patrick.net

Minneapolis is fantastic. I live in the far exurbs.

What specifically would you like to know? Public schools rank among the best in the nation, BUT we've had significant budget issues here as well (of course). The metro area is loaded with universities/colleges as well. If you want your kids in sports I'd consider one of the smaller public high schools in an exurb instead of a huge suburban high school. With 4,000 kids in a school, how in the heck do most of the kids even get a chance?

Thanks all for the replies! I think more of the question is, at least for the Bay area folks.. is do you cash out now, move out of state for awhile and then think about coming back later? I think its going to be years before the area regains its posture. (at least housing) The job market to me, seems to be picking up. I see more and more traffic which is a good sign. Although the numbers for unemployment is odd. Where are these people going morning/afternoon if unemployment numbers are high?

Yeah, the weather is a factor, but I like the cold and snow. Spring/fall/winter and SUMMER.. summer is amazing.

Its almost a perfect situation for us if my company offers to buy the house and relo us. We dont have to sell it, they take the house, be done with it and start new again.

Its all these pros/cons. arg!

"if my company offers to buy the house and relo us."

I've never heard of an offer like this before. If so, what is the handcuff?

Besides current salary, what effect would moving to Minnesota will have on your career, from a mid-longer term perspective? I see people all the time transferring to Portland, Denver, etc. It sounds good but, if they offer the same pay, you're likely busting the salary range in Minnesota and you will not see raises in many years and pretty much capped out. A career is about what you are working toward to make in 5 years, ten years.

If you make 150K (due to salary matching) and your colleague who are just as capable makes 100K (local range), it creates a very dangerous situation for you. It'll doesn't take long to have it be noticed on the budget.

traffic is up because school is back in session.

People like to feel the winter and enjoy the cold. Living in the cold day after day is completely different.

It's like people who enjoy the snow and think Alaska would be nice. No it's nice to go skiing in the snow, it's not nice to deal with it day after day.

Housing problems are more national than anything. Once you leave the area, even if only for a few years, when you come back the price difference could price you out of the market again.

If the state is in trouble now, and you're unhappy with services now, then any state that has a balanced budget is going to likely have far fewer services to begin with. Net/Net things will even themselves out.

its the negative housing numbers. If I can get out now before the crap really hits the fan... (which all we here is its gonna) I could cut my loses instead of waiting around the bay area for something to happen again. Im clearly not an expert at predicting home prices, but if prices are going to fall more, and then take 5 years to gain 1-5 percent in prices... im going to be stuck here until I can "break even" which when you figure taxes and maintenance and what not.. im not breaking even.. not even close.

Granted we cant predict the housing future of the Bay Area much less the community down the street.. my gut says its gonna go down until Obama is ousted from office.

As a former Minnesota resident, I can say it is a nice place to live. Where in Minneapolis are you going to work? I lived and worked in the Downtown Minneapolis area.

Well, we are not there yet.... its a national company.... we can leave it at that :)

tomme,

Time to get Culverized man. Enjoy yourself a big giant butter burger and custard. Minneapolis is a promising city. Get the hell out of CA!!! Go live your life. Don't sweat this and don't jump over dollars to pick up pennies. Cash out!!!!!

-Hooch

If you move to Minneapolis be prepared to get a heater for your engine block so it doesn't freeze up on you for 9 months of the year. I grew up in Chicago and I left the Midwest when I was 32. We say there are four seasons in the Chicago Area and they are as follows: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, & Summer. Summer could be 2ish-3ish months or 4 months depending on the Jet Stream. Now if that's the way we call the seasons in Chicago, I'd hate to hear what they call the seasons up in Minneapolis. Brrrrrr!

I used to love winter. However, even I got sick of it by end of January/beginning of February when the snow starts looking all gray with round areas of yellow. And after that you can still have winter snow through April. May might start to warm up slightly. The beginning of June could still be chilly. By the time Halloween comes you have usually experienced your first bought of freezing rain and sleet.

I grew to loathe carrying a shovel in my trunk so I could dig my car out when the City plows would bury my car as they passed by. And I got sick of scraping ice and brushing snow off of my car and warming the car up sufficiently to drive it to work every morning.

I got rid of my car for the last couple of years I lived in Chicago. Waiting for buses and/or the L in sub-zero temperatures in the bitter wind gets old. And you get tired of climbing snow banks just to get to the bus stop when there's real snow.

Sell in Bay Area. Rent in Minneapolis. Then you have all your options open to stay there or return here eventually. Prices here in the Bay Area will not be going up anytime soon. IMHO.

Good luck to you !!!!!!!

Yestomme12 says

Well, we are not there yet…. its a national company…. we can leave it at that

Yes, many BA tech companies actually have some of their folks in Minnesota. The state has been attracting SV companies for many years. Seagate has lots of people there as do many others.

tomme12 says

Thanks all for the replies! I think more of the question is, at least for the Bay area folks.. is do you cash out now, move out of state for awhile

That too has been happening for some time now. Many CA has sold their homes and moved to the South and Southwestern states. CA in- out- migration has been equal given population being flat.

If selling your home in the Bay Area is a good idea, it ought to be a good idea regardless of where you move to;even if it means you move to a rental next door.

If moving to Minnesota is a good idea, it ought to be a good idea regardless of whether you're selling a home in the Bay Area.

