Recipe for Multiple Offers: 1928 Fremont Ave. South

21% Over Asking Price!

Take an A+ location in Minneapolis' tony Lowry Hill neighborhood, strategically located in between Downtown Minneapolis and picturesque Lake of the Isles.

Add a huge, 4,800 square foot all-brick triplex.

Then put it on the market for $314,900 -- a whopping $351,600 below tax assessed value of $666,500.

What do you get?

Lots of Buyer interest -- and ultimately a sales price well above the asking price, or in this case, $380,547.

The deal closed last week.

And yes, it was a bank-owned foreclosure; it was first listed 3 years ago -- as a potential short sale -- for $695,000.

I discussed some of the shenanigans that took place when it first came (back) on the market in October in this post, "Hmm . . . I Wonder Where That Lockbox Key Went??"

"Calhoun Lake??" Is that by Isles Lake?

Neighborhood Expertise -- and Lack Thereof

Want a sure sign that a Realtor doesn't sell much by the City Lakes?

They refer to "Lake Calhoun" as "Calhoun Lake" in their marketing materials.

Fish (er, Realtor) Out of Water

It may be forgivable to confuse Forest Lake (the city 40 miles north of the Twin Cities) with Lake Forest (the St. Louis Park neighborhood just west of Cedar Lake and north of Fern Hill).

But getting "Lake Calhoun" (pictured above) wrong is pretty glaring -- just imagine someone calling it "Minnetonka Lake," or "Superior Lake."

In turn, a Realtor who doesn't know the local landmarks is often a sign that the home owner hired a family friend or relative, opting for a personal connection over local expertise.

P.S.: If instead it's just a typo -- it's a big one.

Shelter From the (Stock Market) Storm?

Real Estate as a Haven

Conventional wisdom to date has been that a rocky stock market bodes poorly for upper bracket housing.

That's because, compared to other Buyers, upper bracket Buyers presumably have more exposure to stocks.

When stocks take a hit, so does their purchasing power.

Witnessing the latest stock market gyrations, I'm wondering whether at least some drained investors have decided that they want off the roller coaster.

Smart investors heed one maxim: 'buy low, sell high.'

Nothing is a better value in today's housing market than upper bracket homes (it doesn't hurt that mortgage rates are at record lows -- another side effect of stock and financial market turbulence).

P.S.: a half dozen or so sales do not a trend make, but in just the last two weeks, 7 homes on or near Cedar Lake, Lake Calhoun, and Lake of the Isles -- ranging in price from $900k to $3.3M -- have gone pending.

Sunday Open House Near Cedar Lake

Art Deco Gem

What: historically designated, Moderne-style Art Deco just south of Cedar Lake. Features 5(!) Bedrooms, 5(!) Baths (almost 3,800 square feet total); first-floor Owner's Suite; and stunning, period detail in everything from the light fixtures to the hammered iron railings.
Where: 2700 Chowen Ave. South
Who: hosted -- and listed -- by Ross Kaplan (broker is Edina Realty).
How much: $875,000
When: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday (June 6). Listed . . . today!

Interested in buying one of Minneapolis' landmark Art Deco homes? (The home was historically designated by the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission in 1996).

Know someone who might be?

Please stop by my open house at 2700 Chowen Ave. South this Sunday, in Minneapolis' Sunset Gables neighborhood.

Not an architecture buff?

The home's also perfect for someone who wants a large, light-filled home on a corner lot just steps to Cedar Lake (and blocks to Isles and Calhoun).

Hope to see you!

"Location, Location, Condition"

"Not a Drive-By"

Quick, test your knowledge of Twin Cities real estate, and guess how much the single family home pictured above is listed for:

A. $149,000
B. $249,000
C. $419,900
D. $599,900

Give up?

Here are three more, very significant clues: 1) the home has been completely remodeled; 2) it's located in Minneapolis' tony Kenwood neighborhood (just east of Lake of the Isles, and close to downtown; 3) appearances to the contrary, it's over 3,000 FSF.

Correct answer: D

As they say, "the curb appeal is deceptive" (also commonly billed as "not a drive-by").

P.S.: and yes, curb appeal matters: the home has been on the market for over one year.

Bye, Bye, MLS Areas!

Searching By Neighborhood Names

No, the map (at right) isn't some sort of alternate zip code for Hennepin County.

Actually, come to think of it . . . it is.

For Realtors.

Unbeknownst to (most of) the public, the Twin Cities Multiple Listing Service ("MLS") database splits the metro and outlying areas into 139 districts.

So, on MLS, Realtors looking for something by Lake of the Isles would search under MLS area 300.

That's in addition to searching by custom map, zip code, price range, and home attributes.

"Name that Neighborhood!"

Which is kind of the problem for MLS areas: they've been superseded by more powerful (and customizable) search criteria.

So, by the end of year, they're going to be gone.

In their place will be neighborhood names (Linden Hills, Country Club, Fern Hill, etc.)

Which makes intuitive sense.

The only catch I see is that not every neighborhood is easily defined -- and not every home is in a defined neighborhood.

Just to take two examples:

--in Golden Valley, the area east of Lions Park and west of North Tyrol Hills is really part of neither. What will it be called under the new system?

--Ditto for the area west of Cedar Pass and east of Bent Tree in Minnetonka.

People old enough recall a game show called "Name that Tune."

Get ready for the real estate equivalent: 'Name that Neighborhood!'

City Lakes Too Crowded? Try a Park Instead

Where: 17xx Morgan Ave. South in Minneapolis' Kenwood neighborhood

What: 4 BR/4BA home with 4,337 FSF built in 1925 (and completely renovated since)

When: listed March 8 (11 days on market)

How much: $1.9 million

Who: listed by Mike Nash and Sherrill Kruse (broker: Edina Realty)

Minneapolis doesn't have a Park or Fifth Avenue, where people who "have arrived" live in glorious penthouses.

