Need advice-house hunting this week (Minneapolis, Bloomington: appointed, foreclosures, renters)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by PBH

My family is being transferred to Minneapolis next month and we are house hunting there this week. He will travel to an office downtown and his company pays for the gas, which is a big help. He also does business in the Eden Prairie area. We have to use a company appointed realtor and she is very helpful but I know that realtors tend to mostly show the areas they know.
We would like a house in the 200,000 range but have found that in Minn that doesn't buy as much as where we are moving from. So we are now looking in prices that will really stretch us. We are also not the "fix it" type and don't want an older home that would need a lot of work. Schools are only a consideration as far as the resale value of the home.

The only areas that we have been shown are in the Chaska, Shakopee, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley, etc. areas. We feel Jordan, Lakeville, New Market, and New Prague have some great house buys but the commute is very long.

We have not been shown anything west of Minneapolis. Are those areas good places to live? I read on some of the threads about Plymouth, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Excelsior. Our realtor has not mentioned them.
How do they compare to the areas I listed above that I have seen as far as commute, house pricing, neighborhoods, etc?

Also, what is Rosemount like?

(We have been steered away from anywhere north of Minneapolis and don't understand the reason for that yet.)

I wish I could live in an area for a while before deciding on where to live but that isn't possible. I would really, really appreciate any advice or comments. I feel as though I am going into this completely blind.
Thanks!

You have probably been steered away from the western suburbs because of cost. You aren't really going to find anything in the $200,000 range. North, somewhat the same story but possible finds there.

We live in Rosemount and LOVE it here. Excellent, excellent schools, nice, safe town, lots of kids, etc. There are several commute options to Minneapolis, bus, car, several routes so that is nice if there is construction, etc.

My SIL lives in New Prague and while the LOVE the town, he commutes into Minneapolis and it takes FOREVER. He drives to the park and ride in Lakeville and takes the bus in and it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes on the express bus, on a good day, off hours too.

From your list they are all good areas. I would put Burnsville, Savage and Shakopee on the bottom because the rest of your list has better schools, etc. You really can't go wrong with any of the rest of the areas.

[PBH]

I 'm new at posting on website...think I placed this on Minnesota and meant to post it on Minneapolis-St.Paul...so I'll try again.
My family is being transferred to Minneapolis next month and we are house hunting there this week. He will travel to an office downtown and his company pays for the gas, which is a big help. He also does business in the Eden Prairie area. We have to use a company appointed realtor and she is very helpful but I know that realtors tend to mostly show the areas they know.
We would like a house in the 200,000 range (3BR & office) but have found that in Minn that doesn't buy as much as where we are moving from. So we are now looking in prices that will really stretch us. We are also not the "fix it" type and don't want an older home that would need a lot of work or update. Schools are only a consideration as far as the resale value of the home.

The only areas that we have been shown are in the Chaska, Shakopee, Savage, Burnsville, Apple Valley, etc. areas. We feel Jordan, Lakeville, New Market, and New Prague have some great house buys but the commute is very long.

We have not been shown anything west of Minneapolis. Are those areas good places to live? I read on some of the threads about Plymouth, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Excelsior. Our realtor has not mentioned them.
How do they compare to the areas I listed above that I have seen as far as commute, house pricing, neighborhoods, etc?

Also, what is Rosemount like?

(We have been steered away from anywhere north of Minneapolis and don't understand the reason for that yet.)

I wish I could live in an area for a while before deciding on where to live but that isn't possible. I would really, really appreciate any advice or comments. I feel as though I am going into this completely blind.
Thanks!

[Robert P Stewart]

Unfortunately, there's no one here to sing the praises of Rosemount...

The western burbs are expensive. I'm the relocation specialist for several small companies (and one large one!) here in the Cities. If a client came to me with your requests, I'd probably show you the same areas you've been shown.

Lakeville (where I live) is expensive. There are homes for $200K here, and you should definitely look at them. They're usually on busier roads - I'm not sure what your feelings on that is.

Older homes, in my opinion, can be completely superior to newer homes if they're in good condition. I've sung the praises of several neighborhoods in other threads that have what I consider to be the finest older homes in the metro.

I've also discovered that some of my clients NEED a long commute. For them (they typically come from traffic black holes such as LA and DC) a commute is about winding down, enjoying some music, and getting their head on straight. If that's the case, your $200K gem is waiting in either Lonsdale and New Prague.

