Month: January 2010

Please put Oakland Hill back

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

By Jack Boardman

3195795269_5f84c7bb9f_o As a child I loved riding around with my dad as he went about his Saturday chores: a trip to the cleaners on Selby Avenue to pick up his starched white shirts, groceries at Klein's Supermarket (now Restoration Hardware), gas for the 1950 Buick Roadmaster at Glenn's Phillips 66 station at Grand and Chatsworth (Lloyd's Automotive) and maybe even a visit to where he worked as a display artist: the Golden Rule Department Store.

Dad would tell the greatest stories at least from my point of view anyway. One of those stories involved the Oakland Hill, and how after a snowstorm the hill would become clogged by all the cars stuck in the snow in failed attempts to climb the thing. This story was told every time we traversed the hill to or from Downtown.

The Oakland Hill, or rather the Oakland Avenue Hill was carved out of the south side of what was then called Saint Anthony Hill in 1885 to enable streetcars to ascend to Grand Avenue.

Oakland Avenue once ran from Summit Avenue to Grand Avenue and then down to its intersection with Ramsey Street and Pleasant Avenue.

In 1970, at “the insistence of the Grand Avenue Business Association” Oakland Avenue became “Grand Hill” and Ramsey Street was renamed Grand Avenue, all to take advantage of having a named exit at Interstate 35E. Ramsey once ran from Summit Avenue to Exchange Street and terminated conveniently at the Alexander Ramsey House.

This brings me to the curmudgeonly part and the entire excuse for writing this post: I liked it better the way I remember it.

The ipad

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. This was a big week because of the launch of the ipad.  If you know anything about blogs and traffic having the term ipad on my blog today will create a lot of traffic and that is why I am writingIpad about it.  Most people who do that type of thing don't mention it especially not right away.

The ipad looks pretty cool and I would not mind having one to add to my collection of electronic toys.  My mother already said that she wants one for Christmas.  I am pretty sure she isn't the demographic Apple had in mind when they designed the thing but as soon as it was announced she sent an email where she wrote "want ipad" about ten times. I won't say how old she is because my dad reads this blog and will tell her that I wrote that she is in her 80's.  The ipad seems like it would be safer for an octogenarian than an iphone because she wouldn't be able to talk on it while she is driving.

It is too bad about the name, I wonder who chose it?  Oh well life goes on and so does apple.

Have a great weekend, stay warm and buy some real estate we are all counting on you! 

 

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Got Junk?

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Got Junk?

Do you have junk?  I know I do.  Last year I wrote about the twenty somethings who leave stuff in their parents  basements.

For those of us who have lived in the same home for many years it isn't hard to end up with too much stuff. I run into this situation when I meet with people who would like to sell their homes.  There are a couple of services that I have found helpful.  One is a way to have old computers and monitors recycled by bringing them to Best Buy.  They accept all kinds of electronic items and for some there is a charge but they also give you a gift card in exchange. 

The other service which is simply amazing is 1-800-Got-Junk  They are full service and charge by the size of the load.  They will come into your home and you can just tell them what you want removed and they will get it and load it into the truck.  They charge extra for items like computers and old TVs. For people who can not move furniture or heavy items this is the way to go.

There are organizations that will take donations too. There is a thrift store in my neighborhood that will take items that can be used again like furniture and cloths and there are bins in the parking lot at the local grocery store for gently used clothing and linens. There is also the local Goodwill drop off center.

 

Are You Serious?

Posted on by Greg Sax

by G. Sax (@gsax)

Ice World Us Minnesotans tell our friends from around the country that the wind chill is negative five and they ask, "Are you serious?"

Sure, we're serious. And sometimes it doesn't get above zero degrees Fahrenheit for a week. And then when it does, it snows 12 inches. And then the snow stops and the sun breaks through the clouds and it makes the earth freeze again and we're right back to negative numbers.

We get used to it. Some whine about winter (I sure used to), but even those folks know that enduring a particularly hearty winter equals an enjoyed spring sprint into summer and fall. Four seasons is something special, and there aren't too many places I know of that experience it as dramatically as we do.

And just as we're serious about our summer funnin', we get down for some winter love, too. But, hey, keep it clean, peoples of the Internet. I'm not talking about the fact that there seems to be a lot of Virgos around here. I'm talking about the passion people here have for their winter habits.

I have bunches of friends that play broomball and lament unseasonably warm winter weather.

Ice fishing is a pasttime of many popularized in the movie Grumpy Old Men. Some elaborate ice fishing houses were recently featured on an episode of "Minnesota Bound." I saw one that had a fireplace built inside.

The Saint Paul Winter Carnival was purposefully planted in the final week of January so it would feel most like winter. Many events are held outside, including a softball tournament, ice carving, snow sculpting, and two parades.

Outdoor ice rinks are prevalent in winter. And they're always full of skaters.

I went sledding with my daughter last week. It was dark and cold, but we were both sweating from all the laughter and hill climbing.

Our downtown buildings may be linked by skyways, and our homes may have attached garages, but these things are a simple matter of convenience.

We can still proudly answer the winter weather question "Are you serious?" with a shrug and a "Sure."

And then we strap on our skates or get out our fishing poles or even line up a few homes to look at. Because winter shows the real character of a home. Anyone can look great in June. It takes a true Minnesota beauty to shine in January! And you're not going to be stopped by a little ol' winter's breath of fresh air, are you?

Of course you're not. Get out and enjoy what's left of winter!

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Foreclosure Vs. Short Sale

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

BirdhouseJanuary is when the buyers start looking at houses and everyone is looking for a bargain and there are plenty of bargains. 

Foreclosures can be a good value, they can also be money pits that cost more to repair than they are worth once they are repaired.

Short sales almost always look like the best value for the money and buyers flock to them.  A short sale happens when the bank that hold the loan on a property will accept less than what is owed on the home as a payoff for it and can be an attractive option for sellers who don't want to go through foreclosure. The seller comes out of it will a lower credit score but usually they come out better than they would if they went through a foreclosure.

When it comes to buying one of these homes it is very different from buying a bank owned foreclosure.  For one thing even though the home is listed at a certain price on the MLS there is no way to know what price the bank will accept and the bank has the final say.  The seller can accept an offer but it is subject to bank approval. 

Even if the buyer offers the asking price or above the bank may not approve the offer.  Instead they may wait for a higher offer or get a new price opinion and list the home at a higher price.  If they do accept the offer it can takes months to get a yes from them. Often buyers with draw their offers before there is any answer at all and move on.

Some of the Realtors who list the houses are short sale experts but that doesn't help the buyer. The truth is even an expert has no control over the bank and they don't really know when the bank will give them an answer.  It isn't at all uncommon for the agent to say that it will go quickly but the buyer waits and waits.

Most of the homes listed as short sales go into foreclosure.  Some get sold and actually close but not very many.  There are success stories out there but there are far more stories of buyers who just gave up and moved on and homes that went into foreclosure.   Once they get to the foreclosure stage the bank owns them and they are much easier to buy and usually even less expensive.  The banks are not much fun to do business with but they will sell and often quickly.

I am finding more and more short sales on the market and often have to explain what they are to buyers who get excited about the price.  In the public MLS systems it is hard to tell if a home is a foreclosure or a short sale. One way to tell is to look for phrases like "subject to bank approval".

There are plenty of bargains out there.  Buyers who want to take advantage of the 8K tax credit should avoid short sales, in favor of homes they can actually buy and close on before the tax credit runs out.

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