Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Derek69SS · Founding Member

House hunt continues...

Enganeer · Mega Poster

Was there some wind damage?

The roof looks a little rough and some trim is missing from the 1st pic.

Taxes due seem high for rural area. Are they based off the bubble pricing or close to listing pricing.

Propane could be pricey for heat but better than electric.

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

That looks like a real nice house.

SteveS · Super Poster

Said she trusts my judgement. Wow what was she thinking?

It does look really nice. And you're closer to me when I start storing all my stuff in your shop

How close is it to the airport?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

It's about 3 miles straight West of the airport... might be loud, but there's not too much large jet traffic there, so I could live with it.

jim larson · 2K+ Club

In this market, it's hard to go wrong. Close to Rochester for lots of work options and either Stewartville or Rochester schools is a plus. Airport probably won't get expanded. Short trip to I 80 and US 63. Relatively new construction is a plus. You'll probably not find 10 ac very easily without some gravel. If you want 10 ac, you will probably not see natural gas as an option.

Dan Williams · Active Member

Derek69SS wrote:
...for now. Going to look at this one tomorrow. Jenna will be working so she can't go with, but she gave me the go-ahead to make an offer without her even seeing it. Said she trusts my judgement... she must be nuts, I don't even trust my judgement most of the time.
http://www.flexmls.com/share/2AVx/6720-80th-St-SW-Stewartville-MN-55976
Foreclosure on 10 wooded acres with a creek running through it, beautiful yard, 10 minutes from work, nice 3000sf house, and a 50x60(?) heated shop...
Unfortunately, it's on 1/3mile of gravel, and the taxes are kind of high...

Road can't be any worse then that thing you used to live on. I would think hard on gravel also, but not necceasiraly a deal buster.

Lost in the 60s · President

Derek69SS wrote:
It's about 3 miles straight West of the airport... might be loud, but there's not too much large jet traffic there, so I could live with it.

It would depend on the time of day they were taking off too. I think I've seen FedEx cargo jets there and they usually leave in the middle of the night. This was a few years back when I was still doing OTR in the winter. With the economy much slower, they may not use that terminal much anymore.

It appears to be about 4-5 miles from I90. We live 2 miles north of I94 and when the wind is out of the south it sounds like the traffic is running right thru the neighborhood. If I remember right, I90 is running a fairly good grade thru there and you may hear the trucks with open stacks and the jake brakes going down.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Today another came on, practically next door to the other... is it possible for a shop to be "too big"? Not sure I could afford the heat bill there...

http://www.flexmls.com/share/2Af6/8515-County-15-Rd-SW-Stewartville-MN-55976

$40k more, but that first one needs a roof, and possibly a septic system, so there's $25k that this one doesn't need, and this one's on blacktop... I'd pay $15k for blacktop.

House is way bigger than we need, and there's no attached garage. Shop is huge but could be divided into a maneageable size to heat with plenty of area left over to store junk in the cold part.

Both properties are getting up into "uncomfortable" territory for the amount of debt I'm willing to jump into.

Enganeer · Mega Poster

That is a big house and shop...No attached garage would be a breaker for me as there is not a lot of shelter to break the winds of winter there or having cars buried in snowbanks.

The flow of the shed before the house on the driveway seems backwards unless you drive commercial truck or farming with some big equipment. If someone is going to be messing with my stuff, they have to go past the house and I might notice that.

If it is way more than you will need (house) and feeling uncomfortable with pricing, I would pass, it would be no fun being mortgage poor. You would be better off finding a deal on house with land and then building a shop to what you want.

Lost in the 60s · President

The house is obviously designed for a 3 car garage on the right. It would be nice to know if it is framed for the overhead doors and just sided and rocked over for an office, or whatever is in there. If framed for doors, it could probably be converted back fairly easily and inexpensively. I can't tell from the pics if there is basement under there, but the square footage seems to indicate that. It would need to have a spancrete floor then too, to support the weight of cars overhead. I have to agree with John, though, if it can't be converted cheaply, I would have a huge reservation about that price tag and then adding on an attached garage.

Asking if a shop can be "too big" is NOT a valid question. I would love for mine to be that big. Yes, divide it off for paid storage, install a dropped ceiling in the work area and just heat that. It appears to be well insulated with blown on now too.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Just got back.

First one we're writing an offer on... second one needs a lot of work and money stuck into it.

Lost in the 60s · President

Derek69SS wrote:
Just got back.

First one we're writing an offer on... second one needs a lot of work and money stuck into it.
OK, first one meaning the house on 80th ?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Yes... it's priced VERY agressively, already has one offer and 2 more that are likely to write one. They start looking at offers tomorrow.

Lost in the 60s · President

OK, I was wondering about what looked like water damage on the lower level of the second place on 15th.

