Accepting a job in downtown Minneapolis (Moving from small town in WI). What is a typical living cost? (St. Paul: fit in, 2013)

[enix0907]

I know this may be a corny question because there are a lot of similar ones I have read through. So I would like to characterize this question in my personal situation and hopefully I could receive more applicable replies. I also tried five different kinds of on-line calculators for living cost based on my salary but they are just numbers hard to reflect the reality and current time. I think people living in this area can give me more realistic advices.

My workplace will be in the center of downtown area and my basic salary is about 90k (more or less). No child and family yet. It should be a good timing to purchase my own house or condo (2~3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms) in 2013 due to incredibly low mortgage interest. However, I think renting for 3~6 months (1 bedroom and 1 bathroom with 1 covered parking) until I get familiar with Minneapolis can assure my decision without any regrets. I expect my lifestyle would be: cooking home for weekdays, some entertainments during weekends such as movies, dinning out in restaurants and some shopping and doing grocery for next week.

There are some suburban areas where people recommend like St Louis Park, Bloomington, Edina, Golden Valley, Eagan and Woodbury. Unfortunately, I haven’t gone to most areas and am not sure which one provides more options of transportation (walk, bus and Light Rail) to reach downtown. I expect I could check in my workplace within 35 mins commute. If my working hours are from 9am to 5pm weekdays and I drive to work, which one to the downtown encounters less traffic congestion? What is a reasonable fee for renting parking space in downtown?

To summarize all my concerns above to decide my living cost:
-- Good location to investing my purchase of housing/condo/loft .or. Short-term rental until I find one.
-- Safe quiet environment and neighborhood.
-- At least 1 covered parking.
-- Faster and simple commute to work within 35 mins.

I know there is no perfect solution to fit in my expectation. When I was in downtown to check some rental apartments, they are very close to my workplace in walkable distance, but one is $1500 for rent and others have pretty bad neighbors. I prefer to pay the $1500 rental for my own mortgage instead. Now I just hope to find somewhere to start in this transition.

Thanks for your time to read my questions.

[golfgal]

If you don't start work until 9AM, I would check the south suburbs, Eagan specifically. Check out the rentals along Yankee Doodle/Lexington area. You will have easy access to the Crosstown from there and then 35W, which by 8:15 will give you a pretty easy commute 99% of the time. Your commute time will be under 30 minutes going into work. Leaving at 5 is going to be a little busier though but still not horrible. There is also a large transit station with express access to downtown.

Burnsville also has several very new rental complexes right near their downtown area and across the road from their very large transit station-again with express buses and HOV lanes into Minneapolis. Actually, that might be a better fit even. You wouldn't need a car in that area at all but I would have one anyway so you aren't a slave to the bus schedules.

For a single person making 90K you do have a lot of options and that will be a very comfortable salary to rent and especially buy. Finding a short term rental might be a bit harder but not impossible. Ask around at your new job and see if anyone knows of anyone looking to sublet, has a place to rent themselves, etc.

[StilltheSame]

Much depends on whether you want this to be your home for the long term and if you intend to settle down and keep this home. If yes, then St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Bloomington and Golden Valley are places you might find a home. Those have a vast housing stock - so we would need more than just a price range.

If you intend to do what I would and enjoy being single in a decent sized city - I would look at downtown minneapolis and uptown for condos and townhouses. The challenge may be in finding something with parking, but it is not impossible at all. Many condos and townhouses either have assigned parking or garages.

[xandrex]

Do you want urban or suburban living? And how much do you realistically want to spend on housing? Do you usually drive or do you want to take transit? Any amenities you want? Let us know so we can shed some better light.

[uptown_urbanist]

Run the numbers to make sure that buying a condo really makes financial sense in the time frame that you think you'll live there; I haven't run the numbers for downtown, but when out of curiosity I compared the rent versus own numbers for some 2-BR condos in Uptown it took something like 10 years to make it cheaper to own, not rent (when doing the numbers make sure to factor in the condo fees), at least when comparing equivalent properties. You may decide that financially you will do better renting a 1-BR and pumping the saved money into other investments. At the very least make sure that your condo building allows it to be rented out, in case things change (great job transfer, end up as parent to triplets, etc.) so you don't take a hit if you need to move sooner than anticipated.

I also think it is well worth it to rent initially so that you can explore all these areas for yourself. Better to rent for six months or a year and not get yourself locked into a neighborhood that you hate. Location can make a HUGE difference in your quality of life in the Twin Cities. I can tell you that I'd be absolutely miserable living in Woodbury or Eagan, for example, while others absolutely love those areas.

