I would rent first as the houses are very high. Lots of traffic there and alot of the people live just outside the city limits. Besides the Mayo Clinic and the largest Mall, and the Twins, etc there is a high demand for housing. Even good rentals

I lived in St. Paul until 2 yrs ago. Compared to Chicago where we now live, Minneapolis/St. Paul is cheap.

Best house shopping website - edinarealty dot com. Everything in the metro area is listed there, regardless of the company that actually has the listing.

Is it just you who's moving or is there a family involved? Will the new job be IN Mpls or in one of the suburbs? Which one? All that will make a difference on places to live. There are neighborhoods to avoid, but in general the Twin Cities is a pretty good. What questions do you have?

We are moving to the TC's sometime this year too! I use ziprealty.com to do my housing searches. You can save different searches, save some in your favourites and get emailed when the status changes. You can also see price reductions, how long it's been on the market, etc. They also offer a bonus to the buyer.

When you search for a home, you need to be aware of the area in relation to the airport. It's a VERY busy airport, so you want to make sure you don't buy in a flightpath area.

I don't find the TC's expensive at all. We currently live in Tucson and we can get far more house for less money in the TC's.

I can recco a good realtor to you.

There is a lady in the St. Paul area that I am on a forum with. She has one of the best real estate blogs. You may find more information there. I am also sure she wouldn't mind if you contacted her either.
I lived in Minnesota for a little while. I was in the Alexandria area. I did help my sister-in-law at the time find a house in the suburbs. They weren't as expensive back then.

Here is a link that might be useful: Teresa's Site

Hi, I'm from the Minneapolis area -- I think it was in a post of sparksals from awhile back where I advised to look at *where, specifically* in the Twin Cities area you'll be working and start your house search in neighborhoods convenient to the location. If you can help it, you don't want to travel diagonally (i.e., work in the southeast metro and live in the northeast).

If you feel comfortable giving us a hint as to where you'll be working (is it in Minneapolis proper, or one of the surrounding suburbs?) I'm sure there are a lot of other Minnesotans here who'll be glad to offer suggestions.

Oh for crying out loud... of course, diagonal would be southWEST to northeast, or southeast to northWEST.

deeje - you're right about choosing the area from where the work will be. When I find a house I like, I ask the realtor how long it would take for dh to get to work and sometimes it's an hour or more because of traffic. Yet, it's less than 20 miles away.

Wow. I didn't think I would have such a great response. I'll try to respond to everyone.

Mariend,

Thank you for the response. I'm looking to buy using the proceeds from the home I just sold. I heard about the Mall of America. My son is excited about the idea of having an amusement park inside a mall..

kec01,

My job is located St.Louis Park on 394. I did some research and found that 394 runs directly into Minneapolis. I have a son. I'm a single parent. I've been doing some research on schools and see Wayzata and Minnetonka are some good schools. Does anyone have any input on those schools?

What neigborhoods should I avoid?

You may want to check over at the city-data forums. You may be able to get more people from the area to respond to you....good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: city data forum

sparksals,

Thank you for you advice. Bonus to the buyer? Thank sounds interesting. I will have to look into it.. Have you lived in Minneapolis before?

cpowers21, Thank you for the blog. I've been searching google alot lately. I see that you sell real estate. Do you have any suggestions or advice?

Yes, bonus to the buyer. Check out ZipRealty.com. I don't know how they do it, but it's obviously legit.

No, I haven't lived in the TC's before, but will be sometime this year.

You are working in a great area! Try to find a place to live where you don't have to rely ONLY on the 394 and the 100 to get to work. Side streets can really be your friend during summer construction/rush hours.

I recommend Edina or Hopkins from a school district/location standpoint. although if you lived in SLP I believe there is still open enrollment and you can send your child to Edina schools. 44th and France area is a really cute neighborhood close to the Lakes and close to Edina schools and property values really appreciate.

Best of Luck!

Heh - but if you're from the west coast, don't call the freeways "the 394" or "the 100" when you get here; people will look at you as though you've grown a third eye!

You might also consider Golden Valley. Much of the city is in the Hopkins school district, and the housing is a bit more fairly priced than SLP, I think. Email me if you want more info.

I hear Highland Park is a nice area. Can anyone give me the zipcode? It's not listed as its own city in the RE searches.

Also, can anyone recco areas for new builds that are close to Mall of America? Or at least not a crazy commute to/from there?

I live in Minnesota, though not close to the metro area (Alexandria!) I have family living in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Park, Maplewood and 'uptown' Minneapolis. I would never liver in the Brooklyn Park area.

