Interesting Spot...Potentially making a Home Offer - Frogtown..almost. (Minneapolis: foreclosures, rentals)

[Troy&Katie]

The place we Reeeallly want is @ the intersection of Lexington and Minnehaha W. Logistically located @ the intersection of Thomas-Dale, MidwayHamline and even Como Area..(<--that's how it was described to in ad even, Como Area).

However, I've read nothing but bad things about the area directly east of this intersection, aka Frogtown. Dangerous, Somolians, University overflow makes it unsafe, crack houses...etc.

Can any please Elaborate? Slig..I know you will..

Appreciated. We're getting sick of looking..60+ Homes and counting..

[Troy&Katie]

Please help! Offer has to be submitted today!

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I haven't seen that exact area. My brother lives closer to Snelling and I love his neighborhood. His block literally has no rentals. That is the kind of thing house owners dream about in affordable city neighborhoods. From what I understand the housing stock and area is a little iffy for the first block or two from University but it starts getting better the further you go in either direction.

I would agree that going east on University from Lexington towards and past Dale st and it looks pretty run down, but at the same time there are alot of excellent and very reasonable restaurants to be found there. We had a 3 week stretch a little while ago where we were eating at a restaurant on University over there every Sunday and we found some really good Asian and Soulfood restaurants, Little Szechuan comes to mind.

I'd say your best bet would be to look closely at how well kept up the housing stock and yards are in the area. Are the cars parked on the street total beaters or are they in decent shape? Talk to a few neighbors and try to find out generally how many houses on the block are rentals and how many are owner occupied. Are there vacant/condemned properties nearby? I know of a monthly Minneapolis report that states where all of them are located, there could be something similar available on the St. Paul city website. I'd look into that as well.

[Troy&Katie]

Well, being 8 blocks north of University - the Crime stats ppl told my fiance that for each block you go north / away from university, the crime reports are cut in half. .

i'll look for the condemned housing report. That'd be good to know - thank you.
also, a young couple on each side of the house we want..which is good to see. . And it has a massive 2++ car garage so all of my VWs would be safe.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Troy&Katie

Please help! Offer has to be submitted today!

A home purchase is not something to rush into if you are not absolutley 100% sure it is the right home in an area you want to live. That is especially true today with resale being something that could take awhile.

The area is very urban, and as such you will see some of the things you mentioned. If you are coming from a similar area, probably not a big deal. If this is something you never experianced, you may or may not settle in and love it.

[Troy&Katie]

True, very true. Decided to talk with neighbors first..
The home itself is what sold us, but after some research there are over 30+ condemned homes within 4 blocks...don't know how much weight to put on that, but it's def. a factor.

We're okay with urban living, just not okay with crime.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by Troy&Katie

True, very true. Decided to talk with neighbors first..
The home itself is what sold us, but after some research there are over 30+ condemned homes within 4 blocks...don't know how much weight to put on that, but it's def. a factor.

We're okay with urban living, just not okay with crime.

Wow - good advice Slig. And for your reference Troy&Katie, I would consider that to be quite a lot of condemned homes close by (does this number include vacant AND condemned homes, or are all 30 condemned? - either way, that's an exceedingly high number within a 4 block radius, last I checked my neighborhood had 9 total vacant/ condemned properties neighborhood-wide). If you're adventurous and looking at it as an investment, then keep in mind that the foreclosure crisis and the new laws around obtaining financing has actually worked in some neighborhoods' favor in getting out the absentee landlords/ crappy tenants and turning homes to owner-occupied SFHs for adventurous younger folks, and that there is a lot of public money currently being routed to areas most blighted by foreclosures for mass revitalization efforts - so in a few years time that neighborhood could actually be better than it ever has been. However, in its current state - with that many vacant/ condemned homes around, expect there to be crime, vandals (e.g. coppier thieves), etc. around so you'll really want to analyze the area crime stats. And you're going to be hard pressed to find affordable urban living without any crime, although nowadays you can find a lot of really affordable homes in very safe residential urban communities (my expertise is in Mpls, however) that sound much healthier than the area you are looking at.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

When I moved into my house there were two vacant properties on the block. In the first few months of living there neighbors witnessed weird activity going on at the homes and I believe one was actually being squatted for a short time. Anyways, now both homes have new owners and are being rented out. Personally I'm not a fan of rentals, it is too often when the owner pays little attention to the upkeep of the property and the tenants tend to care less about the neighborhood and are less involved in general. However, 9 times out of 10 I'd rather have an occupied rental property on my block than a vacant/condemned property. Not only do they make the neighborhood look worse but they tend to attract strange people and property crime.