Woodbury..new home buyer (Cottage Grove, Oakdale: real estate market, credit, how much)

[madtownkelly]

My fiance and I just started looking for our first house and hoping to spend in the $250k range in Woodbury. Unfortunately we missed the boat a few weeks ago when everything in our price range there sold (1990 or newer). Now, the closest thing in our price range that's newer and that we like is about $275k. We're debating over waiting to see if there are new listings that come up or until this fall when we can afford something a little higher (up to $265k) or if we should start looking in other areas like Oakdale or Cottage Grove. Our realtor says there will be new listings..but I'm wondering how many in our range there will be.
Anybody have an idea on how many new listings tend to pop up mid-late year? We don't want to miss the low interest rate or new homebuyer's credit, but really like the Woodbury area. Any suggestions?
Also, we plan on having kids in 3-4 years so although schools aren't most important right now, we also don't want to worry about resale.

[Slig]

From your description it doesn't seem like a difficult decision, wait until something else comes on the market in your range. If you've been paying attention to real estate market at all you've probably noticed that prices have been decreasing or stagnant for the last couple years so if anything waiting a month or two will open up better deals for you, especially in recently overbuilt suburbs like Woodbury.

In fact, I just did an mls search on single family homes in Woodbury built after 1990 and under 280k and found 23 matches. You should have no problem finding a home with that criteria.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Slig

From your description it doesn't seem like a difficult decision, wait until something else comes on the market in your range. If you've been paying attention to real estate market at all you've probably noticed that prices have been decreasing or stagnant for the last couple years so if anything waiting a month or two will open up better deals for you, especially in recently overbuilt suburbs like Woodbury.

In fact, I just did an mls search on single family homes in Woodbury built after 1990 and under 280k and found 23 matches. You should have no problem finding a home with that criteria.

I would agree that it makes sense to find the house you want, in the range you want. The tax credit is pretty easy to understand in terms of timelines, but interest rate is more of an X factor. Rates do seem fairly stable at the time, but it is difficult not to feel motivated when the rates are at historical lows and prices are down.

You mentioned Oakdale as a potential location. I happen to think the Northeast part of Oakdale is pretty nice. Not sure how much you have looked around the area yet. If you have not done this check out the area just south of 36 and east of 694.

You mention kids down the road. Might make sense to get some physical maps and look at school districts. Two districts that are close to Woodbury that do not follow city limits stictly are Stillwater and Mahtomedi. For example Mahtomedi district does extend into a small part of Oakdale. Not sure exactly what area, but I suspect the area I mentioned above.

[Sheridan1962]

I lived in the Cottage Grove area for 8 years, and I think you would get a lot more value for your money in Cottage Grove --- it is the same school district as Woodburyl (and a very good one at that).

[ChadE]

I would take your Realtor's advice. There are always new listings coming on the markey everyday, esp. in the Woodbury area.

[HKB]

My wife and I just signed a purchase agreement on a home in Woodbury this week (roughly $275k). Through the house-hunting process, we learned that Woodbury tends to be a little more expensive than surrounding suburbs, but at the same time it's closer to everything (shopping/restaurants/services), so you pay somewhat of a premium for that. From what I've seen, houses also tend to retain their value a little better in Woodbury than surrounding areas. If you plan on moving again in the next 5-10 years, that might be something to consider.

Basically, you get what you pay for. Some people would rather pay $10-$20k less for a comparable house in Cottage Grove or Oakdale, and there's nothing wrong with that. It just depends on what your priorities are. For us personally, we were willing to pay a little bit more for the location.

I would advise you not to limit yourself to homes 1990 or newer. Woodbury does have a few older neighborhoods that are relatively well-kept and affordable. Before we bought this house, I felt the same way you did. For a long time, we didn't even look at houses in the older neighborhoods. The one we bought was an older house, but updated very nicely.