Minneapolis Beats Edina No, that’s not a wild basketball score — it’s 2010 per square foot selling prices. For the first time in my knowledge, home prices in Minneapolis — specifically, Southwest Minneapolis — bested prices in Edina (I’m leaving out the very swanky homes ringing Lake of the Isles and Calhoun). What’s that about? I’d...Read More
“The Contractor Quotient” There are lots of ways to size up a neighborhood (and divine its direction): check out the local schools, talk to people who actually live there, research demographics and income, etc. But one of my favorite ways is to simply drive it during weekday business hours, and look for contractor trucks (and relatedly,...Read More
No More New Construction? Buy land. They’re not making it anymore. –Mark Twain Twain was clearly wrong about land (and real estate generally) always being a good investment; when credit is cheap and demand strong, prices can and do reach unsustainably high prices. However, his basic insight — look for something where supply is constrained...Read More
Where Are All the Garages??Guess which of the following statements about the Country Club district in Edina are true: A. Fruit trees may not be planted on the boulevardsB. Country Club is known for relatively small lotsC. Front-loading garages were originally prohibited (and are still rare).D. Homes in Country Club cost more than $1 million....Read More
What’s it Worth? Who Wants to Know? Pricing well is one of the most important skills a Realtor brings to the table. In turn, that depends on knowing which “comp’s,” or comparable sold properties, to choose. As defined by both Realtors and appraisers, the comp’s are the three homes most similar to the “subject property”...Read More
“Great Room Lite” (And Other Trends) Where: 4615 Wooddale (in Edina’s Country Club neighborhood)What: new Federal Colonial Revival with 5BR/6BA and over 5,000 FSFHow much: asking price – $1,995,000When: on market nowWho: list agent – John McDonald; broker – Edina Realty One of the fun things about upper bracket “spec homes” is that they collect...Read More
