OT: Minnesota board members

[shuttermutt]

I sure hate to clutter the board, but I'm hoping our Minnesota board members might be able to help me here. You see, I'm moving to take a job in Eden Prairie this month. The job's great and I liked what I saw for the whole 2 days I was up for the interview, but I know absolutely nothing about the area.

What I've gotta do is find a place for my family to live. The company is generously putting me up in one of those nice "by-the-week" suites while I look. I think my biggest problem will be finding a place for all our stuff.

See, I'm a woodworker and I've got some large tools. A radial arm saw, table saw, jointer, planer, and so forth. I'd also like to be able to have a place to work on my truck. With all that in mind, I'd like to find a house to rent.

Can any of you Minnesota members fill me in on the housing market up there? Since the job's in Eden Prairie, I'd like to be relatively close to that area. Is it even possible to find a house for rent? Are there areas to avoid? Any advice or insight would be GREATLY appreciated.

Once I get up there and settled in, I'd like to propose a Minnesota board member get-together. Heck, the beer's on me!

[Chevelle454]

I'm from Minnesota. I can't really help with finding you a place...just look in the Star Tribune newspaper.

My mom works down in Eden Prairie, it's a nice place. I live 50 miles north of the twin cities.

Hope you like Minnesota, and remember, if you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes!

P.S. - A Minnesota get-together would be awesome!

[too much stuff]

Don't know the market around the cities, I'm too far away to keep tabs. (150 miles) Will help with the beer tho!! Like chevelle said, "minneapolis star and tribune" will help. Maybe a member can send you one. Good luck.

[bigblock73]

From MN here too...

Eden Praire is a nice city, but houses there can be rather spendy compared to other cities because of its location and community.

I am not too familair with the area, but it should be pretty easy to find a place to rent...how much are you looking to pay for rent?

[Paul72]

Here's the link to the paper: http://www.startribune.com

The housing market was pretty crazy in the cities a few years ago. I moved out of the cities in 2000, so I don't know the finer points of the market real well anymore.

If you want to talk to a A-1, top of the line realtor, call 763-571-9200 and talk to Karla. She'll be able to give you the scoop. A first class realtor (and I've dealt with a few in the area).

Any more questions, please ask!

Good Luck!

Paul Nathe

[shuttermutt]

Originally posted by bigblock73
From MN here too...

I am not too familair with the area, but it should be pretty easy to find a place to rent...how much are you looking to pay for rent?

Well, I'd like to keep it under $1,000 if I can, but I'll do up to $1,400 for a nice place. Most of the apartments I've seen on places like Rent.com seem to go between $1,000 and $2,000 a month. Sure seems high, but my best basis for comparison is Houston.

[mrein3]

The 3+ acres with 400+ feet of lakeshore next door to my new place went on the market this past week. You could have a lot of tools/trucks/etc. on 3 acres. However to drive from here to Eden Prairie every day would have you out buying a gun and one bullet in no time at all.

I much prefer the north end of the cities over the south but being that your job is down there you're sort of stuck.

Perhaps da-burb could weigh in on this subject. He is west and a tad north of there and might know more about housing prices down that way.

If you're looking to buy, $1000/month is what? - about $120,000 on a 30 year mortgage with today's interest rates. Believe it or not $120,000 doesn't buy much around here. The younger guys I know that are just starting out are looking at $200,000 for a "starter" home.

What company is your new job with?

[Don Loverink]

Id find a different suburb to rent a house in, Eden Prairie is a spendy place to live, if you dont mind driving a little ways to work. There should be quite a few places to rent there, Im in Brainerd, an hour north of there. Could send you a couple different papers or real estate books if your interested, the beer definately sounds good to me too. We will have a Minnesota truck club party sometime, Don in Minnesota.....................

[shuttermutt]

Heck, I don't mind a little drive. In Houston, my daily one-way commute was about 30 minutes. Naturally, I'd like to keep it to a minimum, but I can handle a little drive. One problem I'm having right now is figuring out where these suburbs are at. I'm using Yahoo! Maps to get some idea.

Anybody want to try something? I'm trying to figure out just how far away I could live from Eden Prairie and still have an average commute of 30 minutes or less. Somebody want to try marking up an image of the area to give me some idea? Maybe just give me NSWE boundaries?

[mrein3]

If you have to cross the river down there you're screwed. Buy/rent on the same side of the river you're working on and that 30 minute circle gets a lot bigger.

I was just down there today for my 2-year-old's birthday. We went to the zoo in Apple Valley. I know we went through Eden Prairie to get there and I know we crossed the river. I just can't remember which came first.

I've heard horror stories about having to use those bridges during rush hour.

[shuttermutt]

Ummm... river? Wherezit?

[mrein3]

The Minnesota River. The houses are cheaper on the south side of it because it takes about a week to get home if it snows.

BTW, if you're a bass fisherman Lake Minnetonka is not far from Eden Prairie. "tonka" is argueably one of the best bass lakes in the COUNTRY.

[shuttermutt]

Bass fishing... excellent!

This is the map I've been using. There's so much dang water that I can't figure out where this river is! Yeah, I'm gonna fit right in living in the "land of 10,000 lakes", eh?

[Paul72]

The river runs just north of Fisher Lake on your map.

From EP, you can go east to Bloomington, Northeast to Edina, North to Minnetonka/Wayzata/Shorewood, and west to Chanhassen & Chaska. All pretty big dollar areas, though.

Your best bet might be to go further west on Hwy 5 to Waconia, or West on Hwy 7 to St. Bonifacius. I have friends in this area, and it gets wide open pretty fast. It's probably 20-25 miles out (30-40 min).

I hope I didn't further confuse you!

[Leinie]

I live in Shakopee which is a stones throw across the Minnesota River from Eden Prairie.
Rent around here varies , but I see adds for townhomes and apartments for 800-1400 a month. The upper end ones are 3 bedrooms.
I agree- stay on the same side of the river as your job. There is lots of open space 30 minutes from Eden Prairie but it's getting spendy. Good Luck !

[da-burb]

I would look in the South west quadrant of the cities. Use Highway 12/394 as the Northern boundry out to my neighborhood of Delano or Montrose. That will make the commute about 35 minutes to EP. Now arc south until you find the Minnesota river. Some town names would be Watertown, St Bonifacious, Waconia, and Chaska. Anything from there into EP would be your best bet. Rentals are supposed to be real soft right now, but I don't think that includes enough room for a wood shop. (Which happens to be my hobby also) I think I would start with a few calls to local realtors in the area you would like to end up. Most will have rentals or know what is available in their location.

If you can afford to buy, I would. The curent market in Chaska has town homes jumping in value $10000 to 30000 from fall to springtime according to a co-worker who lives in the area.