Instead, it has lakes -- specifically, Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, Cedar Lake and Lake Harriet.

The homes overlooking these lakes are amongst the nicest in the area, and can (still) easily fetch $3 million or more.

(Note: other city lakes include Lake Nokomis, Lake Hiawatha, Brownie Lake, Wirth Lake, Grass Lake, and Diamond Lake. However, homes on these lakes typically don't trip seven figures.)

The only catch -- besides the price tag and property taxes -- is that such lakeside homes come with lots of traffic, particularly in the summer months when everyone else likes to enjoy the lakes, too.

So, a nice alternative to overlooking a lake is overlooking a park -- like the home pictured above.

The park in question, Kenwood Park, is located just north of Lake of the Isles, and about a mile southwest of downtown Minneapolis.

Oh -- and the glorious grounds in back in back of the home -- including an architect-designd summer home -- are just as impressive as the view in front.

Oh, Yeah: There's a House, Too

Where: 28xx Benton Blvd.

What: 4BR/3BA home with 3,400 FSF; built in 1921

How much: asking price $1.050M

When: originally listed July 20, 2009

Who: listed by Coldwell Banker Burnet

Normally, the land underneath a home accounts for one-quarter to one-third of a home's tax assessed value.

So, for a home worth $300k, the land would likely be valued at $75k - $100k.

And then there's this home, set on an almost one acre lot backing up to the Kenilworth Channel (connecting Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, southwest of downtown Minneapolis):

Land value: $819k

Building value: $214k

Total tax assessed value: $1.033M

If there's a (habitable) home in the Twin Cities with a higher land-to-building ratio . . . I'm not personally aware of it.

$1 Million Lake of the Isles FSBO

Going it Alone

Where: 16xx 26th St. West, just east of Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis

What: 3 BR/4BA 1921 Colonial with 3,400 FSF

Who: listed by owner

How much: asking price is $1.195M

When: originally listed July, '08 (market time now = 16 months)

It's rare to see upper bracket FSBO's ("For Sale By Owner") -- this one's asking $1.195M -- for a couple reasons.

The biggest one is simply the fact that, as properties become more expensive and (presumably) unique, the "value-added" of good marketing goes up.

Put it this way: which can you say more about, hamburger or filet mignon?

Filet Mignon . . or Hamburger?

At $1 million plus these days, your home had better be filet mignon, not hamburger.

That means great location, great condition, and thoroughly updated. It also means tons of charm and character.

Not only must the home have all those things -- they must all be shown off to maximum effect to prospective Buyers.

In turn, that means professional staging, professional photography, professionally written literature and ad copy, not to mention a generous -- and well-deployed -- ad budget. (Note the frequency of the word, "professional".)

Oh, yeah: and professionally priced -- by a Realtor who knows the comp's, not an appraiser who's never set foot in your zip code (or a homeowner who "knows" that his home is worth more than a neighbor's . . . that sold two years ago).

Time is Money

The other reason owners of million dollar homes tend not to try to sell it themselves is that they're too busy working to pay for them.

Even with jumbo interest rates at 5.75% or lower, the "nut" for a $1 million-plus home -- including property taxes -- can easily exceed $6k-$8k per month. That's on top of the $100k-$200k downpayment you'll need.

Who earns that kind of money now?

Partners at bigger law firms, doctors with lucrative practices, senior business executives, etc. Not exactly the kind of folks likely to spend their weekend holding open houses.

Which might explain why the owner of this house is a FSBO; according to tax records, they purchased the home in 1986 for $204k.

So, it's just possible they're not a high-powered lawyer, doctor, etc.

Minneapolis vs. Manhattan

Mpls: Home to the World's Best Dog Parks

Only a Minneapolis native -- one who's actually lived in Manhattan -- could write the following post.

But I'm sure my sentiments are not unique.

For all of New York's eye-popping glitz, it actually falls short of Minneapolis in many ways, particularly the ones that count most.

With the possible exception of Central Park, New York offers up its manifold prizes to the highest bidder: the biggest and nicest co-op's, the best private schools, seats at the most sought-after sporting events, restaurants, and plays.

You could argue that this principle applies to many other choices there, too -- like marriage partners and elective office(s) such as NY Mayor -- just purchased, er, won, by multi-billionaire incumbent Michael Bloomberg.

By contrast, Minneapolis may not be a perfectly egalitarian community -- I doubt I'd want to live in one -- but there's no denying that the ethos here is much more public-spirited.

Rejecting "The Auction Society"

I'm reminded of that every time I take my dog to one of Minneapolis' world-class dog parks.

Only Minneapolis would take a choice, almost 2 acre parcel at the south end of Lake of the Isles -- a spot with stunning skyline and lake views -- and literally give it over to the dogs.

Ditto for the off-leash dog park just south of Minnehaha Falls, a 4.3 acre parcel that leads to about a half-mile stretch of Mississippi River beachfront (itself located within the gorgeous, 193 acre Minnehaha Park).

In New York, these choice pieces of land would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, then enjoyed by, at most, a handful of people.

In Minneapolis, they belong to everyone -- and their dogs.

Parking Meter Karma

P.S.: One more NY vs. Minneapolis comparison: in NY, when you hold the elevator for someone . . . you're guaranteed to be ignored (I actually tested this when I was there; results: two "thank you's" in over 100 "door saves").

In Minneapolis, when you show up at the Minnehaha dog park, you're likely to find 30-60 minutes left on the meter (I've had this happen way too many times for it to be a coincidence). If you believe in good karma -- and I do -- the right thing to do is add an hour for the next person.