Ball'n Rental Places in the cities.

AJ · 02-26-2007

From apartment to townhomes, what are some of the best rental places you've ever been around? From floor plans to amenities to views and overall location.

A//// Guy · 02-26-2007

You mean "ballin" right?

Downtown lofts would own. Otherwise Cloud 9 is pretty sweet, the water tower apts in EP are really nice too. I havent been through many other places. Our place is a deal for what you get, Im happy with it for now.

**JET** · 02-26-2007

This place isn't totally nuts, but is extremely nice. I lived there for about a year and was very happy with it. It is on Rice St. in Little Canada, just south of Kath's

http://www.tbigos.com/site.aspx?SiteID=60

**scheides** · 02-26-2007

I haven't seen too many places that stack up against this place:

http://www.thesymphonyrealty.com/

of course, it's in Ft. Lauderdale :P This is my brother-in-law's place.

**Kracka** · 02-26-2007

I am happy with Southampton, but Watertower Apts in EP are really nice if you want to spend the $$$ ($1030 for a 1-br, no utilities included). Huge bedroom and bathroom, but the kitchen and living room isn't overly large (but still plenty big enough).

As for rental townhowns, Deer Creek in Minntonka (just down Smetana from us) are pretty nice and spacious.

AJ · 02-26-2007

I was looking at one yesterday in some book that had everything from pool tables to a roof top putting green and life size chess board.

**asshanson** · 02-26-2007

I loved my old apartment building. Marquette Place, on 13th and Marquette. The lobby seriously looked like a really nice hotel, marble and gold trim everywhere, big statue/fountain out front. Inside the rooms were really nice too, probably the nicest high-rise apt building downtown. We had the biggest floorplan at 1300 sq ft, $1800 for a 2 bed, singles start around $1200. Amenities were crazy, 24/7 conceirge, tennis courts, hot tub, indoor pool, 4th floor patio, billiards, 35th floor rooftop deck, etc. Only had to pay electric, free A/C and heat as well. If I were really ballin and wanted to pay an extra $200/month, I could have had 34th floor with an unbeatable view of downtown, would have been pimp.

Another place my roommate and I looked at was this loft in the Mill City area. It was an owner renting it out for $1600/month. It was a 2 bed with 24/7 valet and also a few other amenities.

**scheides** · 02-26-2007

Why rent? you guys already own, why not buy a house? For the price of a nice appt you can buy a decent home and continue to earn equity.

AJ · 02-26-2007

I'm just curious at this point, but the thing is, it might be easier for us to look at renting for a year before buying our next place. With the way the market is selling isn't something you can expect to happen by a set time. And if the townhome sold we'd have to find something pretty quick to avoid being in a hotel for a few weeks or longer. And in the area we'd like to look (Hopins, EP, Minnetonka, Edina) there isn't all that much for us in the price range we want to stay in.

We are just leaving it as an option.

92EvilTalon · 02-26-2007

Keep the Townhome off the market search for your house. My .02 do not go big. Get a nice little starter home. Yes it might suck but that will keep the price down. If you really want get a house that needs work to be done on. That will really bring the price down. Then turn around and sell the townhome.

Or look at condos. Do not go to Apartments. You two are at a stage were going up is better then down. If you want get a trailer yes it will depleat but eh...sorry thats also a thought. Good luck man...Spring time and winter well the last of it is pretty much a good time to start looking around for houses.

Oh and go to a Mortgage place and get pre-aprove ... so you can really get into your price range. Between my wife and I we were qouted 120 thousand. And we went with a house that was 72 thousand.

AJ · 02-26-2007

Jana · 02-26-2007

Yeah...lol

Honestly, with the area we want to get in, moving to an apt for short term is ideal. I don't want the stress of selling our townhome and finding a home in our range (which isn't that high right now with the new car we bought).

Yeah, it would kind of suck going back to renting, but the idea of having a fitness center, pool, etc right at your fingertips is also something I'm interested in.

slowbubblecar · 02-26-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92EvilTalon

Keep the Townhome off the market search for your house. My .02 do not go big. Get a nice little starter home. Yes it might suck but that will keep the price down. If you really want get a house that needs work to be done on. That will really bring the price down. Then turn around and sell the townhome.

With how bad the market is right now, what makes you think they would be able to get anywhere close to what they would want for their townhome very quickly? If they weren't able to sell the townhome quick after finding a new place, they would have to pay 2 payments until their townhome sold. Your plan doesn't sound like a very good idea.

AJ · 02-26-2007

With many rental places, we also have the option of not only choosing a time of year to go though the buying and selling shit, but also many places let you go month to month with a 60 day notice after either a 6 or 12 month lease. That plays nicely into the plan.

**Goat Blower** · 02-26-2007

This is what you might do in a good market, but not a bad one like now. Say you sell your townhome and don't get that much since the market is low. You rent and after a year the market is up again and guess what? You pay more for your next house. You just lost $50K+.

I'd look at affordable houses in a good area, but the areas you listed unfortunately that's not really feasible. I'd pick a less popular city like Brooklyn Park or Fridley, you're real close to downtown and you don't pay $300K for a dump. And I'd look at houses but have a contingency that your current townhome sells before you purchase the new place. A lot of sellers don't like this, but the market sucks, prices are good, and a lot of sellers will do whatever it takes. It's a real good time to buy right now.

**asshanson** · 02-26-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goat Blower

And I'd look at houses but have a contingency that your current townhome sells before you purchase the new place. A lot of sellers don't like this, but the market sucks, prices are good, and a lot of sellers will do whatever it takes. It's a real good time to buy right now.

I negotiated a wait time of over 3 months after agreeing to buy my place before I actually closed because the market is bad. The 3 month wait was because of my apartment lease.

AJ · 02-26-2007

The main thing is, we won't take a hit on our townhome just to get out of it and move closer. The terms have to fit and if they do the move into the rental side of things would be justified more so, if not, we aren't in any hurry to jump head anywhere.

Lots of stuff will be analyzed after the wedding as well now.

**JET** · 02-26-2007

I agree with Steve, don't get out of owning a place. You will lose money if the market comes back around and it will be even harder to get into a place. I also agree to check out a smaller house, there are getting to be a lot of places that are turning around. Check out NW Columbia heights, Fridley, and Nordeast Minneapolis. I am sure there are places in the SW too.

**Kracka** · 02-26-2007

I think they want to stay in the Edina/Minnetonka/Eden Prairie area since they both work down here now. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive area to buy. You may be able to find something cheaper further out into the Chaska area, but I for one would not be willing to move so far out.

AJ · 02-26-2007

Yeah, location is very important if we move. There isn't any point in us moving to an area such as BP or Fridley right now. We work work withing a mile of each other now near the 169/62 area. We would also be saving a lot of money in gas with a move as well. We know there would be pros and cons to each choice and right now it's nothing we even need to worry about. The house isn't on the market and we don't even know if it will be this year even. But when it does, renting is an option we'll keep open.

For now I'm just more curious to see what's all out there to places. The "Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek" look sweet. that's the place with the community roof top putting green. LOL