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tear down: The State of Real Estate: Edina and Southwest Minneapolis: January 2012 - 02/07/12 01:56 PM
With January under our belt, I'm glad to announce, the Real Estate market in Edina and Southwest Minneapolis is really improving and shows signs of real recovery.
"Recovery" is a work I'm careful about using. For the past 5 or 6 years we've encountered waves of new crises, foreclosure crisis, bank crisis, credit crisis, economic crisis... crushing any recovery at the time. But strong fundamentals continue to fuel a strong Real Estate market in Edina and Southwest Minneapolis.
January has been beautiful in the Twin Cities, maybe it's the weather, or the good employment numbers, or the fact that people simply can't wait … (0 comments)
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tear down: Significant Sale in Southwest New Construction Real Estate Market - 09/11/11 03:57 PM
Here is a significant home sale that just closed. If you are following new construction in St. Louis Park, Southwest Minneapolis, or Edina, this home represents a great value and sets something of a benchmark. This new construction home just sold for $683,000 with with 5 bed, 4 bath and 3,352 total finished sq. ft. (2,288 above ground). It is located St. Louis Park, Browndale Neighborhood, and sits right across the street from Browndale Park. I've toured this home and thought it was a very nice home. It lacks much of the detail found in more expensive homes but, given the … (2 comments)
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tear down: ROI on Architectural Design | Home Values and Doing Thing Right - 05/22/09 02:47 PM
Building and remodeling projects usually involve some discussion of value, or the return on investment. One of the often overlooked, and most valuable investments of any project is design. At every step, Architectural, Landscape and Interior Design have great return. Builders employing good design are finding success, even in today’s challenging real estate market.
Everyone wants to save money; do-it-yourself home owners, house flippers, speculative builders, even private remodeling projects, we all look for opportunities to cut costs. Especially in tighter times, we all want to do more with less.
But when success depends on profits, as is the case … (1 comments)
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tear down: The Economy of Home Size in Historic Urban Neighborhoods - 05/21/08 02:13 PM
Soapbox recently posted an article on the valuation of McMansions stating that "bigger houses are not always worth more than smaller houses". As a Realtor in Minneapolis, working in older urban neighborhoods I witness this phenomena all the time, and commend Todd Huttunen for writing about it.
In Southwest Minneapolis, Edina, St. Louis Park and other areas we are experiencing the replacement of old homes with new on a VERY routine basis. And it's changed the whole game when priced homes. I am specifically talking about highly prized neighborhoods, with solid historic housing, full of shopping and entertainment options, close to the … (0 comments)
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tear down: Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fulton Neighborhood - 03/27/08 11:42 PM
Fulton Neighborhood Association
In the southwest corner of Minneapolis, Fulton's boundaries are West 47th Street to the north, Penn Avenue South to the east, West 54th Street to the south, and France Avenue South to the west. Nearby neighborhoods include Linden Hills to the north, Lynnhurst to the east and Armatage to the south and Edina lies to the south and west. Lake Harriet sits in Fulton's northeast corner and Minnehaha Creek runs through it. The neighborhood takes its name from Robert Fulton, the engineer and artist who invented the steamboat in the 19th century.
At the intersection of 50th St & France Ave exists … (2 comments)
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tear down: Minneapolis, Minnesota, East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood - 03/27/08 11:06 PM
East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association
East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood takes its name from both Lake Harriet, and Farmstead Park. The neighborhood is bordered by 36th Street on the north and 46th Street to the south. Lyndale Avenue is the eastern boundary; Lake Harriet and Lakewood Cemetery largely make up the western border of the neighborhood. In addition to these Minneapolis landmarks, the Lyndale Park Rose Garden, Clara Barton Open School, Theodore Wirth House and the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary are located within East Harriet. A great deal East Harriet is open green space, with four gardens, a bird sanctuary, and an arboretum. One … (0 comments)
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tear down: Minneapolis, Minnesota, Armatage Neighborhood - 03/27/08 10:39 PM
Armatage Neighborhood Association
Minneapolis Neighborhood Profile: Armatage
Armatage holds down the southwest corner of the city. It is bounded on the north by 54th Street West, on the east by Logan Avenue South, and on the south and west by the city limits at Highway 62 and Xerxes Avenue South.
