere to live, including the suburbs, and the type of home you would like to have, what would it be?

I would, hands down, live in downtown Minneapolis, no questions. I'd prefer a townhouse, but since there are few townhouses with a small slice of land (usually just small terraces), then I'd have to opt for a condo. I really think that's a design solution that's missing here. A townhouse, or rowhouse plan, with a yard is rare here.

[drgonzoguitar]

I currently live in a 3 bed/2ba apartment in the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul. I have a garage, washer & dryer hookups, and almost 1600 sq. ft. of livable space. I pay less than $1000 a month. To buy a house with the same amenities in the same neighborhood, I would have to spend almost 50% more a month. I am getting a better return in the stock market than any "storage of value" that is residential property currently.

I will not buy until housing drops another 10% to 15% in this area. It probably will over the next two years. These are some of the resources that I use to examine housing:

How recently did someone buy? Tax assements?
Real Estate Valuations, Homes for Sale, Free Real Estate Information | Zillow Real Estate

What is the current regional trends on MLS listings (total number of listings vs. median price)?
HousingTracker.net: Median Home Asking Price & Inventory Data for Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota

My wife and I have 700+ FICO scores, no credit card debt, and I have a VA loan unused. We don't want to buy unless we can put 20% down. We are still saving for that. It will probably be another few years before we will buy. We have seen to many people we know buy a house with a no interest loan or 3/1 ARM and end up walking away. The thing about housing is that it was being pushed as an investment vs. a place to live. People have no problem walking away from a bad investment.

I have no bad feelings towards realtors. My friend, who is a realtor, tried pushing me into buying a house in 2005. I am glad I said no. The house I was interested is now a bank owned property and listed for 30% less than what it was listed for. My sister is a VP of mortgage lending division within a bank in Kansas City. It is the nature of the business that you have to sell.

To help you out, buying a house has less to do with the home and more to do with the stability of the community. When I see seven for sale signs in one block, I know something is wrong. I want to make sure that there is a balance of rental vs. homeowner occupied property. A lot of people are renting investment houses because they could not turn them in time. I don't want over 60% of my neighborhood in rental properties. It sounds hypocritical (being a renter), but I know the rental property I am in is stable. I also check the amount of foreclosures in an area to determine the neighborhood price trend. Prices are going down, but some prices are dropping at an geometric pace. Overall, I will have to see a 20-25% drop from the peak of 2005 before I will start seriously considering buying a house.

[nick is rulz]

I may consider it if there was a solid benefit in doing so. As of right now, there isnt one. Prices continue to drop, and there is no indication they will stop anytime soon. The subprime/new construction markets burst but then there is the whole underlying "my house is worth x amount of dollars and thats what Im getting for it!" market that will eventually have to follow suit if they ever expect to sell.

You have a generation of baby boomers looking to downsize, and a generation of kids born in the late 1970s/early 1980s that are fine with renting/cant afford a house. It doesnt balance out.

I pay $450 ($900 total) for a large 2 bedroom apartment overlooking the Minneapolis skyline with ample off street gated parking, lots of storage space, washer/dryer, and a dishwasher. I wont find that in a house for that price, and if I do, I will have to pay utilities, maintenance, and upkeep.

Im in my 20s so its hard to say what I am going to be doing 3-4 years from now. Im in a relationship, but we are not looking to get married or have kids. I do not know that I would want the liability of owning a house holding me down as far as what my next move is...its a huge responsibility.

Basically, the price would have to be very right (think less than $100k) to make me look at it in a fairly stable neighborhood. I have no problems with some of the slightly rougher parts of the city, but Im not interested in taking a dice roll on a "fixer upper" off 26th Ave North and hoping for the best.

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Hoholik

I see lots of benign questions about where to live, etc. I bite my tongue and don't say too much. And I pretty much read every post.

However, I would love to spill my guts about the Minneapolis area to you guys. Some things I don't say because it would be illegal and some things I don"t say because it's just plain rude.

Here's my question: If you had anywhere to live, including the suburbs, and the type of home you would like to have, what would it be?

I am a Realtor and have seen lots of negative comments about us. That being said, just spill it. I want my clients to look to me for help and professionalism.

What do you want?...seriously. What would it take you to buy a home right now?

What we want and what we can afford are two different things.
I'd LOVE to live in Orono right off of Lake Minnetonka...but that's not happening this year.
I'd settle for a nice home in Edina...but that's still out of our reach.
We are currently house hunting and are looking in areas we wouldn't normally have considered but we are impressed with what we are finding (homes, neighborhood, etc).
What is it taking for us to be interested in buying a house?
1. Need for more space. It's a personal motivation more so than monetary right up front. We need more space, plain and simple.
2. We won't buy if it means paying more than our current rent.
3. We are looking for something that is perfect for our family of 4 but we plan to have more kids so it needs to accommodate a larger family until we decide it's time to upgrade.
4. We like aesthetically pleasing homes (I think that's normal) versus rectangles and squares with no character. Though we'd consider them, most of the homes we are finding have a little more spunk than that.
5. Location, location, location.

P.S. I don't think you have to worry about being rude. Many of the posters don't hold back...

[K-Luv]

What I want in a house is one thing, but I get the feeling that the OP is asking what we would want in an agent. If that is the case then I would want an agent that was 100% honest, only showed me homes that matched my criteria and someone that got into this business for the love of it, not just to make a quick buck. You may run your own business or work for a company, but keep in mind that you 'sub-contract' yourself out to me; therefore, you are working for me. Since you are working for me I expect nothing less then you making a 100% effort to meet my needs. Otherwise, your fired. (Do I owe Donald Trump a royalty for that?)

Is that too much to ask for? If a travel agent is willing to do all the leg work in order to secure the best deals/rates for my vacation; often times taken months to accomplish (for zero guarantee of a sale, mind you) then why can't real estate agents do the same?

[naranek]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Hoholik

I see lots of benign questions about where to live, etc. I bite my tongue and don't say too much. And I pretty much read every post.

However, I would love to spill my guts about the Minneapolis area to you guys. Some things I don't say because it would be illegal and some things I don"t say because it's just plain rude.

Here's my question: If you had anywhere to live, including the suburbs, and the type of home you would like to have, what would it be?

I am a Realtor and have seen lots of negative comments about us. That being said, just spill it. I want my clients to look to me for help and professionalism.

What do you want?...seriously. What would it take you to buy a home right now?

I just need to know which areas are ghetto-fabulous. In other words, I need to live somewhere that's too expensive for the bad people. Not the most expensive, just expensive enough that if we have kids, the baby won't wake up and suffer psychological damage because some psychopath who thinks it's their world, the rest of us just live in it; drives by blasting out high amplitude, low frequency pulses from their subwoofers.