advice on moving to MN (Minneapolis, St. Paul: for sale, rental homes, cheap house) - Minnesota - City-Data Forum

Buyense · 06-05-2011, 11:13 AM

My husband is retiring from the military this fall, We have decided to move to Minnesota coming from California to begin our next chapter of our lives, we have 3 teenagers so good high school and activities & jobs are important. Grand Rapids MN looks to be a great place to live, however we are not yet certain where we want to go. If we could gather the thoughts from others on places to go we would appreciate all advice we can get.

fearnofish · 06-05-2011, 11:17 AM

I have a 4 bedroom house in Karlstad (Kittson County, NW part of the state) for sale for 26k.. not 260 but twenty six. It is surprising how cheap houses in that area are. If you are heading that way let me know.
Karlstad is a small town north of Thief River Falls. There is a nice little 9 hole golf course just up the street from the house and at one point we owned literally every single house on the street this house is on. Now we own this one and the one across the street still. It's a nice small town if that is what you are looking for.

Buyense · 06-05-2011, 11:53 AM

A 4 bedroom home for 26k sounds wonderful however I think that may be to far North, we would like to rent for a couple of years to make sure we find stable work and can adapt to the change of climate. I wish you luck on your home sale.. Have you been to Grand Rapids?

fearnofish · 06-05-2011, 11:55 AM

I dont think so. I may have been through it but we have never lived in Minnesota. Usually go there in the summers to go fishing on Lake of Woods at our familys cabin. It is a nice area up there.
Good luck in your search.

golfgal · 06-05-2011, 01:52 PM

What activities are your kids in and what kind of place to you want to live. You said Grand Rapids, that is pretty rural, is that what you want?

Buyense · 06-05-2011, 05:44 PM

Hi golfgal, we are still fishing for ideas, I was first looking in the Lakeville / apple valley area south of cities but someone mention Grand Rapids I looked that city up and looks beautiful. I have a 18 who just graduated High school and is interested in Guitars a 16 year old who loves animals plants anything involving nature, & My 13 year old enjoys being in the water and gymnastics. as far as jobs for my husband and I are open to anything new since this is a new adventure outside of military. I guess over all we are looking for a place where there are bike trails fishing,swimming, welcoming schools for the kids, affordable rental homes and a good community involvement and most of all Jobs! ( not sure if there is such a perfect place) if you would have any suggestion I would be more then Happy to take some advice Thank you for your time!

golfgal · 06-06-2011, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buyense

Hi golfgal, we are still fishing for ideas, I was first looking in the Lakeville / apple valley area south of cities but someone mention Grand Rapids I looked that city up and looks beautiful. I have a 18 who just graduated High school and is interested in Guitars a 16 year old who loves animals plants anything involving nature, & My 13 year old enjoys being in the water and gymnastics. as far as jobs for my husband and I are open to anything new since this is a new adventure outside of military. I guess over all we are looking for a place where there are bike trails fishing,swimming, welcoming schools for the kids, affordable rental homes and a good community involvement and most of all Jobs! ( not sure if there is such a perfect place) if you would have any suggestion I would be more then Happy to take some advice Thank you for your time!

You might want to look at Marshall MN too. It is a very, VERY affordable place to live, I know of a good rental house too. There are several major employers in town and unemployment there is at about 2%. Schools there are very good, there is a state university right in town, an nice hospital/clinic, state park right outside town. It isn't as picturesque as you will find in northern MN but it is a nice area.

Waseca is another town I really like. Jobs would be a little harder to come by there but not impossible by any means.

fromupthere · 06-06-2011, 06:06 AM

I suggest looking into Rochester in SE Minnesota. I think you can find what you are looking for here, plus it's only an hour from the Twin Cities for whatever else you may be interested in.

Grand Rapids is beautiful, and while rural, it's is a big little town. The population booms in the summer due to people having cabins in the area. I'm not sure how they are on the job market though. Rentals in that area probably are affordable, but finding a house with more than 2 or 3 bedrooms I think is hard. I've looked! Sometimes 3 bedrooms are rare. I wouldn't completely eliminate it as an option, though. They've got good schools, it's a great city, they have all the retail you need so you wouldn't have to worry about driving 60 miles to get stuff, and people are very friendly there. Just don't know if you can find good jobs there. I'd look into that aspect of GR before choosing it.

Good luck!!

Buyense · 06-06-2011, 02:50 PM

Thank you for the feed back I will check them out, I appreciate your time..

northstar22 · 06-16-2011, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfgal

You might want to look at Marshall MN too. It is a very, VERY affordable place to live, I know of a good rental house too. There are several major employers in town and unemployment there is at about 2%. Schools there are very good, there is a state university right in town, an nice hospital/clinic, state park right outside town. It isn't as picturesque as you will find in northern MN but it is a nice area.

Waseca is another town I really like. Jobs would be a little harder to come by there but not impossible by any means.

Good info, but a little nitpick on your post -- Marshall's unemployment rate is 3.5%, not 2%. It's still ridiculously low -- if you want a job in Marshall, you can find one. You can rent a 3-bedroom house for less than $600/month (but you will pay through the nose for utilities). Lake Shetek is good if you like fishing. There's a movie theater in town that shows new releases. There are a few state parks around where you can see authentic, unplowed prairie grassland. Other than that, there really isn't much to do. The weather can be crazy -- 100 degrees and sunny one day, 55 and rainy the next. Winds are usually above 30 miles per hour, especially during the winter, spring and fall.

The big downside of Marshall is that it's so isolated; there is nothing but corn and soybeans around for miles. Sioux Falls and Mankato are about 90 minutes to 2 hours away. They aren't big cities by any stretch, but they have full-service malls and they're good for little shopping trips. If you ever want to go to a large city to do something, you'll have to drive at least 3 hours to Minneapolis, St. Paul, Des Moines or Omaha. Winnipeg is a 6-hour drive away. Chicago is about 10 hours away, so is Kansas City. Denver is 12 hours. If you need to catch a flight or a train, you'll have to drive to The Cities, Sioux Falls or Omaha. You can get to the Corn Palace (a big building made out of corn -- no joke) in Mitchell, SD in about three hours. The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore are 6 hours away.