Mpls/St Paul neighborhood help

[uptown_urbanist]

With free rent and a third baby on the way, I'd be awfully tempted to stay another year -- you'd have some additional hands to help with two toddlers and a newborn, and in the meantime try to really pump up your savings even more.

Willard-Hay sounds like a good suggestion. I don't have much knowledge of that area personally, but from what I've heard from those who do, the housing stock is very good for the price. And also FWIW, my sister-in-law has a friend who lives somewhere over that area (not sure if it's W-H or not, but in a more affordable but safe enough north Minneapolis neighborhood); she's a homeschooling SAHM with a household full of kids, and it sounds like a number of other families from their church live in the area, too; my impression is that they may be looking for the same things that you are, namely very affordable housing in a decent neighborhood with enough space for large families. Not sure about the public school options over there, but Minneapolis has a number of very good magnet programs if you didn't like the zoned local school, or you could do open-enrollment.

[WendyRLee]

There are are few options you could look at, have you ever thought of buying a duplex, where you can rent out on half and live in the other, you may be able to qualify for a higher mortgage and have a lower out of pocket monthly cash outlay. There is some first time buyer money available through the Minnesota home finance agency that may help you as well.

[golfgal]

I would skip buying a house, live rent free until he is done and buy a fuel efficient car and drive. That is a crazy long time on a bus when he could drive that route in 30 minutes or less depending on when he goes in for classes. Find a good place to park. You will still save money in the long run.

As for the housing programs mentioned, just be careful because many of them require you to live in your house for a long time, often 10 years and will that be an option when he is done with his program?

[dravogadro]

If he is a grad student, you should just live in the grad student housing (The St Paul Como one). Your utlis are included in the rent price and you can take a bus ride of a maximum of 15-20 minutes. There are plenty of families with lots of opportunities and programs for the kids. Your kids can safely play in view of the laundry rooms which are located very conveniently at the ends of the townhome or apartment complexes.

[bbr1973]

golfgal, I know of no homebuyer programs with a 10-year owner occupancy requirement. Five years, sure, there are a few of those - I used one myself (Minneapolis Advantage), but the payoff was prorated each year rather than being worth nothing until the end of year five.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by bbr1973

golfgal, I know of no homebuyer programs with a 10-year owner occupancy requirement. Five years, sure, there are a few of those - I used one myself (Minneapolis Advantage), but the payoff was prorated each year rather than being worth nothing until the end of year five.

I know of several people that have bought homes with 10 year occupancy requirements.

[codydog2]

What program requires 10 years and nothing to show for the time you spent there? The longest I have seen is 7, most are 5, and as bbr1973 mentioned it was prorated if you move earlier.

However it does sound like the OP would be better off either renting or why not just have hubby drive? It does not sound like you are in a good position to buy.

[WendyRLee]

There are a lot of different programs with various lengths of how long before the loan is forgiven or needs to be paid back, the best place to look it at the Minnesota Homeownership Center website where they will give more specifics on the various programs out there. There still are some opportunities out there that may be better and cheaper than renting in the long run.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by LH0607

Cruz - Could you be more specific about which neighborhoods we should look at? You said "Phillips/Powderhorn/Longfellow/Nokomis area," but from everything I've heard, Phillips is a place to avoid. Maybe I'm mistaken?

Right, so I would hesitate to write off the entire Phillips area as I do think there are a few really solid blocks amongst a lot of fringe to questionable ones. However, generally speaking the quietest of the affordable South Minneapolis communities is Nokomis, followed by Longfellow and then Powderhorn, with Phillips probably being outside of your comfort zone. We've lived in the Powderhorn area for going on 5 years while I've been going to grad school at the U of M and it has worked out tremendously for us. If you could find a decent home for under 100k in this area I'd go for it. Where we are I can hop right on a bus or take the light rail and be at the West Bank in like 10-15 mins.