Can't buy a SFH in Twin Cities for 200K? (Minneapolis: wood floors, sale)

[midwest456]

yeah, i kind of gathered that (esp about champlin) looking at house search results but it is better to ask people who know the area. thanks

[Hoosier]

True, there is not much in Big Lake or Monticello, it's a commute for sure to the city but prices are much better. We were shell shocked when we moved here and couldn't find anything under 200,000 that was worth moving into. We did look up north of the cities off hwy 65 in Cambridge and Isanti. Hwy 65 can be a bad road to travel (so I'm told). If we were to move there I would've chosen Cambridge which is just a bit further up the road, but a larger town. We found some very nice three bed homes around the 1800 sq ft. range from 170,00 - 200,000. Best of luck!!

[midwest456]

thanks. I did like what I saw when I looked at realtor.com for Cambridge 175-225K but it is just too far from the city for me. Farthest out I am willing to commute would be from Stillwater, Lakeville or Otsego at this point.

[yellowsnow]

I agree Cambridge and Isanti are too much of a drive for me. Especially when you consider roads can be bad for more than 1/2 the year. I think you pay one way or the other. Higher prices vs longer commute times. Even when the rail is completely up and running, it's still a big investment of your time.

The burbs you mentioned are all popular and the drive can be congested from all these places. Beware of bridges. They are always backup points because traffic collects at the water crossings. There are only so many bridges available! When I was looking into locations and commutes, it was important to me to have more than 1 way in to work. Alternate routes are a good thing!

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Have you tried some of the less expensive 1st/2nd tier suburbs? Try a search for homes in Bloomington, Richfield, Robinsdale, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and Columbia Heights. There should be available homes in your price range.

[midwest456]

the folks on here were mostly telling me that Brooklyn Park/Center is higher crime (corroborated by the recent Star Trib article). I think the other cities would be Ok. I thought Bloomington was pricier though? I was told Bloomington has a dicier area around the Mall of America-- maybe that is the lower priced part?

[yellowsnow]

The higher crime is true because they are just more urban. The commute times are short but the taxes are also higher. Schools are better out of the metro area too.

[midwest456]

and what about st louis park and bloomington? thanks

[rochestercheesehead]

Yikes! So if I move up there and think an affordable home should be between $100,000-$180,000, does that put me in St. Paul proper? I have young kids, so schools are important, but as I obviously don't have money for a SF house, which we've had since our second year of marriage, I don't have money for private schools either. (Don't even get me started on the private school thing--I taught in a private school for three years between 1997-2000--with an MA I started at $23,000 and was earning a whopping $24,500 three years later. Bus drivers earn more than that. I know because that is what I'm doing now. Bread vendors earn more than twice that! I know because I've worked for two different companies).

OK, I'm done ranting about inadequate teacher's salaries, and woefully inadequate private school teacher's salaries--NO, they DON'T earn more! They earn significantly less than their substantially underpaid public school counterparts. I was a fantastic teacher, but I'll never teach again unless they start paying teachers the $70,000 per year that everyone else with their level of education earns.

By the way, any hints as to what fields a guy who could do and has done nearly everyone else's job and has an IQ that theoretically makes him "smarter" than all but 60 million others in the world should go into in order to be able to feed his family without government support and buy a home outside of the slums? As I'm currently working on yet a third degree, I have no interest in med. school, I can't fathom paying for law school, I don't want to be a school administrator--where all the "smart" teachers end up because it's one of the top ten paying fields while teacher doesn't even make the top two hundred--and although I'm an excellent salesman, I have too much integrity to reenter that horrible field. What's left that will enable me, on my income alone, to purchase an outrageously priced house in the Twin Cities?

I mean realistically, even if I could land a $70,000 a year job, which is unlikely, I shouldn't have a mortgage exceeding $140,000. If I get TOP dollar for my house in Rochester, I'd have $58,800 in equity after paying the realtor his $10,200 commission, which would put me in a house for 198,800. The more likely scenario is that I land a job at $48,000; sell my house for $150,000, leaving me with equity of $40,000 down and a mortgage of $96,000--less than my current mortgage, and a total of $136,000 for a house--$1000 less than I paid for my house in Rochester.

Where can I live? I refuse to live in a trailer park and I've heard that carboard boxes aren't made as well as they used to be.

[golfgal]

I think you will find that along with the higher priced houses come higher salaries, to a point. I know that many of the more experienced teachers in some of the larger districts do make in the $70,000 range but I do agree teachers are very underpaid for the most part.

Perhaps going to a career counselor would help or maybe even applying at a temp agency for professionals to "try" out some jobs so see what you like to do.

Another option with all your 'advanced' degrees would be to teach at the college level with your fantastic teaching skills.

Also, I don't pretend to know your financial situation but with interest rates being so low, you could probably afford more on a $70K salary then you think but again, I don't know your situation with car payments, credit card debt, etc.

If you think you can do well in sales, you don't have to be unethical to do the job. There is a great need for good salespeople that do well and are ethical. I know plenty of sales people that are not like you think they are.

I would also say that by the few posts here that perhaps it is your attitude with the world that holds you back more then anything. There seems to be about 1 million or so people that are able to afford houses in the Twin Cities metro area for what ever reason and many of them probably aren't as smart as you.