Which suburbs to live in if working in Bloomington? (Eagan: low income, appointed)

[Sminthian]

I'm probably starting a job in Bloomington (west of the Mall of America) around July 2019. I do not like living in cities, and will be looking at a suburb somewhere. A single house with some land, at least 1 acre, and not crammed in with a bunch of other houses. Any suggestions? I could probably go for anything less than $300,000. I'm just looking for a quiet place without much crime.

[Mason3000]

Look South of Bloomington. Maybe Elko? In my mind, that's where the suburbs, become the country. You'd get plenty of elbow room & house for $300k and still be 15-20 minutes to Bloomington.

[Teak]

Bloomington. Shorter commute that way.

Elko New Market is getting out into the country, but one must take I-35W and then I-35 south through quite a few suburbs to get to that small community. There are few crossings of the Minnesota River so those are choke points during rush hour traffic. It might be pushing it to be only 15-20 minutes during the morning and afternoon commuter periods even in good weather.

[Justabitoff]

Prior Lake, Lakeville and Farmington all have listings on Realtor.com that match what you're looking for. They are good towns south of the city, safe, and easy to get to Bloomington. But in general there are very, very few listings for 1 acre at under $300K that are reasonably distant from Bloomington.

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by Sminthian

I'm probably starting a job in Bloomington (west of the Mall of America) around July 2019. I do not like living in cities, and will be looking at a suburb somewhere. A single house with some land, at least 1 acre, and not crammed in with a bunch of other houses. Any suggestions? I could probably go for anything less than $300,000. I'm just looking for a quiet place without much crime.

What type of commute are you willing to deal with? If you are looking for an acre of land, I'd look into south Lakeville, and really anywhere south of there, somewhat along I-35 (Elko-New Market, Northfield) to minimize the commute. This is where the city starts to turn to farm land. All of these areas are going to be safe. Actually, the most unsafe parts will actually be near where you work, and it's not really unsafe at all but there are some quite a few low income apartments just west of MOA. Northfield is a beautiful college town that still has all the basic amenities and operates as it's own city, but is also still removed from the hustle of the city.

[Tyryztoll]

How big a home are we talking about? In general, a 3BR, 2BA house with an acre south of Bloomington for under 300K is not happening unless you're willing to do either a major renovation or a monster commute.

We were in the market for a similar situation last spring on that side of town and found nothing under 300K for the areas being mentioned in here, although we needed our home to be 4 BR and turn key. I was actually pretty disappointed in the housing stock in places like Elko-New Market and New Prague. There wasn't a lot available and it was much more expensive that I had anticipated.

I would think OP would be pushed out to places like Faribault and even Owatonna to find what they're looking for in that price range.....again, depending on the size of the home.

[TheGrandViking]

Here is something in Eagan
MLS# 4986653
https://www.themlsonline.com/minneso...operty/4986653

Prior Lake
MLS# 5001485
https://www.themlsonline.com/minneso...operty/5001485

Basically, north of the twin cities there are more properties like this and in the south, it is slim pickings. Two years ago, you could find some 1 acre properties in West Bloomington for around 280-300k.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by TheGrandViking

Here is something in Eagan
MLS# 4986653
https://www.themlsonline.com/minneso...operty/4986653

Prior Lake
MLS# 5001485
https://www.themlsonline.com/minneso...operty/5001485

Basically, north of the twin cities there are more properties like this and in the south, it is slim pickings. Two years ago, you could find some 1 acre properties in West Bloomington for around 280-300k.

....but a commute between the northern suburbs/ exurbs and Bloomington would be a terrible idea.

I’d suggest giving up on that one acre requirement and move to a south suburb.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

....but a commute between the northern suburbs/ exurbs and Bloomington would be a terrible idea.

I’d suggest giving up on that one acre requirement and move to a south suburb.

This.^

Chop it down to half an acre or less and OP would be in business, but they'll still likely wind up in some type of neighborhood setting with other houses fairly close to them. That's exactly how our situation unfolded up here, but it was totally worth it for the deal we landed.

[TheGrandViking]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

....but a commute between the northern suburbs/ exurbs and Bloomington would be a terrible idea.

I’d suggest giving up on that one acre requirement and move to a south suburb.

I completely agree. But I am amazed at what people can tolerate or THINK what they can tolerate. People have different values and some are willing to tolerate horrible commutes for home satisfaction.