Flying to St. Paul to look for house in 2 weeks...HELP. (Eagan: houses, neighborhoods)

[SteveDaniels]

My family (wife, 8 year old son and myself) are flying in very soon to look for houses. I have read many many of the threads on this site and they have been very helpful, but would like some details about certain neighborhoods. I will be working on Shepard in St. Paul.

Our criteria is as follows:
Within 20 mins to Shepard drive.
Good Schools
Newer neighborhood (houses not older than 10 years old)
Newer shopping
Homes Size 3500 - 4500 sqft
Price Ranage, Hopefully 400k - 500k
Planned community (pools, parks, walking paths, sense of community)

We seem to like Stonemill Farms and Dancing Waters in woodbury. We have heard that Dancing Waters was overprices when started 5 years ago, but now a lot of homes are 100k lower.

Can someone give us their opinions of Dancing Waters and/or Stonemill Farms? Also other nieghborhoods that are similar to our criteria.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[golfgal]

I don't know anything specifically about those developments but the commute from Woodbury can be tough. There are 2 choices to get to where you are going and they are both very busy roads during rush hour. Just something to think about.

Some other developments to consider that meet your requirements would be Cobblestone in Apple Valley and Evermore in Rosemount. You will easily be able to find what you are looking for in both areas, both are an easy commute to Shepard Rd in St. Paul and are in excellent schools (196 district).

[Slig]

Courtesty of googlemaps:__________distance____time
Rosemount to Downtown St. Paul = 18.5 miles, 29 minutes
Apple Valley to Downtown St. Paul = 17.3 miles, 21 minutes
Woodbury to Downtown St. Paul = 13.4 miles, 22 minutes

Here are a couple of closer areas I recommend checking out, you may be looking at housing slightly older than 10 years but anything in the 400-500k price range will be very well kept:
Mendota Heights to Downtown St. Paul = 6.4 miles, 10 minutes
West St. Paul to Downtown St. Paul = 4.3 miles, 9 minutes
Maplewood to Downtown St. Paul = 8.6 miles, 13 minutes
Roseville to Downtown St. Paul = 9.1 miles, 14 minutes

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by SteveDaniels

My family (wife, 8 year old son and myself) are flying in very soon to look for houses. I have read many many of the threads on this site and they have been very helpful, but would like some details about certain neighborhoods. I will be working on Shepard in St. Paul.

Our criteria is as follows:
Within 20 mins to Shepard drive.
Good Schools
Newer neighborhood (houses not older than 10 years old)
Newer shopping
Homes Size 3500 - 4500 sqft
Price Ranage, Hopefully 400k - 500k
Planned community (pools, parks, walking paths, sense of community)

We seem to like Stonemill Farms and Dancing Waters in woodbury. We have heard that Dancing Waters was overprices when started 5 years ago, but now a lot of homes are 100k lower.

Can someone give us their opinions of Dancing Waters and/or Stonemill Farms? Also other nieghborhoods that are similar to our criteria.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

We built a house with a builder that also builds in Dancing Waters. We visited model homes in that area to see floorplans and options. Both of the developments you mentioned are on the east side of Woodbury and I believe you would find that all the criteria you mentioned is met. The prices have dropped as you mentioned too.

If you will work in St. Paul, the commute is not bad. I would say finding newer stock housing that is closer is going to be difficult. Possibly Eagan North Oaks, Lake Elmo and Mahtomedi.

A couple negatives with Woodbury is you do pay extra for the address and it is so new that trees are not very mature yet.

We ended up building not far away from woodbury where lots were bigger and home owner association was not in place.

Sounds like your range will give you plenty of options.

I agree with Slig on Mendota Heights. Nice place to live. Limited listings and most of them are more than 10 years old.

[SteveDaniels]

Thanks a lot for the replys. I will look in the areas you have mentioned.