Why has Duluth become so expensive? (Cloquet, Hermantown: real estate, rentals, new home)

[acrylic]

I moved away about 8 years ago and I've considered moving back here and there. Buying a newer home/building a newer home wasn't that expensive, but when looking at homes in the 200's to 300's, I can't find anything that I really consider "nice". Or at least, nice compared to what you can find for the same price here in the Phoenix area for the same price - or even many other places in the US.

What's made homes so expensive there? Is this a bubble? What's exactly going on? Any insight would be appreciated.

[pannierpacker]

I live in the Twin Cities and personally I think Duluth homes are very cheap by comparison!

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by pannierpacker

I live in the Twin Cities and personally I think Duluth homes are very cheap by comparison!

I'm looking at prices compared to where I currently live (which is the Phoenix metro) - and you can get a decent "newer" (built within the last 20 years) home for much less than in Duluth. So that's my vantage point at the moment.

But I was born and raised in Duluth and real estate was nowhere near as expensive as it is now. It's alarming and kind of disheartening.

[Deserterer]

Originally Posted by acrylic

I'm looking at prices compared to where I currently live (which is the Phoenix metro) - and you can get a decent "newer" (built within the last 20 years) home for much less than in Duluth. So that's my vantage point at the moment.

But I was born and raised in Duluth and real estate was nowhere near as expensive as it is now. It's alarming and kind of disheartening.

I dont know what you were looking at 8 years ago but home prices skyrocketed 20 years ago. Its not a bubble. What goes up doesnt come down, at least not much. They will continue going up as long as people from elsewhere (Twin Cities, southern WI, the east) find it "cheap". The best you can hope for is stagnation.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by acrylic

I moved away about 8 years ago and I've considered moving back here and there. Buying a newer home/building a newer home wasn't that expensive, but when looking at homes in the 200's to 300's, I can't find anything that I really consider "nice". Or at least, nice compared to what you can find for the same price here in the Phoenix area for the same price - or even many other places in the US.

What's made homes so expensive there? Is this a bubble? What's exactly going on? Any insight would be appreciated.

I'm no expert, but maybe consider checking real estate listings in towns that are near Duluth like Hermantown, Two Harbors, Cloquet and Superior, WI if you have not already done so.

[MadeUnderground]

Originally Posted by chessgeek

I'm no expert, but maybe consider checking real estate listings in towns that are near Duluth like Hermantown, Two Harbors, Cloquet and Superior, WI if you have not already done so.

They're all pretty expensive for what you're getting I think. Cloquet, Two Harbors and Proctor are better. Superior may be the best bet. Personally I wanted to go somewhere more rural like Solon Springs or South Range, but there just wasn't many offerings that fit what we needed.
I would have loved to live in the Jean Duluth / Martin RD / Arnold area but there wasn't a single listing for the several months I was looking.

As soon as a good deal comes up it already has two or three offers (at least this is what I found at the end of last summer). Really wanted this house on Boundary ave with 5 acres and within our price range.

Well, we wound up getting a place in Superior. It was the nicest house with the biggest lot in our price range, and the best choice compared to other offerings. Personally the market has me a bit upset too but I'm pretty happy we lucked out with this place.
It takes me 6-8 minutes to get from my driveway to where I work downtown.
It's just a starter home and we'll hopefully be moving away from the area entirely in 8-10 years.

If you have time to just wait for the perfect house and pounce on it - that would be my advice. If I had more time to wait (a year or two) and just kept checking and looking and spent more time on it, we probably could have gotten a better deal and actually lived in MN, but we were on a time crunch. If rental prices weren't so high we probably wouldn't have bought a house at all yet.

Ah well. Good luck.

Man, I wish it'd stop snowing these days..

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

I dont know what you were looking at 8 years ago but home prices skyrocketed 20 years ago. Its not a bubble. What goes up doesnt come down, at least not much. They will continue going up as long as people from elsewhere (Twin Cities, southern WI, the east) find it "cheap". The best you can hope for is stagnation.

Being that I was a child 20 years ago, I wasn't concerned with the pricing of homes at that time

Originally Posted by chessgeek

I'm no expert, but maybe consider checking real estate listings in towns that are near Duluth like Hermantown, Two Harbors, Cloquet and Superior, WI if you have not already done so.

Hermantown I wouldn't mind, but Two Harbors and Cloquet would be too far away, and Superior is across the bridge, so I've never had a desire to live there.

Originally Posted by MadeUnderground

They're all pretty expensive for what you're getting I think. Cloquet, Two Harbors and Proctor are better. Superior may be the best bet. Personally I wanted to go somewhere more rural like Solon Springs or South Range, but there just wasn't many offerings that fit what we needed.
I would have loved to live in the Jean Duluth / Martin RD / Arnold area but there wasn't a single listing for the several months I was looking.

As soon as a good deal comes up it already has two or three offers (at least this is what I found at the end of last summer). Really wanted this house on Boundary ave with 5 acres and within our price range.

Well, we wound up getting a place in Superior. It was the nicest house with the biggest lot in our price range, and the best choice compared to other offerings. Personally the market has me a bit upset too but I'm pretty happy we lucked out with this place.
It takes me 6-8 minutes to get from my driveway to where I work downtown.
It's just a starter home and we'll hopefully be moving away from the area entirely in 8-10 years.

If you have time to just wait for the perfect house and pounce on it - that would be my advice. If I had more time to wait (a year or two) and just kept checking and looking and spent more time on it, we probably could have gotten a better deal and actually lived in MN, but we were on a time crunch. If rental prices weren't so high we probably wouldn't have bought a house at all yet.

Ah well. Good luck.

Man, I wish it'd stop snowing these days..

Glad to hear you found a place close to your work! That 6-8 minute commute must be awesome, especially on the snowy and slippery days that can basically double it.

[Deserterer]

Property taxes are much higher across the bridge.

[joe_obody999]

Originally Posted by acrylic

I moved away about 8 years ago and I've considered moving back here and there. Buying a newer home/building a newer home wasn't that expensive, but when looking at homes in the 200's to 300's, I can't find anything that I really consider "nice". Or at least, nice compared to what you can find for the same price here in the Phoenix area for the same price - or even many other places in the US.

What's made homes so expensive there? Is this a bubble? What's exactly going on? Any insight would be appreciated.

Most homes in Duluth look rather beat and so old school, I am lucky I just bought a house on London Road and it is a bit more modern looking but I paid $225k. New homes are available around $350k. I am moving back to Duluth from Apex NC (just here a few months) and in Apex new homes go up like ant colonies and are in the $300s, $400s, $500s.

Getting older, inflation really shows itself. My first house in Duluth was near Chester and Skyline and was a two story with picket fence, yard, porch swing, deck, and I paid $35,000. That was 1990.

[JavaJunkieDC]

I'm trying to figure out why 95% of Duluth rentals are "NO Pets" properties, when some of them are genuine sh!tholes?