Don't let anyone full you, the Twin Cities are actually the mega-suburb of greater Lonsdale. Visit and you understand my humor. In all seriousness though, $200K in Lonsdale or New Prague will buy a newer 3-4bed/3 bath home with an unfinished basement. Most of these are actually foreclosures for any one of a number of reasons, and most of them are listed with friends of mine - good stuff.

As for the steering comment, your Realtor probably believes in the value of the southern metro a bit more strongly than the north. That sentiment is shared by most folks without a local axe to grind. Like I said, I'd probably show you the exact same areas.

[golfgal]

I merged the replies from your other posts. They are a little out of order because of the post times but you will get the idea.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by PBH

(We have been steered away from anywhere north of Minneapolis and don't understand the reason for that yet.)

PBH - if your realtor is steering you away from areas of the Northern Metro, then I would strongly consider finding a new realtor as this person is probably very inexperienced and unaware of all of the available housing stock in the Metro area in your price range and likely has a conflict of interest/ bias in promoting a certain area. I would suggest that you contact the company that hired the relocation specialist to complain and find a better realtor with more knowledge/ less bias.

It might be the case that they are steering because, in general (although not always the case), there is more racial diversity in many Northern Metro suburbs of Minneapolis (and North Minneapolis) versus the southern Metro. If you feel that this may be the reason that your realtor is steering you away from certain areas, then what they are doing is actually illegal under Fair Housing Laws:




From GNO Fair Housing Action Center (http://www.gnofairhousing.org/law.html - broken link): The federal Fair Housing Act enumerates a number of actions and practices that are illegal when found to discriminate or cause discrimination against a member of a protected class. It is illegal to (list truncated/ edited to reflect rules that may be applicable to this situation):

• Discriminate in advertising, specifically to make, print, publish, or cause to be made, published or printed, any notice, statement or advertisement that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of membership in a protected class;
• Engage in blockbusting or steering. Blockbusting is designed to induce panic in a neighborhood by telling a homogeneous group in a community that others like them are leaving because a group of people representing a protected class are moving into the neighborhood and thereby changing or destroying the neighborhood and community. Steering occurs when housing providers direct renters or buyers to a certain neighborhood because of their protected class status;
• To coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of a fair housing right or any person who has aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of a fair housing right.

Years ago, my wife was once flown out by a company for a job interview out East - part of her trip was meeting with a relocation specialist to look at neighborhoods. While looking, the realtor made a highly offensive and racist comment regarding a minority family that they passed while driving and the area - my wife promptly asked the realtor to take her back to her hotel, called the realtor's employer to complain, and told the company that was interviewing her that they might want to look for a new relocation specialist.

But going back to your post - there are so many great areas throughout the Metro area, both city and suburban - it is ridiculous to limit your options to a few areas that might not have what you are looking for. Good luck-

[Robert P Stewart]

Enjoy that commute from the northern burbs to Eden Prairie - no thanks...

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Robert P Stewart

Enjoy that commute from the northern burbs to Eden Prairie - no thanks...

When I worked down in Owatonna (and commuted each way from Eden Prairie) we had a programmer who lived in one of the northern suburbs and did the commute to Owatonna. It was 59 miles each way for *me*.

I thought he was insane. To be fair, tho, he only made that commute part of the time -- I guess he also had family in or close to Austin where he spent some nights during the week.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

If you're working in Eden Prairie I would say the most affordable options in proximity are Shakopee, Bloomington, Richfield, and Minneapolis.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Robert P Stewart

Enjoy that commute from the northern burbs to Eden Prairie - no thanks...

I would say the same thing regarding the commute from many of the towns mentioned already into downtown. From my understanding, it sounded like the primary office is downtown but that he'll be doing some work in Eden Prarie. If you do not have a desire to live in the actual city itself and are set on suburban living easily commutable to both downtown and eden prairie, I would probably look in St. Louis Park or Robbinsdale - I think you would have some options in both areas although finding essentially a 4 bedroom home at 200K or under (that you want) will probably require a more indepth search than the time that you have. People will say that Robbinsdale is too far, but I've found it quicker to get to the Edina/ Bloomington, and other SW suburban areas from the far northwestern corner of Mpls via Hwy 100 in Robbinsdale than it ever was to get there from the Uptown (essentially SW area of Minneapolis) area traffic mess.

Hopkins and Golden Valley are probably out of your price range but if you see something there it would be worth checking out as well. Good luck-

[PBH]

Thanks to all that took the time to offer suggestions and advice to me. We have made an offer on a twin townhome in Chaska. I really prefered a house but we could not find anything in our price range that did not need a lot of work. This seemed the best option for something newer and for more square footage. Chaska seems like a nice community and I look forward to making friends there.