Thinking of moving to MN from MA

[Connor Heim]

Auntie Jo --
My husband and I are also moving to MN from MA! We're currently in Springfield and have become very spoiled by the housing values out here. We are certain that we'll be downsizing, as we are more the "city dweller" type than country dwellers. Our current home is over 4200 square feet of amazingly well-preserved georgian style charm, and I think for our budget we'll probably end up with about half that size with the neighborhoods we are targeting.

Best of luck in your home search!

Connor

[mngma]

Any of the burbs here could get you what you are looking for. For land not to far I would check Delano (north west) or Lakeville (south) The market for selling your house might be tricky. Good Luck

[TCTransplant]

Originally Posted by Auntie Jo

I grew up about 2 hours west of Minneapolis and have been in Massachusetts for 9 years now. I've gotten used to the New England ways, but miss my family so, my man and I are exploring moving to MN. I think we'd be able to find jobs fairly easily, but we're more worried about finding the right place to live. We'd probably rent for a while first before we bought a house.

We own a home now on a 1/2 acre piece of property. We'd like to have that much land, if not more, but it seems that we'd have to a live quite a distance outside of the Cities, and would have to pay more than we can afford if we were to find a house on "land" within commuting distance.

Can anyone help set my expectations on whether the following scenario is possible, where it would be, pros/cons?

• 1/2 acre or more of land, house in decent shape
• house price at or below $330,000
• not completely isolated from "town"
• within commuting distance to the Cities (up to an hour - including being stuck in traffic)

We value our privacy (one of the things I've gotten used to being in MA) but I also value connecting with people. We'd really like to find a home that feels more private than the tyipcal neighborhood feel, but I don't want to be completely isolated. hope that makes sense.

any insight is appreciated.
thanks!

Very possible and within about 30 - 45 minutes of Minneapolis/St Paul.

Ham Lake - 350k 1.1 Acre 2700 sq ft taxes - $2600
Zimmerman - 350k 3.73 Acres 3640 sq ft built '89 taxes - $3200
Plymouth - 349K .61 Acres 1963 Sq Ft (finished) Built '71 taxes - $2300
Elk River - 349k 1.15 Acres 2800 sq ft Built 2003 taxes - $4300
Cottage Grove 349k .75 Acres 2650 sq ft Built '88 taxes - $3900
LakeVille - 329k .53 Acres 3100 Sq Ft Built '93 taxes - $3200

I'm sure you can find more.

[TCTransplant]

Originally Posted by Auntie Jo

I guess I wasn't as clear as I should have been. We'd love 3 or more acres of land but I honestly didn't think we'd find something affordable, in decent condition, and within commuting distance to the Cities. Our main point is that we don't want a postage stamp-sized lot and we don't want our neighbors to be able to look in our windows when they're in their house.

I realize there are a lot of suburbs to choose from and we need to do a lot of looking, but can anyone recommend places to stay away from to help us narrow it down? For example, we want our home to appreciate in value and not move to an area that's "going down hill."

How far outside of the Cities do we have to go? Do we have to go as far out as Lakeville (to the south)? How far to the north? Going west seems too expensive. Not sure if we want to go east of the Cities.

thanks.

I should have read a little further.

Check out Princeton. You can probably find 5 - 10 acres in your price range. Choice of heavily wooded or open field properties as well. A very easy and commutable location.

I'd recommend using edina.com or cbburnet.com for your minnesota real estate searches.

[deedee56]

did you find something? Where are you going to be working? Location location is everything

[tprimeau]

Aunti Jo,
Do you still check into this site? If so, let me know. I am looking for an update since you moved into your Centex home. They closed the original thread you opened.