New-and-Improved in Fern Hill The Seller (my client) moved out in July. Guess who moved in? Not the Buyers — their contractors. Six months from now, this 1937 Colonial will have undergone a top-to-bottom renovation costing well into six figures. Take a project like this, multiply by 10 (conservatively) over the last 2-3 years, and...Read More
Chain-Reaction “For Sale” Signs It’s one of those anomalies that you see from time to time — and that understandably gives Buyers pause: a block where every other house seems to be for sale. At the moment, that phenomenon seems to characterize Basswood Road, a 3 block-long street just west of Cedar Lake that straddles...Read More
From Dowager to Belle of the BallWhere: 2820 Huntington Ave. South, in St. Louis Park’s Fern Hill neighborhoodWhat: top-to-bottom renovation of what had formerly been a 1 1/2 story home with less than 2,000 FSFWhen: listed August 6; closed Sept. 20.How (much): asking price = $859,900; sold price = $840k (purchased last Winter for $390,000).Who:...Read More
(Knowing When to) Open it Up What do you with a space, like the one pictured above, that feels claustrophobic and cut off from the rest of the home? Open it up. So, what was once a seldom-used Den — technically, a legal Bedroom — is now annexed to the sweeping, new Living Room. In...Read More
How Budgets Get BlownI ran into someone at my open house last Sunday who explained how their remodeling budget doubled: as the project unfolded and the contractor(s) suggested ways to improve the original plans — as well as correct problems that became apparent once the walls were opened up — the owners repeatedly found themselves...Read More
The Rehab “White Elephant” When isn’t bigger better? (Try saying that 3 times!). When it’s a major rehab. The dividing line seems to be about 3,000 finished square feet. Below that, and “bringing up” a house with the proverbial good bones can be done for as “little” as $150k or so, spent strategically (Kitchen: $40k;...Read More