Guess you would have to build your own kart track on 80th, eh....

Back in Black · Active Member

Hey Derek, I just moved to Rochester!

-- Edited by UsedToHaveAnElCamino on Saturday 10th of December 2011 10:52:31 PM

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Cool Keith, we'll have to get together for a beer some night. Where are you living & working?

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

Those are both pretty nice. THe second one woul dbe my drem house : ) We have 4 kids and they hate sharing rooms,but we really like our little town location we can walk to everything. Houses is it is always give and take and time seems to change what we want and need. The second one if you plan on more kids would be nice. They both have room to grow.

Hi Kieth, where abouts in Rochester ?

-- Edited by Bowtieman427 on Sunday 11th of December 2011 12:16:38 PM

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Someone must have wanted it more than me... they accepted a better offer. We offered a couple thousand OVER asking price, and still didn't get it.

Oh well, something else will come up.

SteveS · Super Poster

Dang, sorry to hear that.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Maybe what's "meant to be" is that I stay where I'm at for the winter and get my car done before moving everything for a 3rd time.

Lost in the 60s · President

The one in Hayfield near the kart track is dead ?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

If he comes down to my offer, I'd still buy it. I figure if he goes another month or two with no offers, he might just decide to deal with me.

Back in Black · Active Member

Derek69SS wrote:
Cool Keith, we'll have to get together for a beer some night. Where are you living & working?
Definitely! The sooner the better.
I'm still working in Farmington. Judy works at Mayo. It was either a 140 mile per day 5 days per week commute for her from Lonsdale or a 110 mile per day 4 days per week commute for me from Rochester. It's a very easy drive for me. We're NW just off 67th St. It all happened rather fast. Judy sold her house in 30 days. We were looking for something with a large garage or extra outbuilding of course but couldn't find anything just right. So we (really means I) settled on a nice house with some land but a much smaller 3-car garage than I had in Lonsdale with the understanding that I will build a new garage or expand the existing one in the spring. We looked at this place:
http://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/MN/Mantorville/55955/58501-280th-62718050/popup
2000 square foot heated and air conditioned garage with a finished party room upstairs. There is enough room on the property to build a small go-cart track. The smaller detached garage is a finished off guest house. If it was anywhere else other than in the middle of a corn field we would have seriously considered it. The garage was awesome but it needs a new roof. So does the house.
Where are you working Derek? Last I remember you were commuting to Woodbury or something like that?

Bowtieman427 wrote:

Hi Keith, where abouts in Rochester ?

-- Edited by Bowtieman427 on Sunday 11th of December 2011 12:16:38 PM

Hey Jim. We're near 67th St. and 18th Ave. NW. Driven through Pine Island a few times to and from work when I feel like taking the road less traveled.

-- Edited by UsedToHaveAnElCamino on Monday 12th of December 2011 01:05:12 PM

-- Edited by UsedToHaveAnElCamino on Monday 12th of December 2011 01:06:01 PM

Dan Williams · Active Member

Derek69SS wrote:
Cool Keith, we'll have to get together for a beer some night. Where are you living & working?

That's a great idea Keith! Last time I stopped at Derek's for a beer, it was after 3:30 when I got home on a week night!

Derek69SS · Founding Member

UsedToHaveAnElCamino wrote:
We looked at this place:
http://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/MN/Mantorville/55955/58501-280th-62718050/popup
2000 square foot heated and air conditioned garage with a finished party room upstairs. There is enough room on the property to build a small go-cart track. The smaller detached garage is a finished off guest house. If it was anywhere else other than in the middle of a corn field we would have seriously considered it. The garage was awesome but it needs a new roof. So does the house.
Where are you working Derek? Last I remember you were commuting to Woodbury or something like that?
That's a nice place! It's about $50k out of our budget, but the "middle of a cornfield" location is just what we're looking for. Some trees would be nice though...
I'm working at Ford Metro, a glass company on West Circle Drive in Rochester. Been here for about 2-1/2 years now. Just sold our house in Dexter, and currently staying with my parents in Adams until we find something.
Jenna and I are carpooling for a couple more weeks, but I can meet you for a beer after work sometime after the new year. It would be good to see you again, it's been a while.

Dan Williams wrote:

That's a great idea Keith! Last time I stopped at Derek's for a beer, it was after 3:30 when I got home on a week night!

Stay away from this guy, he's trouble.

Back in Black · Active Member

Dan Williams wrote:
Derek69SS wrote:
Cool Keith, we'll have to get together for a beer some night. Where are you living & working?
That's a great idea Keith! Last time I stopped at Derek's for a beer, it was after 3:30 when I got home on a week night!

Let's set it up!

SteveS · Super Poster

Here are MNDOTs studies,Plans & Future projects. I don't think what you're talking about is on the list, but it doesn't mean it isn't on another list.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadwork/future.html

Actually the Cannona Falls to Hadar section would be in that area I believe?

