Search found 58 matches

by winterfan
May 26th, 2016, 10:06 pm
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Suburbs - General Topics
Replies: 1138
Views: 348031

Re: Suburbs - General Topics

Thank you for the explanation! I get it, but I have never seen it in practice, except maybe during a recession, then the taxes still increase while the market value goes down. Maybe it does happen. I’ve never seen a decrease. I find property taxes so confusing! My assessed market value jumped 10%. M...
by winterfan
May 26th, 2016, 2:53 pm
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Suburbs - General Topics
Replies: 1138
Views: 348031

Re: Suburbs - General Topics

Not if the improved school quality results in improved neighborhood desirability that inflates everyone's home values. Then it would stay flat. You mean as a percentage? Sure, it will stay flat, but you will pay more if your 300K house is now worth $375K due to the improved schools instead of $325K...
by winterfan
May 26th, 2016, 1:06 pm
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Suburbs - General Topics
Replies: 1138
Views: 348031

Re: Suburbs - General Topics

Sure, and then your taxes would go up even higher when reassessed. Not if the improved school quality results in improved neighborhood desirability that inflates everyone's home values. Then it would stay flat. You mean as a percentage? Sure, it will stay flat, but you will pay more if your 300K ho...
by winterfan
May 26th, 2016, 9:45 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Grocery Stores
Replies: 254
Views: 50057

Re: Grocery Stores

I'm not much of a coop fan either. I belong to the Wedge, but I rarely shop there. Sometimes I will stop in to get some bulk grains or beans, but that's not really enough to warrant a stop. Plus, they do not carry everything that I need, so I'd have to go to another grocery store anyway. Why waste t...
by winterfan
May 26th, 2016, 9:23 am
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Suburbs - General Topics
Replies: 1138
Views: 348031

Re: Suburbs - General Topics

The increase in taxes was probably hard to stomach. People with a $300K house could expect a $372/yr. increase in property taxes. That's about a 10% jump in taxes. The school levies for MPS seem much more palatable. I think the last one increased our taxes about $50 a year. BUT, if the schools impr...
by winterfan
May 25th, 2016, 2:00 pm
Forum: Suburbs
Topic: Suburbs - General Topics
Replies: 1138
Views: 348031

Re: Suburbs - General Topics

The increase in taxes was probably hard to stomach. People with a $300K house could expect a $372/yr. increase in property taxes. That's about a 10% jump in taxes.

The school levies for MPS seem much more palatable. I think the last one increased our taxes about $50 a year.
by winterfan
May 19th, 2016, 9:16 am
Forum: Saint Paul
Topic: St. Paul Restaurant News
Replies: 306
Views: 164778

Re: St. Paul Restaurant News

I'm not surprised it's off the market already. That seems like a pretty good deal to me.
by winterfan
May 14th, 2016, 4:35 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Home Buying
Replies: 110
Views: 14003

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

I'm friends with the previous owner. He moved to Victory after 11 years at that house. His best guess is that lady from Bloomington who bought it wasn't a good fit for the neighborhood. Not everyone is cut out for living in north. The price seems fair, but he couldn't see any changes that were made...
by winterfan
May 13th, 2016, 5:31 pm
Forum: Local Politics and Governance
Topic: Sunday Liquor Sales and other Beer/Liquor Legislation
Replies: 231
Views: 36708

Re: Sunday Liquor Sales and other Beer/Liquor Legislation

I guess what bugs me is that nobody's talking about *WHY* they're so interested in protecting this one business group's interests given that they obviously don't have the same concerns for any other industry. I suspect that if we follow the money we'll find out why. Probably for the same reason car...
by winterfan
May 12th, 2016, 5:18 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Home Buying
Replies: 110
Views: 14003

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

The middle one on 22nd Ave is nice! It's not huge, but I think it would probably go for around 320K or so in SW. I'm curious why they are selling it so quickly. It shows the last sale was March 2016.
by winterfan
May 11th, 2016, 9:16 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - Downtown
Topic: "East Town"
Replies: 94
Views: 10526

Re: "East Town"

There is a mall in Madison called East Towne (yes, with an e). That's what this new name reminds me of- a shopping center. Much like Southtown and the Northtown Mall here in the TC. It's a terrible name.
by winterfan
May 9th, 2016, 9:18 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - General Topics and Citywide Issues
Topic: Zoning in Minneapolis
Replies: 285
Views: 85034

Re: Zoning in Minneapolis

Sober housing is a cash cow. If the rules haven't changed recently, they can put something like four people in a bedroom and charge an enormous amount of rent for each bed (often paid by the state). Generally, I believe it's pretty quiet. It houses people right out of rehab so they are motivated to ...
by winterfan
May 6th, 2016, 10:56 am
Forum: Minneapolis - South, Southwest, and Uptown
Topic: Southside - News & General Topics
Replies: 1102
Views: 393946

Re: Southside - General Topics

Has anyone else been watching the apartment renovation at 3515 2nd Av? They've done a great job restoring a historic apartment building. The brick details are lovely and it looks like they are using nice materials. I noticed today that they are accepting applications, so the reno must be finishing u...
by winterfan
May 2nd, 2016, 2:44 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Public schools, School Districts, and Education
Replies: 27
Views: 3205

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

The quality of the school attendance boundary you live in can have a serious impact on the potential resale value of your starter home, regardless of whether you have kids or not. In the general sense, I'd agree with that, but I don't know if that's true in Mpls though. We bought in SW Mpls and at ...
by winterfan
April 30th, 2016, 10:31 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Home Buying
Replies: 110
Views: 14003

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

LOL- my husband and I were just looking at that moments ago! I don't know if I have another renovation in me though.
by winterfan
April 28th, 2016, 12:06 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Home Buying
Replies: 110
Views: 14003

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

I've been planning to buy a house this spring, but have gotten really nervous about the market. In the urban neighborhoods I'm looking in, it seems prices are really close to where they were at the peak of the market. In Northeast, I keep seeing houses that sold for about $170K in 2012 that are lis...
by winterfan
April 28th, 2016, 10:34 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Home Buying
Replies: 110
Views: 14003

Re: Renting vs. Owning | Apartments vs. Condos

We bought our house at the peak too. I think SW Mpls was more affordable in the early aughts, compared to now. Things were still totally overpriced though IMO. At the time we were DINKs so we had a large down payment saved. We bought a complete dump of a house for around 240K. We've slowly fixed it ...
by winterfan
April 25th, 2016, 8:35 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Future Cars: Electric and Autonomous Vehicles
Replies: 545
Views: 196320

Re: Future cars / Driverless cars

Uh, oh. Now the Dutch are going to start getting fat. Seriously, exercise is one of the main selling points of riding a bike isn't it?
by winterfan
April 24th, 2016, 7:14 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Housing Market/Economics - General Topics
Replies: 255
Views: 114251

Re: West Calhoun Apartments - (3118 Lake Street W)

Even setting aside natural light, I simply couldn't imagine living in an apartment without the ventilation that a bedroom window provides. I guess modern buildings are built with constant air conditioning assumed, but I couldn't live that way. Exactly, and it just makes that kind of unit all the mo...
by winterfan
April 23rd, 2016, 9:29 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Twin Cities' National and Global Image
Replies: 1024
Views: 220022

Re: Twin Cities' National and Global Image

Right on. I honestly can't think of any single city that really drove nationwide music since Seattle in the '90's. I don't think it's a coincidence that that was just before the rise of the internet. Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk I can't either. I blame Napster. And right before the Seattle expl...