Back to the Future You’d think, in an age of online everything, that it would be easier, not harder, to do due diligence on new home builders. Especially small home builders, who may only build a handful of homes a year (vs. national giants like D.R. Horton and Pulte). Unh-unh. As recently as five years...Read More
“Build It and They Will Come” Real Estate Development “Silicon Valley Spec House Seeks $42.8 Million.” —Headline, The Wall Street Journal. For the uninitiated, a “spec” or “speculative” house is a home that a developer first builds, then tries to sell. That’s opposed to a home that’s commissioned by/for an existing client, and built according...Read More
Prefab Lite You expect to see 100′ foot cranes hovering over commercial construction sites. New residential homes, not so much. Yet that’s exactly what motorists, pedestrians, and neighbors saw last month on the 2800 block of Inglewood Avenue in St. Louis Park’s Fern Hill neighborhood. In fact, drivers had to view the massive crane from either 28th Street or...Read More
Test your knowledge of the Twin Cities housing market, and answer the following multiple choice question: Where is the to-be-built home pictured above and below located — and what is the asking price? A. Edina’s South Harriet Park neighborhood; asking price: $1.2 million. B. Edina’s Morningside neighborhood; asking price: $875k. C. Between Diamond Lake and...Read More
Tear-Downs Spread to Less Expensive Neighborhoods, Busier Streets Literally one day after the Golden Valley home pictured above sold for $77,000 last month ($2k over ask), the new owner listed the to-be-built new construction on MLS (photo, below). Asking price: $449,900 for 5 BR/4 Baths and almost 2,900 finished square feet. Not a bad bump,...Read More
