Relocating to Twin Cities - renting w/ kids - help with area? (Minneapolis: best city, apartment) - Minneapolis - St. Paul - Minnesota (MN) -Twin Cities - City-Data Forum

shanblackwell · 04-19-2010, 10:18 AM

Hi Twin Cities Experts!!!

Been obsessively making lists of areas from reading through these posts, but am going in circles!! So might as well make my own post, right?

We are transferring to the area in June. My husband has a regional-type job, so no need to pick a job-based location. I'm indifferent at this point to whether it's Minneapolis or St. Paul (we're coming from Dallas-Ft. Worth, so I'm well aware of "city rivalry"!!)

We want to rent first before we buy, as we've made that mistake when moving to new areas of the country....

We have 2 kids - one will be in 1st grade, one is a toddler.

We enjoy cycling & water & would like to live near some of the lakes / bigger bike trails. (I don't want to have to load the bikes in the car and drive first...)

Until I am employed (which who knows in this economy), we want to ensure we can live on one income without freaking out or eating Top Ramen, so we're looking to pay less than $1,000 rent / month. Would prefer renting house, but apartment would be okay. (3 bd. at least.)

We will be traveling to the area in the next few weeks to scope things out, but I have a pressing need to be organized prior to then and already know the areas I want to really look in.

I just want to find a nice area of town that we can ride our bikes in and have nice neighbors. We can drive to all other amenities - don't need to live in the "city," don't need to live in the "burbs." Don't care about ages of homes, as all have their pros & cons. DO care about safety and all that, obviously.

My biggest hurdle is rent for under $1,000. Is that doable with my other criteria?

What areas do y'all suggest?

golfgal · 04-19-2010, 12:27 PM

What area can you live in; what is his region. Do you need to be close to the airport or anything like that? Can you live in the outstate region or do you need to be in the Twin Cities proper? The farther out you go, the better the chance of finding a 3 bedroom rental for under $1000. It is going to be hard to find that in the immediate metro area in a place that is safe and has good schools for the kids. I know you said you don't want to buy but would you consider buying a townhome and then either renting it out or reselling? There is a glut of townhomes on the market right now that would easily get you a house payment under $1000/month.

I am a driveway length away from accessing miles and miles and miles of bike trails here in Rosemount. You can bike from Rosemount into St. Paul or Minneapolis and further as well as points east, south and west for 50 miles or more. On many roads here there are more bikers then cars and on any given weekend there is some kind of road race going on in the area.

shanblackwell · 04-19-2010, 01:14 PM

His region is all of Minnesota and Wisconsin, parts of Iowa and Illinois (not Chicago). The regional office is there in the Twin Cities, hence, that needs to be his home base, but he offices out of the home & drives and/or flies wherever he needs to be that day or week, not rush-hour hours at all. Being close to the airport isn't necessary, though I would choose closer rather than farther with all other things being equal. Because I will be looking for a job, we don't want to live way out in the country as that guarantees a longer commute. And that's one big reason why we want to rent first anyway - wherever I end up finding work will be more impactful on where we live than his job.

That's good to hear about biking! Dallas is most definitely unfriendly for bikers. The one lake we have with a bike trail is shared with pedestrians and isn't wide enough, is only 10 miles around, and is shared 1/3 of the way around with the actual traffic (with no shoulder). I think I'll be very happy in the Twin Cities area....

And yes - buying a townhome & renting out just might be something to consider...

Cruz Azul Guy · 04-19-2010, 02:32 PM

Without having alot of knowledge in the area I wouldn't make a risky investment such as buying a townhome in today's market. Even though you could rent it out later do you really want that headache? I know I wouldn't. There is also a very good possibility that you get a townhome that is downright impossible to sell. I know people in complexes where there are 40+ practically identical units on the market, meaning the only way people can find a buyer is by marking the unit way down and taking a loss. If you decide to take this route, be extremely careful and make sure that there is enough demand in the area and enough differentiation in your unit to where you'll have a decent chance of selling it if needed. Also, make sure the townhome unit is well built. I also know people who bought a brand new townhome and 3 years later they notice there is a huge crack in their foundation because it was cheaply built. There are well built townhomes out there too but make sure you can distinguish between what is well built and what isn't.

In your situation renting at first while you get acclimated to the area and find a job makes much more sense in my opinion.

northstar22 · 04-19-2010, 04:15 PM

It will be tough to find rentals under $1000 dollars in a safe area here in the Cities. If you could live with a two bedroom you could find some nice places for around $1000. Maybe if you were willing to live further out - in places like St. Cloud, Buffalo, or Cambridge you'd be able to find something cheaper.

