The Twin Cities is blessed with some great places to eat and I thought it would be fun to showcase a few breakfast places.

South Minneapolis: Remember the old Sweet Lorraine’s on 38th Street (at 24th Ave) off Hennepin? It was a classic diner and wasn’t particularly known for great eats - more of a place to fill up and go. Well, now the chef who made The Sample Room a name in northeast, Minneapolis has swepted out Lorraine with the Citizen Cafe. It serves lunch and dinner, but I’ve only been there for breakfast. The decor is hip and before your meal arrives they bring you a few samples of their sweet breads to enjoy with their tasty coffee.

I expected to pay big for the nice atmosphere and little treats, but am pleased to say it was very reasonably priced. So next your visit to South Minneapolis, perhaps browsing for homes in this neighborhood, get a bite at the Citizen.

St.Paul: Hidden in an office building on University is the sweet restaurant, The Egg & I. It’s not fancy, but the food is consistently good and it’s one of the only places I know where you can get buckwheat pancakes and a Spinach Eggs Benedict dish. Here’s the MLS hits for this area.

If you’re looking for something a little more quirky, hip and interesting in St. Paul than go for the Day by Day Cafe. It employs folks who are on the recovery path from addiction and I’ve always had delightful service there. Things that are pretty amazing there are the caramel rolls, the huevos rancheros and any omelet. Summer time is particularly fun because the backyard patio is beautiful. Here’s the MLS hits around Day by Day which includes some really sweet St. Paul neighborhoods.

Foreclosures and short sales (ie. lender-mediated properties) continued to increase their market share in the Twin Cities housing market during the the third quarter of 2008, now accounting for 28.1% of all active listings, 34.1% of Q3 new listings and 34.5% of Q3 closed sales.  Theses statistic are according to a recent report published by Jeff Allen and Aaron Dickinson from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

Their full report can be read by clicking here: foreclosures-and-short-sales-in-the-twin-cities-housing-market.pdf 

The Top 10 Communities Experiencing the Worst Impact by Foreclosures Are:

1. Minneapolis - NORTH:  67% (% of foreclosure sales YTD)
2. St. Paul - CENTRAL:  67%                                                         
3. Minneapolis - CAMDEN:  66%                                                        
4. Brooklyn Center:  64%                                                      
5. St. Paul - PHALEN:  52.4%                                                    
6. Big Lake Twp:  52%                                                       
7. Brooklyn Park:  49.5%                                                     
8. Coon Rapids:  47.6%                                                     
9. Hilltop/Columbia Hghts:  45.8%                                                         
10. MPLS - POWDERHORN:  45.2%                    

**Note:  There are other smaller towns with fewer sales that had higher percentages.  For the purposes of this list, I used areas with over 100 toal sales year to date.

The property types (ie. Single Family Detached, Town homes, or Condominiums) that the foreclosure phenomenon is having the worst effect on are townhomes.  The number of townhomes that have gone into foreclosure has doubled year over year.  Last year there were 847 town homes sales that were lender mediated through the month of October.  This year the numbers are up 97% with a total of 1671 townhome foreclosures.  Condos are up 78.6% and Single Family Homes are up 56%.

The price ranges of homes in foreclosure is also very interesting.  There is a direct relationship between price range and lender-meidated activity.  The more affordable the market segment, the more common foreclosures and short sales become.  The number of lender-mediated properties for sale continues to grow significantly, while traditional sellers hold back in response to a slower market.  Seasonal changes in our market means that fewer traditional sellers list their homes in Q3 and Q4 every year resulting in a downturn in sales from October through January.   

If I were in the market to buy a home…now would be the time.  Mortgage rates seem to be poised to improve making it the best time in a long time for first time home buyers.  FHA loans are the order of the day.  The $7500 tax credit that first time home buyers can take advantage of is also another carrot that is being dangled to help stimulate the housing market.

Once the first time home buyers start buying, this should provide the push the housing market needs to get going again.  One last observation regarding foreclosures; while the growing market share of lender-mediated propertiesis dragging the overall median price down substantially, the true picture for traditional sellers is very different when looked at closer.  Traditional properties that are not lender-mediated sales are experiencing quieter value declines.

Marketwide, values are in decline as the market remains firmly in the buyer’s favor.  Foreclosures are seeing faster declines as financial institutions are pricing them to move quickly, and property conditions for these homes also decrease their value.  

Bottom line - if you don’t have to sell now - then DON’T!!!!  The faster we can get the foreclosure inventory sold off, the better for traditional sellers.  If you are a buyer taking advantage of the vast opportunites out there, have a five-year plan to stay in the home that you purchase.  You will need to make that commitment if you want to realize any appreciation.  If you think that you will need to move within 5 years, then stay renting. 

For more information on the market click on the report above or visit www.mplsrealtor.com to research your local market.  If you have questions about how to go about buying a foreclosed home, call me at 612-767-3982.  I have gotten quite good at it and I would be happy to help point you in the right direction.         

Landmark Center in Downtown St. Paul at Rice Park -and just because it’s October I’ll let slip that it’s haunted. Read more about that here.

Last week I had intended to write about the St. Paul Art Crawl happening over the weekend. I wanted to give you all a heads up so you could get to one of the city’s cooler events - not just for the art, but also an opportunity to get inside these uber-hip converted warehouse artist lofts. (To read more about it and see some cool pictures visit the visual st.paul blog)

But I couldn’t log into the webdigs blog to write about the Art Crawl - or anything else for that matter.

In fact, I ended up driving to the Webdig’s mothership in NE Minneapolis to find out that I wasn’t capitalizing my username - which starts with a big L…like LOSER.