Originally part of Richfield, Armatage was annexed to Minneapolis in the 1920's. The great majority of housing was built between 1949 and 1969, while about 5 percent of the dwellings were built before World War II.
Home values are rising in this area, in spite of the general market, and homeowners continue … (2 comments)
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tear down: The Fixer-Upper Market in Southwest Minneapolis - 03/18/08 10:24 AM
Buying a fixer-upper in Southwest has been a popular and proven strategy for ages. But if you're not careful it can be also be a big mistake. There are new "rules" in play today that determine what will pay off and what won't.
Many are attracted to the "fixer-upper in the nice area" as way of getting into an otherwise unaffordable neighborhood. With the age of homes, and the variety within neighborhoods South and Southwest are ripe with fixer upper opportunities.
To buyers comfortable with remodeling putting in some sweat equity seems like a "no brainer". But it's not as easy as … (3 comments)
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tear down: Tear Downs will continue in Edina...for now - 12/05/07 12:27 PM
The Edina City Council (ECC) decided not to vote on the proposed moratorium on teardowns at last nights meeting.
With respect for the massing and appropriateness concerns, a temporary ban helps no one. ECC will continue to research the issue and work on developing effective policy that balances neighborhood improvement with neighborhood preservation.
The temporary ban would have had the unintended consequence of placing into limbo hundreds of buyers and sellers. For every "monster house" there is a long chain of transactions connected to it, for example, the owner of the "tear down" may be an elderly couple who want to buy … (2 comments)
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tear down: Minneapolis Votes to Restrict New Construction & Remodeling - 07/02/07 10:28 AM
In an effort that would appear misguided at first glance Minneapolis City Council voted June 29th to restrict the size and scale of new construction and remodeling. The unanimous vote seeks to address concerns over so called "Monster Houses" a.k.a "McMansions". While the concerns are highly warranted in many cases, the concern would be that this effort further hurts a slow housing market, and drives investment capital to less restrictive areas, like Edina and St. Louis Park.
The bill authored by Ward 13 Council Member Betsy Hodges basically restricts the overall size of what can be built on a city lot.
While it … (0 comments)
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tear down: New construction in historic urban neighborhoods - 07/01/07 09:11 PM
From 1900-1940 people lived, for the most part in close quarters, families members constantly interacting, in homes with just a few rooms. The first suburbs were built around this ethic as well, middle class homes from 1945-1960 were small, by today's standards. These "first ring" suburbs, as they have come to be know in many US cities, were built quickly, using the mass production methods developed durring WWII.
As lifestyles changed, and the ‘burbs expanded builders opened up the scale and size of their homes. A shift occurred in the 70's and 80's homes with 3-4 bathrooms appeared, foundations expanded and lot size … (2 comments)
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tear down: Tear Downs, In-Fill and Monster Houses Oh My! - 06/18/07 10:10 PM
Replacement Housing: The Changing Face of Historic Urban Neighborhoods
There is a trend occurring in my marketplace (Minneapolis), older homes in desirable areas are being torn down and rebuilt. A good portion of the ageing housing stock is literally being replaced before our eyes.
This change is both frightening and exciting, and it's become a political football.
Are the rest of you seeing this trend, and how are you adapting? What's your take, is it a positive or negative for your area?
The trend is both good and bad. Opponents argue that the most affordable properties are replaced with "McMansions" only the uber rich … (0 comments)
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Ben Kolkman Real Estate Author & REALTOR Southwest Minneapolis & Edina Minnesota
Minneapolis,
MN
More about me…
Results Support Services, Editor, Contributor, Blogger
Address: Minneapolis, MN
Office Phone: (612) 599-4161
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Ben Kolkman has been recognized by the local association of realtors and by local media as an expert in the Twin Cities real estate market. Ben leads discussion groups on marketing techniques for the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, Young Professionals Networking group. He was awarded the 2009 Super Agent award by Mpls St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business. KSTP and WCCO have both featured Ben in their newscasts, and he is a regular contributor on the DIY Network "Sweat Equity" cable TV program.
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