I live the area By France, that someone mentioned.

The mall does have an amusement park, but we also have a huge amusement park in Shakopee...google 'ValleyFair'

Sparksals: funny you should mention Highland Park. Lived on Bayard Ave. for two years and went to Derham Hall when it was still on the campus of St. Catherine's College.

Highland Park is a section of St.Paul (zip 55116), not a suburb.

We almost bought a house in Highland Park - it's a great area and it is just that - an area in St. Paul which is about 10-15 min (in no traffic) to the Mall of Amer. However, for niceguy it would be a very long commute to SLP.

Sparksals, why do you want to be close to the Mall - jobs? Bloomington has alot of newer homes and the Mall is it's backyard. Houses are way too new for us - that's why we chose St. Paul - older housing stock.

I think you will like Minneapolis once you get used to the weather extremes! I have lived in several areas of the country and think it is one of the most liveable metro areas. Some pluses include great parks and trails all over, terrific hennepin Co library system with lots of branches, many cool after school and summer activities for kids, and good public schools are available. Based on where you will be working a home in the Hopkins school district could be ideal. It includes parts of golden valley, hopkins, and minnetonka (school dist names do not correspond with town boundaries). Edina, Minnetonka, and Wayzeta could be other district options to look at. St Louis Pk seems to have more problems. Minnesota has open enrollment so you may be able to get your child into another district, if desired. Also have public charter schools that have a particular focus. And hopkins has a spanish immersion program. Lots of choices!

I think the edina realty website is easy to navigate and allows you to search many ways. Note the ability to check sold homes--it's nice to see what is really selling and for how much. Lots of variety from condos, townhomes, smaller 50's ranches, bungalows, to mc mansions depending on your taste and budget. Live near downtown hopkins if you want to be able to walk to everything and have a small town feel(or 50th and france in edina for away more upscale version) or choose a nice tree studded 50's suburban area in golden valley or minnetonka or go further out(w,n,or s) for newer homes (in former cornfields). When I moved from out of state 7 yrs ago,I lucked out and found a really good realtor who is in an office near your job, let me know if you want her name.

The tip to try to have alternate routes other than 394/100 is a good one. Good Luck!

Hi Niceguy.

I grew up in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. I absolutely love the Twin Cities. Lots to do (as mnzinnia described) and all four seasons are beautiful. I have family enrolled in the Wayzeta school district and they are very happy with the education the children are receiving. Good luck to you and let us know where you land!

mnsue

duluth - thanks for the zip!

kec - yes, dh will be working across from MoA. Commute time really isn't an issue, but we certainly don't want him to be driving hours to work. He will have a company car, so gas won't be the issue. I think the biggest one would be having a long commute in poor weather as well as air traffic noise. We definitely want to avoid that.

I think we'd rather go newer to have more of the things we want. I love the architecture of older houses, especially the woodwork and built ins. However, we're leary of older houses unless they've been completely renovated to include plumbing and electrical.

Welcome to MSP!

Sparksals - If you're looking for a city neighborhood with proximty to the MoA, Highland Park is a good option - it's a very quick drive. On the Minneapolis side, the Longfellow neighborhood is an option - not as expensive, more "on the rise" price-wise than St. Paul, borders the river and a big park (Minnehaha) to the south. And it is NOT in the flight path of the airport! Longfellow has a lot of old houses, but I mention it because there are infill places everywhere - you never know what you might find...

Be careful if you end up looking in Eagan - they recently opened a new runway N/S and the noise is now impacting parts of Eagan. Have you found the MAC noise website (link below)? It's very helpful.

Niceguy - I second the Golden Valley recommendation. For 394 and 100 there are some good options for non-100 travel to work. And it's not too far out that you'll be commuting in agony if you change jobs to, say, work in St. Paul in a couple of years. I like Hopkins and it's "downtown" area too. Robbinsdale (next to Golden Valley) also has a cute little downtownish area, which even many locals don't know much about. Not sure about the schools, however...if you can afford them you won't go wrong in Edina or Wayzata schools.

Here is a link that might be useful: MSP airport flight path mapping

Hi! Welcome to MSP. I'm not sure if you're still looking, but we just happen to have a nice home for sale. Everything has been redone including all mechanicals and cosmetics. We are 10 minutes from the MOA, 20 minutes from Valley Fair and right in between 35E/W. We are not in the airport flight path. I would be willing to pay your closing costs as well.

MLS#: 3365804

Here is a link that might be useful: MLS listing