Anyhow, I’m still going to write about St. Paul.

I, for one, love downtown St. Paul. Unlike it’s urban twin, St. Paul didn’t tear down all its buildings to replace it with the latest greatest thing in the 70’s. It’s historic and it’s  riverfront - so not surprising over the past few years there has been some new developments.

One is the Upper Landing project by the Mississippi on Shepard Road - pictured above. This development of two-story townhomes and condominium flats is within easy reach of the Science Museum of Minnesota, Excel Energy Center and many dining choices in and around the brick paved Rice Park. And having toured these buildings, I can say the design team took care to include the river, Harriet Island, the Cathedral of Saint Paul and the cityscape in its sight lines.

Of course, a project like this doesn’t come without controversy, but one of the cool things that happened because of  this development was the improvement of the Samuel H. Morgan trail. It runs down the river’s edge and includes a new park on the upper landing’s west end. The trail gives all of St. Paul’s residents access to their river which ultimately made their city state capitol.

To search what’s for sale in St. Paul click HERE - and get money back with Webdigs.

This 50’s house is for sale in St. Anthony Park for $399,900. More info HERE

This home built in 1924 is on the market for $239,900. Click HERE for the skinny.

Before jumping into the 411 of St. Anthony Park, let’s address a nagging issue.What’s the deal with all the St. Anthonys? St. Anthony Park, St. Anthony Village, St. Anthony Main and the city of St. Anthony in Stearns County. Was the Vatican being stingy here and wouldn’t issue us any more saints?

I happen to know the answer - not because I live in the Twin Cities - but because I’m not from the Twin Cities. It sounds counterintuitive; however, transplants like myself host out-of-town guests. In accommodating the various interests of visiting friends and family members for over a decade, I’ve learned much about my adopted city.

And here’s the scoop.

One of the first Europeans to “discover” Minneapolis’s Saint Anthony Falls in the late 1600’s was a Catholic missionary named Father Louis Hennepin. He named the falls after his order’s patron saint, Saint Anthony of Padua and apparently the rest of state followed his lead. (It’s Friday, now go impress your friends at Happy Hour.)

Onto our feature presentation, St. Anthony Park.

Located with Hwy 280 to the west, the cities of Lauderdale and Falcon Heights to the north and University Avenue to the south, this area is tucked away from the normal hustle of the metro. Like Highland Park, it’s like a small town in the city, only on charm steroids.

The main street, Como Avenue, has a European-style village feel with small (mostly local) businesses and restaurants like Muffaletta’s which has fabulous outdoor dining. It has a quiet, urban romance where shops are within walking distance of most houses and streets have been around since the first Roosevelt administration. Honestly, it’s so darn cute you see why people routinely leave notes on house doors indicating an interest in buying the property. It’s that kind of neighborhood.

The St. Anthony Park library was built by Carnegie in 1917 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

I used to work in St. Anthony Park and really enjoyed walking under the mature trees by the historic library and the expanse of green space on the Luther Seminary campus. Up the hill is the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus which shouldn’t be confused with the zoo in Dinky Town. This is the other U - the laid back Ag school with acres of working fields lacking like the craziness of the main campus.

But the U has had its influence. Many of the homes were built by professors throughout the years and among the 20’s Tudor-style homes and bungalows will be the occasional 70’s modern housing experiment, which somehow makes the housing stock all the stronger.

Go take a walk over in St. Anthony Park yourself, you’re sure to enjoy it.

Sharing the Love, Sharing the Credit:

Library Photo: http://www.sppl.org/locations/stanthony.html

Portions of the post were gleaned with permission from the Star Tribune article about the neighborhood written by Jason Amundsen.

Highland Park is a little St. Paul jewel - I know because I lived in a brick “St. Paul Classic” apartment house there for about 8 years. It is nearly equidistance between the downtowns, hugs up against the Mississippi along the bluffs and is walkable like a village. In many ways, it’s just about perfect.

And the people who live there seem to treasure it. It was one of the first St. Paul neighborhoods to welcome Catholics and Jews and the spirit of these first residents lives on places like the College of St. Catherine, the Jewish Community Center, St. Leo’s Church and Cecil’s Deli (read Rueben paradise).

The housing boom came to Highland in the 1940’s leaving charming story-and-a-half stucco houses. Here is what I consider a typical example selling right around the $350K mark. These homes are filled with carved woodwork and build-ins.

More recent development is located in the southern region of Highland where post-World War II construction meets modern townhouses and condos. A nice balance of rental property is scattered throughout the area.

The housing stock is very well maintained and the yards are exceptionally tidy. And beyond just being well cared for, the neighborhood has a sense of place. For example the historical lighting is just that – historical.

What takes Highland to the next level is being able to walk to real shopping. There is a mix of specialty shops like the Fixery and the Tea Source, as well as some tastefully built newer chains like Chipolte and Barnes & Noble.

But what anchors Highland is Lunds and the Mississippi Market Co-op. Real grocery options makes it an area where one can truly be car-free. And it’s a manageable bike ride (or quick bus trip) across the river to the Hiawatha Light Rail that can whisk you to points Downtown, the airport and the Mall of America.

Another plus is the unusually high amount of green space in the city which you can see on this map. There are also walking trails all along the river, too.

The only ding - if you call it a ding - is that it’s a pretty stately place. It’s not the neighborhood you move to to unfurl your freak flag, paint your house purple and plant giant whirly gigs. Save that for arty Powderhorn or NorthEast, Minneapolis.

Lucie Amundsen just completed a Neighborhood Profile section for the relocation guide, Twin Cities Living. It made her fall in love with the region all over again.