As to where to live initially while you get to know the area, I agree that if you can be more specific you'll get better suggestions. Somewhere like Golden Valley or St. Anthony Park would be convenient, quiet suburban locations; if you want quiet and convenient but with more things within walking distance (and proximity to the chain of lakes), then neighborhoods like ECCO in Uptown would be a good fit. Then there are any number of nice, quiet St. Paul neighborhoods that are just a short distance from downtown Minneapolis. Or go on the other side of the river and check out Longfellow in Minneapolis. In other words, you have tons of options, depending on personal tastes and target budget.

[golfgal]

You won't need to buy a condo or townhome. Resale is not very good on those. I would focus on single family homes. With interest rates where they are now, you can buy a home for less than renting. It's a waste of money to rent really.

[davephan]

You don't mention where you are coming from. I've lived in the twin cities area for over 50 years. Housing is much more expensive than Florida, but about 1/3 what it costs in southern California. The cost of living is much cheaper than the New England area on the east coast.

I assume you mean downtown Minneapolis, not downtown St Paul, since there are two downtown areas. You could have been using "Minneapolis" as a general term as some people do for the twin cities area, or actually mean Minneapolis. The parking in downtown Minneapolis is roughly $1,800 to $2,000 a year, as of about 5 years ago. The parking might have gone up since then. I'm sure you could use Google and find out the exact rates.

Most people that live in the suburbs, work in the suburbs, usually different suburbs. There are some people that commute from the suburbs to downtown Minneapolis or downtown St Paul. Downtown Minneapolis is thriving, while downtown St Paul has been slowly dying for decades.

It would be advisable to stay away from Condos. Condos are pretty toxic to sell from what I've heard. Some have very high monthly fees too.

Renting for about 6 months will give help you make a much wiser decision about the area, before you buy a home.

There are many people who live in and near downtown Minneapolis. There are a lot of entertainment venues in downtown Minneapolis, but I don't know if there any grocery stores there. I try to avoid going downtown too often because parking is a pain there. I prefer free parking in the suburbs.

The west metro has a higher population density with more traffic than the east metro. Woodbury is nice. I don't recommend Eagan or south Minneapolis near the MSP airport because of the airport noise.

Many people really like the light rail, which is only good for south Minneapolis and some southern suburbs to the Mall of America. Before the light rail went in many years ago, people were very skeptical that people would like it, but the skeptics were wrong. People generally don't like the bus service, except for the express buses between the suburbs and downtown areas. If I had to work in downtown Minneapolis, I would take the express bus from Woodbury instead of paying a couple grand a year for parking. I think a driving commute to downtown Minneapolis during rush hour would take between 45 to 60 minutes each way. The express bus would be less time since the buses can drive on the shoulders during rush hour, as bus lanes. The MTC has schedules on-line which have depart and arrival times, so you could figure out your commute times fairly precisely for the express buses. I've waited up to about 10 minutes on the freeway entry meters when traffic was really bad. Car pools and buses don't have to wait in line for the freeway entry lights.

When there is a big snow storm, commuting will take much longer. If there is a 8 - 12 inch snow storm, most of the snow will be plowed by the next day. The freeways will be totally dry in 2 - 3 days, unless there is ice, which is rare. The metro area has about 400 snow plows. Not the plows on garbage trucks like in the east coast, but real snow plows mounted on very big dump trucks that carry the salt and other chemicals.

You should be able to easily afford good housing with a 90K salary, it is above the median income for the twin cities area.

Dave

[golfgal]

Dave--he is coming from a small town in WI, says so in the title. Airport noise in Eagan is concentrated in a few areas. Most of Eagan has no problem with airport noise at all.

[QuietBlue]

Originally Posted by enix0907

My workplace will be in the center of downtown area and my basic salary is about 90k (more or less). No child and family yet. It should be a good timing to purchase my own house or condo (2~3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms) in 2013 due to incredibly low mortgage interest. However, I think renting for 3~6 months (1 bedroom and 1 bathroom with 1 covered parking) until I get familiar with Minneapolis can assure my decision without any regrets. I expect my lifestyle would be: cooking home for weekdays, some entertainments during weekends such as movies, dinning out in restaurants and some shopping and doing grocery for next week.

Are you confident that you will want to stay in the Twin Cities for quite a while? While it sounds like you would not have trouble buying a home, you do have to consider if you are willing to commit to the area. Mobility is a very, very useful asset in a career. You can always save up some money now and wait until you are positive you are ready to make a commitment to a place, especially if you are single and don't have children to have to consider.

[Pisces69]

Light Rail