Radical_Car · 04-19-2010, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

It will be tough to find rentals under $1000 dollars in a safe area here in the Cities. If you could live with a two bedroom you could find some nice places for around $1000. Maybe if you were willing to live further out - in places like St. Cloud, Buffalo, or Cambridge you'd be able to find something cheaper.

1000 dollars is doable. Buffalo really doesn't have much, and if she will be looking for a job there really isn't much in Buffalo at all, my sister lives there. I honestly wouldn't recommend St. Cloud, especially if you're coming from DFW and you want to continue living in a big city, you would be very bored in St. Cloud, and if you were to come here, don't expect big city amenities and such, especially compared to DFW which is the 4th largest metro in the country and has over 6 million people. St. Cloud may have an overall lower cost of living, but there is also a lot less to do here and see, while there is stuff to do and see, the twin cities has much much more to see and do. If he is working in the Twin Cities, you don't want to commute from St. Cloud to the twin cities every day, especially during rush hour. A place like Maple Grove would maybe be doable during non rush hour times from St. Cloud, but if you're in Minneapolis proper or close to Minneapolis, it would be too much.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are both fantastic cities, excellent cities for biking. Plenty of shopping, plenty of cool neighborhoods, plenty to see and do, and the Twin Cities really values education, which is fantastic.

The weather will be a problem during the winter months especially if you have't experienced a midwest winter before, especially since you're coming from Texas

golfgal · 04-19-2010, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slig

Without having alot of knowledge in the area I wouldn't make a risky investment such as buying a townhome in today's market. Even though you could rent it out later do you really want that headache? I know I wouldn't. There is also a very good possibility that you get a townhome that is downright impossible to sell. I know people in complexes where there are 40+ practically identical units on the market, meaning the only way people can find a buyer is by marking the unit way down and taking a loss. If you decide to take this route, be extremely careful and make sure that there is enough demand in the area and enough differentiation in your unit to where you'll have a decent chance of selling it if needed. Also, make sure the townhome unit is well built. I also know people who bought a brand new townhome and 3 years later they notice there is a huge crack in their foundation because it was cheaply built. There are well built townhomes out there too but make sure you can distinguish between what is well built and what isn't.

In your situation renting at first while you get acclimated to the area and find a job makes much more sense in my opinion.

Actually buying a townhome now is a great investment if you are willing to become a landlord one day. You can buy them for next to nothing, have positive cash flow and take some nice write-offs on your taxes. The nice thing about townhomes is you are not responsible for most of the maintenance. You just want to buy into one that has all-in coverage or as-built because then you are only responsible for improvements made, not the structure of the townhome. Anyone that has a 3 or 4 bedroom rental in the metro area is not going to have difficulty keeping it rented either. I have been looking at townhomes for my parents when they move back to the cities in the fall and you can find many in the $150K range and with interest rates where they are can have a house payment in the $900 or less range, condo insurance is about $10-20/month.

Since he is covering Iowa and Illinois, I would suggest looking in Northfield to start. Job opportunities there are reasonable (there are 2 colleges in town and several major employers), it is an easy drive to the Twin Cities but it is also closer to Iowa, etc. (assuming he drives to wherever he covers in Iowa, etc.). I would stay on the south side of the metro for sure. Owatonna might be a good fit as well-smaller town but everything you need is there, closer to Iowa, yet an easy drive up 35 to the metro occasionally. What field are you in or what type of job will you be looking for?

uptown_urbanist · 04-19-2010, 06:48 PM

Much as I love Northfield and think it's an excellent option for someone wanting a small town with amenities, it's probably not a good choice if you're worrying about finding a job. Northfield isn't a city or suburb - it's a town that's outside of what most people consider the metro area -- it would be "way out in the country", which the original poster wants to avoid. (a very nice town, though!)

$1000 for a 3-BR is going to be tough. Doable, but tough. You'd have more options if you could get by with a 2-BR for a bit, or go up even $100-$200/month.

The entire region is great for biking (Minneapolis was just named best city for biking in the country), so you're definitely in luck on that front.

Cruz Azul Guy · 04-19-2010, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfgal

Actually buying a townhome now is a great investment if you are willing to become a landlord one day.

That is the key word. For the majority of the population, this task would be a gigantic headache.

Radical_Car · 04-19-2010, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Much as I love Northfield and think it's an excellent option for someone wanting a small town with amenities, it's probably not a good choice if you're worrying about finding a job. Northfield isn't a city or suburb - it's a town that's outside of what most people consider the metro area -- it would be "way out in the country", which the original poster wants to avoid. (a very nice town, though!)

Thats exactly what Buffalo is too, isn't bad at all, but its not what the op is looking for.