Northern Minnesota Cabins (Edina, Fergus Falls, Brainerd: houses, neighborhood, to live in)
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How much do you want to spend? That will really dictate where you can buy. Places like the Brainerd Lakes area and Alexandria are going to cost $500K+.
This statement is false.
According to MLS, there are currently 143 waterfront properties for sale in Alexandria or Brainerd at $350,000 or less. There are 93 at $250,000 or less, and 28 at $150,000 or less. Expanding your search to general areas similar to these two adds hundreds of properties that you can choose from.
I still think NW Wisconsin is a better choice for you, but if you want to go with Northern Minnesota, you sure don't have to spend $500,000 or more to get there.
According to MLS, there are currently 143 waterfront properties for sale in Alexandria or Brainerd at $350,000 or less. There are 93 at $250,000 or less, and 28 at $150,000 or less. Expanding your search to general areas similar to these two adds hundreds of properties that you can choose from.
I still think NW Wisconsin is a better choice for you, but if you want to go with Northern Minnesota, you sure don't have to spend $500,000 or more to get there.
I actually live about a hour north west of Chicago. Very nice for road trips north. Dont have to deal with the Chicago Expressway's and the largest city in Illinois i have to drive through is Rockford. So traffic is not so bad.
I actually would like a small cozy cabin. At most 2 bedrooms. Bathroom of course. We will be spending most of the time outside so lots of land is important.
We're used to long drives and we love road trips so 8 hours isnt so bad. I remember a trip we took to Black Hawk, CO. We were told it was gonna be the most boring time of our lives driving there (Iowa, Nebraska) But we actually had a good time
Did you mean to tell the OP, "You won't find anything that appeals to ME, golfgal, for under $500k" because that is not what you said What you said was
"Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
How much do you want to spend? That will really dictate where you can buy. Places like the Brainerd Lakes area and Alexandria are going to cost $500K+."
I don't see the part where there was some standard of appearance in there. And if your implication is that a cabin for $350,000 in these areas is a dump, that's simply another uninformed statement.
NW Wisconsin wouldn't be much closer than Northern Minnesota, and it's still Wisconsin. If you want somewhere closer, SE Minnesota would only be about 4 hours away, and it's still really nice. The area around Houston, Winona, and Caledonia is really nice.
I was going to suggest staying in WI or northern MI, but if you are hell bent on a place in MN and don't mind adding 200 miles each way onto your trip, the area around and to the north of Brainerd would be the best choice for something different. That's a bit of a tourist town, and the lakes in that area are numerous and quite large relative to most you will find in the northwoods, relatively speaking. Just keep in mind getting there is 540 miles, versus being able to drive straight up to the tip of the UP of michigan to a place like Houghton, in only 425 miles, or rhinelander at 350 miles. Going straight north gives most bang for the buck mileage wise. I've never actually been to Brainerd, people I work with have for drag races, and said it's really beautiful, and it looks beautiful on google maps.
If you happen to like drag racing, I'd say that area around Brainerd is a 'no brainer' choice.
It would also give you a chance to explore the twin cities. Plenty to do there, nice area. Not something I'd use for a 'weekend trip' .. more like whole week trips because of the time to get there. As someone who's driven a mostly interstate 550 mile route a dozen or more times, expect around 8-9 hours with the route provided by google maps... with your location 1 hour north and west of the city. Luckily, it looks like your entire route has 4 lane divided highway so that should allow for higher speed limits with less stop lights. Frequency of having to stop will make the difference between 8 and 9 hours.
Other options.. driftless area in either SW WI or SE MN. As mentioned, Winona is very nice, and the warmest spot in the state. Highly recommended area. Lake City, MN is a good choice for boats, as a dam downstream makes for a large open area for water recreation. You can see the water, and boats on it, from google earth's street view. Drove through these areas just before labor day weekend for the first time. You can drive up and down that whole area once you find a spot to set down roots. Red Wing.. another beautiful area. One of these towns had a large bluff overlooking I believe the north side of the town where someone had scribbled a love note/heart really large with initials, visible from the whole town. Don't remember which of these towns it was in though. They all have a lot of karst topography.
that lake by Lake City MN is actually naturally occuring.. from wikipedia
"Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River, located approximately 60 miles downstream from Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa River'sdelta. It has a surface area of about 40 square miles (100 km2) and an average depth of 18 feet (5.5 m), which makes it the largest Lake on the entire Mississippi River.
The wide area of the lake stretches from Bay City, Wisconsin, in the north, down past Pepin, Wisconsin, and Reads Landing, Minnesota, in the south, with Pepin being just upstream from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi. The villages of Maiden Rock and Stockholm border on the Wisconsin side, while Frontenac State Park takes up a large part of the Minnesota side. The largest city on the waterfront is Lake City, Minnesota."
I'll consider the Brainerd area. It does look really beautiful from looking at Google Earth
I do want to be close to the Twin Cities and it'll be perfect to stop there on the way to Brainerd
Mid west has so much boring cities :/ Besides Minneapolis Chicago and St Louis of course. Thats another reason why i want to have a cabin in Minnesota.
Did you mean to tell the OP, "You won't find anything that appeals to ME, golfgal, for under $500k" because that is not what you said What you said was
"Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
How much do you want to spend? That will really dictate where you can buy. Places like the Brainerd Lakes area and Alexandria are going to cost $500K+."
I don't see the part where there was some standard of appearance in there. And if your implication is that a cabin for $350,000 in these areas is a dump, that's simply another uninformed statement.
Ok, I finally had time to look at these "lakefront" properties as you call them and they are as I expected, at $200,000 you start to get on the same side of the road as the lake but you are are not at lake level. Under 200K you have lake ACCESS, which is quite different. Usually that means you are across the street looking at other lake front houses and you have a walking path to the lake. I am at $250K and still haven't found one yet that has any kind of a sand beach--well there are a couple LOTS with no buildings on there like that. The other lakes are very weedy so far. I haven't even started looking at the Alex ones yet and don't plan on it either. Lake cabin buying is just like buying a house, location, location, location. You do not want to end up on a bad lake, a too small lake, etc. if you want to boat, fish, etc.
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