-- Edited by SteveS on Thursday 26th of January 2012 12:50:42 PM

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Going to look at this one tomorrow... http://www.smtidx.com/live/IDX/details.php?id=4034386&type=re&sort=1

Here's the map. http://wikimapia.org/#lat=44.3413723&lon=-92.7563614&z=18&l=0&m=b

Awesome location for convenience to both Rochester and the cities, but it will be noisy right along 52...

SShink · 3K+ Club

Looks nice Derek. I'm a little surprised by the property taxes being that high, but I've not looked at acreages lately... Good luck!

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Interesting, I’m curious to know what the inside of that Quonset hut looks like, ie: floor, elect…. Could be storage room for all our cars, could also be a possible source of revenue.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Does anyone know if you can find out somewhere what the state may be planning for future highway projects?

I've heard about turning 52 into an interstate, and also running a passenger rail line along side it, which would really hose the resale on this place if access to 52 ever was lost, or if they decided to "Eminent Domain" a bunch of land away from me.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Hmmm.... looking at the Cannon Falls to Hader map, the arrow pointing to Zumbrota is right on top of the property.

These 2 things concern me:
"Removal of approximately 29 Highway 52 at-grade access points."
"Moves the "Highway 52 vision" closer to its goal of Highway 52 as a fully-access controlled freeway."

Lost in the 60s · President

Personally, I wouldn't consider it becauseof the location. Too close to the road and noise. The chance that you could loose your direct access would be more reason to stay away.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Could that be a reason the sellers are trying to sell it?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Yeah, I nixed it already... will keep an eye on it if it gets real cheap, but the thought of 2 miles of gravel if they close access to 52 is the deal-breaker.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

This one just came on... http://www.smtidx.com/live/IDX/details.php?id=4034496&type=re&sort=1

Here's the map.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=44.0947399&lon=-92.6976049&z=19&l=0&m=b

Priced well, nice house, 3.78 acres, blacktop road, 10 minutes from work, good school district, and in Dodge County where property taxes are reasonable and they let you do just about anything without requiring permits and inspections. Also, Mantorville is a very "historic" town, which is very cool.

We'd need to build a shop, but it's in the price range where we could still afford to put something up, and do it my way.

All I've seen so far is pictures, but things feel "right" about this one from the start...

Derek69SS · Founding Member

BTW, the actual property is about double the size of what it looks like on the map, so there's plenty of room to build a heated shop and an unheated pole shed for storage.

SteveS · Super Poster

Nice place. My Sister lives a couple of miles down the road (other side of Oxbow park) and they really like the area. Byron has about everything you need, and property values should only go up as Rochester grows.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Looks good Derek. Other than a little appliance and fixture updating, very solid.

There is something to say about planning/building your own shop too. That way you get what you want.

Fingers crossed!

Enganeer · Mega Poster

Looks good!

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Whats a "mudroom"? Ive never heard of that before.

Lost in the 60s · President

Chris R wrote:
Whats a "mudroom"? Ive never heard of that before.
Usually a room between the garage and house where all the coats, boots, shoes, bats, balls, etc get dumped before entering the actual house. We have a laundry room where we enter the house from the garage and it's our "mudroom".

Chris R · 2K+ Club

That was my guess. An area where the dirt doesnt get tracked everywhere.

Lost in the 60s · President

Nice location ! It's far enough away from Hwy 14 to avoid all the commotion. Like Stan said, it could use a little updating but certainly looks very livable while that goes on. I see a propane tank in the back. Is that the heat fuel ?

Chris R · 2K+ Club

An oil burner furnace perhaps.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

That one's out... love the location, but hate the layout of the house. Way too many stairs, poor use of space, all bedrooms are on the 2nd level, and it has a very impractical floorplan. Basement has been wet too.

After a slow January, houses are just starting to trickle onto the market again now, so I'm confident we'll find something that suits us better... The option of buying a crappy place and building new on it is still being considered as well.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

You would have had to spend money on building a shop too. Thats another 30-40K. Your better off doing what you have been doing. Looking for a house with a building already there which someone else spent the money to build.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

How about this one Derek?

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/reo/2826757876.html

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Chris R wrote:
You would have had to spend money on building a shop too. Thats another 30-40K. Your better off doing what you have been doing. Looking for a house with a building already there which someone else spent the money to build.
More like 60-80k for what I want... unfortunately, we're looking for the "needle in a haystack" with our requirements of location, acreage, blacktop road, privacy, and price. When they do come on the market, it's a bidding-war.

Chris R wrote:

How about this one Derek?
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/reo/2826757876.html

Nice place, but it's 2 hours from Rochester. I'd be closer living in the cities.