Those notions can be considered independent of each other.

Something I agree with danville, one should rent in a new region for a while (at least a year or longer) before they form an opinion about buying.

simchaland says

If you move to Minneapolis be prepared to get a heater for your engine block so it doesn’t freeze up on you for 9 months of the year.

ROTFLOL! I live here, and this is absolutely FALSE. I don't have a block heater in my vehicle, and, even when I am forced to park outside at Christmas time at my mom and dad's, I never have any issues. Just make sure your battery is good, obviously.

And 9 months out of the year - that's ridiculous. It's only actually really cold in Minnesota December through March. Winters have become so wimpy in the last ten years I don't sweat them one bit.

It's been HOT AND HUMID AS HELL the last month or so - with temps like 95 for a high and high humidity to boot. Right now I'm actually looking forward to some cooler fall weather.

simchaland says

Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, & Summer. Summer could be 2ish-3ish months or 4 months depending on the Jet Stream. Now if that’s the way we call the seasons in Chicago, I’d hate to hear what they call the seasons up in Minneapolis. Brrrrrr!

When I grew up there, we called it 2 seasons--winter and construction.

danville woman says

Sell in Bay Area. Rent in Minneapolis. Then you have all your options open to stay there or return here eventually. Prices here in the Bay Area will not be going up anytime soon. IMHO.
Good luck to you !!!!!!!

I have not thought about the renting strategy yet. I do want to buy to get the kids settled in, but since they are only in daycare anyways... probably not a big deal to hold off for 12 months or at least spring.

as for the winters... come on people... its either too hot or too cold or too rainy, or too snowy or too windy.. there is always something somewhere you live. To me, if you work hard, have a great job, a big house helps.... and vacations to sunny places too! Makes the winters go by easier!

I do really appreciate all the comments. Its tough to give up on a house we put a lot of time in, but not seeing a return to move on to another house and probably will not for years.. is tough. I have a get of jail free card from work to move on... I may use it to start over again. Its adventure right?!

As for Culivers... many times been there. Originally from Wisconsin. ahhhhhhhhhh yum

Absolutely rent. You have no idea of what a commute might look like, or what neighborhood you might by mistake buy into. Also if the weather turns out to be a problem, or perhaps even the culture, you're not stuck.

I have heard this reasoning far too much "Makes the winters go by easier!". It's terrible. I grew up in Vancouver, and it rains a tremendous amount there. Upwards of 200 days a year! That is essentially 4 days of rain per week, with 3 days of "preparing to rain" days :) It's beautiful, but the grey skies and rain are horrendous. Trying to reason with people on why I don't want to live in a rainy city is futile, so I flip it around. When they are visiting, I say "Would you rather deal with rain, or simply have a vacation every day of your life".

You *will* get used to it. But WHY? You could get used to living in a cardboard box too, or a tent but WHY get used to it? WHY make plans to escape winter? If you're making plans to escape winter, then you're already acknowledging it's not pleasant.

From Hella to Doncha Know.

You have kids? I would recommend Edina. A Minneapolis burb. Excellent schools.

Im not super excited with the state of California. They have dug the biggest hole in history of state governments and there is no end in sight.

The East Bay is heavy with Govt jobs and a corrupt managment running it. The state overall dug itself into the hole because the (1) state govt believed in the hype of the dot.com era, where we would have new billion dollar industries and contiued revenue from stock options and employment growth. (2) the rise of home prices was legit, and hgher prices from property taxes would inflated home sales. So in each case they kept creating more and more government spending programs, but the projected revenues never appeared from the bubble economy.

We need to change the state song to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles....

You are correct Thomas.wong. The spicket from the .com era was turned off a long time ago, but for whatever reason, California kept spending like there is no tomorrow and creating useless programs. Took awhile for it to come back around.. but its only going to get worse.

Edina was actually where I was looking at. The schools are fantastic there. Football program looks solid. :) (not the vikings!)

Its hard to swallow at times... Our home appraised at $750k. If someone pays me that.. super. But I look at Edina for example and see the cost of living adjustments, schools, quality of public services. Then look at what $750 (ok, say $650k) gets you in Edina. Not too shabby.

My main concern I think is the fear of what the state is going to do with these huge deficits. Its only going to get worse before it gets better.

@tomme12
The budget gap is large, but remember it's likely to be closed by making changes in many areas. Some personal cuts, some personal wage cuts, some tax increases, some tax revenue increases as the economy picks up, and some capital spending cuts.

If you say we have to close the gap by ONLY cutting jobs, it's going to lose terrible. Or ONLY increasing taxes, it looks terrible.

pkennedy says

as the economy picks up

Keep dreaming :)

Thanks all for the comments everyone! While Im not big on debating politics.. (obama and pelosi need to go asap) and have no crystal ball... all I know is that I should probably cut my losses. Its tough being a first time home owner and having it sink slowly for 5 years. (not dramatically, but still). Its not about flipping the house, or "riding out the storm". We never bought the house to hold onto forever... but eventually move to a bigger place. Well, the way it looks now, it could take longer for even a teny-tiny recovery to happen. Longer than we have planned on being where we are at. Its kind of like if we dont get out now, it will be years before we will have a chance to actually live somewhere else without paying for it for years to come.

Family right?!