Homes/Lots in Rapid City vs. Sioux Falls (Brandon, Box Elder: real estate, foreclosures)

[AJTucson]

Have another question. Since we live on a postage stamp (with land a premium here), I am wondering what both cities have regarding lot size. I know, generally, that lots in town are smaller city lots and tend to be older homes (please correct me if I am wrong). However, we are looking for more room. If you could give any information regarding good areas, new developments versus old (with good sized lots), etc. for your respective city we'd really appreciate it. As mentioned, we are going to visit this summer and though we have really good general info from the chamber, we'd appreciate info from those who live there. Thanks a lot .

[BusySocialWorker]

Rapid City Real Estate Black Hills Multiple Listing Service, Black Hills Association of REALTORS, South Dakota is a good page to look at black hills and rapid homes. I think you can search by lot size if you know what you are looking for or by development name.

What is "good sized" to you - if you are looking say in town what size lot would you want to find? Good sized can mean different things to different people?

We were pumped to find a 1/3 acre lot right in Rapid (plus it is on top of a hill with great views and no neighbors behind. Ours is a brand new development right in town - I'm five minutes from work There are also lots of new developments just outside of town. We were looking at lots that were 1-3 acre lots out of town, but decided the trade off was worth it to be in town - I think anything over .25 acre in town is pretty good sized.

If you want 1-3 acres etc I would look at Golden Valley, the Summerset / Piedmont Area or Ranch at Black Gap and there are some developments out towards Box Elder that have the 1-3 acre lot size.

Another page to check is Welcome to 605 Home.com! - some lot info is listed for several developments as well.

[AJTucson]

Hi Busy - yes, that would help knowing what we consider a good size lot! I would say a good quarter acre plus. I, if RC is where I find a job , would like to be close to Regional Med as well. Also, I just would like to be in my home and read (or sleep - or sleep during the day if the shift I get is at night) and/or talk and not have to compete with neighbors banging and pounding (there are 20 feet between homes here ) and/or the lovely base that is so conducted through our hard ground here, etc. Yet, I'd still like to be close enough to wave and say "hi" and visit and all the good stuff that goes with good neighbors.

To sum it up, around a quarter acre to a half acre would be great in RC. If that is not possible (like if they are all taken before we move there), then further out I'd want at least a half of an acre (love to garden, fancy myself a gardener - have been successful growing vegetables in our cement ground and in 105+ degree weather).

Also, that lot you mentioned you are hoping for, is that the only development close to the hospital that offers that size? Thank you also for the links!

Thought of something else that sort of works with this thread - can't quite figure out how to edit my message so sorry - need to add another message. There are a lot of sad situations across our country due to the economy. It has a lot of people understandably down and it is hard to care about lawns, paint (hard to buy when you're worried about food), etc. Unfortunately, a lot has fallen into disrepair. Also, foreclosures sure don't help.

I am wondering how things are looking in RC and SF. I get everyone has their own tastes and timetables to do maintenance, but ya know it costs nothing to pull weeds by hand. Any input on what you are seeing would be great. Thanks.

[MJ1986]

I rent, so I'm not up to date on lot sizes/prices.
For Sioux Falls, you're basically right about the smaller lots/older homes... These are in the central areas of SF.
I would recommend the McKennan Park area, but those homes are on small lots... It really is a nice area though.
You will find great homes/lots on the western side (south of 12th, east of Marion Road).
If you are looking for a cheaper (for lack of better word) area, the NW (near Maple/Marion/Benson) has many lower-income new housing. A new elementary school is scheduled to be built in the area within the next few years.
The SW is also a good area. A new elementary school near 57th/Ellis Road will open this coming school year.
The SE is another good area... I sound like a broken record.

I'm not sure if you have children, but some areas of Sioux Falls are in smaller school districts (Harrisburg, Brandon Valley, Tea).

[fatman66]

We have looked at A LOT of houses in Sioux Falls in the last month (on-line and in person) and from what I've seen in the Southwest, East, and Northwest areas of Sioux Falls (within the city limits) in most of the developments you are looking at ~.2-.3 acres or less per lot on homes built 1950 and up. However, since I'm still very new to the area this might be very mistaken and price range may modify this.

This was the site I liked best for searching for listing in Sioux Falls (http://www.homeviewsiouxfalls.com/ ). If you go to “Find a Property” then choose “Residential Property” it should give you an option to search with criteria including lot size.

[AJTucson]

Thank you MJ and fatman for the info. We're going to come and see for ourselves, but having that link and getting a couple of these questions answered is really very helpful for us. Much appreciated .