I had the pleasure of doing Cycling Home Tours all weekend!
I met my new clients, who were referred to me specifically for my unique buyer’s services, on Saturday. They are from the East coast and will be relocating to Minneapolis for new positions at the U of M.
They both currently commute by bicycle and were interested in finding a home that would allow them to continue that habit.
They didn’t have their own bikes on the trip, so I pulled a couple out of my quiver and we toured several homes in the Uptown, Kingfield, Seward and MacGroveland neighborhoods of Minneapolis and a St. Paul.
The two of them really appreciated how touring homes on bikes really gives an invaluable perspective on a neighborhood, taking in things that you would normally dismiss as you drove past.
For them it was also very helpful in getting their bearings in a new town.
The weather was glorious. The leaves were in full color. They sky was perfectly clear.
It couldn’t have been more enjoyable. I love this part of the job.
Want to purchase a house for half its price? More than 300 foreclosed homes across Minnesota will be auctioned this weekend. “It’s a sign of the times” and just a fraction of the fallout from the subprime mortgage meltdown.
I can’t say it comes as a surprise.
Like the article states, although this is the largest auction of it’s kind to ever occur in Minnesota, the homes going on the block today and tomorrow represent only a tiny fraction of the homes currently in foreclosure in the metro area.
If you’ve got the cash and are looking for a tremendous deal, the Minneapolis Convention Center is the place to be.
For the last 6 years MOCA and MORC volunteers have been working with the
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) to bring legal off-road trails to
the Minneapolis park system. The effort has resulted in a 4 mile trail system
near the Theodore Wirth par 3 golf course. But this is just the beginning.
The pilot project was a great success, with the formal recognition of the trail’s
legal status and value as a recreational resource by the MPRB.
In our continuing effort to develop a complete trail system, MOCA has been
working with the MPRB other community groups to plan and coordinate the
building of a 10-12 mile loop, extending from Cedar Lake Park to the current
trail system near Sweeny Lake.
As a component of the MPRB’s new master plan, MOCA has been asked to provide
a proposal for the design and implementation of the complete trail system. This
proposal will cover design, maintanence, and funding of the project as well as logistics
and cooperation with other concerned community groups.
There are many ways you can help this become a reality, but regardless of your ability
to contribute – we’re asking you to attend our “Town Hall” meeting at One on One Bike
to hear about the current status of the trail system and the groundwork MOCA has laid
for the future of the larger system.
Please come out and feel free to speak your concerns, complaints, and viewpoint.
MOCA leaders will provide an annotated overview of our history and current efforts, to
be followed by an open discussion by the community about the future of the trails.
WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
8:00PM Wednesday October 24th
I’ve talked to a few people who feel intimidated by the raucous reputation of this event. Trust that there will be no virgin sacrifices, but perhaps it would be best if you leave the kids at home.
Bring beer and a good attitude. Be ready to ride, but not race. Costumes are highly appreciated.
Sunday is race day.
Given the rain this week it could be a classic sloppy cross race. Look for mud and dollar bill preems.
I’m going to try to do the C race on my single speed and the B race on the Podium. Of course that is if I survive Homie.
-New Listings are on par with or slightly lower then numbers for last year.
-Pending Sales are down 20% from this time 2006.
-Active Listings are up roughly 10% from last year which means there is even more inventory for buyers to consider.
-Average Days On Market (the time it takes a home to sell) is now at 141 days which is an almost 25% increase from last year.
-Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale is at 94%. This is not bad when taken in the context of other national markets which are getting hit harder, and is food for thought when considering how to price your home before bringing it to market.
-Mortgage rates are at an average of 6.7%. A tick lower then the national average.
-The Supply/Demand Ratio for September was at a record 12.26 homes for each potential buyer! The projected ratio for October comes down to 10.5 which reflects a number of sellers taking their homes off the market for the winter months.
-There is currently 8.5 months worth of inventory in the 150,000-250,000 dollar price range. This means that if no new properties came on the market it would take eight and a half months to sell everything currently available for sale. This reflects the single family homes. Condos and homes in higher price ranges vary.
En route to Boom Island this morning I came across the new West side entrance to the new Hiawatha bike/pedestrian bridge.
Upon looking, I noted that the snow fence barrier at the entrance was taken town. It didn’t look officially open, but there was no reason to think that I couldn’t ride the length of the bridge.
There might have been a barrier at the entrance to the other side (and there was) but I found a way through.
I’d be wrong to think I was the first, but the bridge has been officially poached.
Every Autumn a ride will sneak up on me, kick my ass, and feed my soul.
Today was the day for that ride.
Last year it was myself, my son, and my dear friend Leisl
This year, the agenda changed and the crew grew…significantly.
Photo by Rich Lee, well actually some woman walking around the lake took the picture.
Rich had been planning this one for a couple weeks after reading some tantalizing Dara Moskowitz food reviews in the City Pages.
The plan was to ride en mass to Big Daddy’s Bar-B-Que in St. Paul for a pork feast, and then back to Uptown for gourmet cupcakes at Letterbox.
Having stopped into the later last weekend to sample to written-up wares (which were sold out by 2pm), I was informed that on this Saturday there would be NO cupcakes.
So in an effort to retain the theme, Rich changed up the schedule and we rode from Midtown to Cupcake.
Rich and H-Dub
Eph and Kurt
This proved to be just a culinary warm-up.
We rode across the river and made a pit stop,
Ms. Strauss’ Hot New Surly Long Haul Trucker
and up Summit Ave. (which is a beautiful ride this time of year).
When we arrived at Big Daddy’s there was a line out the door.
Like the sign says: Big Daddy’s is open for business on Saturdays.
The inside has plastic walls and no tables.
It’s simply where they dish out the meat and take your money.
3 enormous grills going right there in the parking lot.
Another Rich Lee contribution
Apparently, they go through 2000 lbs. of pork ribs. That didn’t include the beef or chicken.
It was amazing.
Laden with what must have totaled about 35 lbs. of meat, we rode to Como Park to feast.
I doubt we ate a third of what we ordered.
Afterward, we had to sit around for over an hour before we could even think about riding bikes.
We had a great ride back. I just took the lead, and set the pace all the way to the East Bank of the U.
When we crossed the Washington Ave. Bridge, we saw how they are laying out the steel portions of the 35W bridge.
Spooky.
Beautiful.
I’m going to suffer like a dog at Boom Island CycloCross tomorrow.
