Southwest Suburbs

The Twin Cities residential market continues its trend in the buyer's favor.  New listings for the week ending August 5th were up 20 percent from the same week last year.  Pending sales for the same week were down 27 percent for the same time period.  The average market time has increased to 71.2...

Have you ever been frustrated going through all the verbal prompts when calling a company?  Well here is a great resource to bookmark whenever you need to call and get to a real person quickly.   You will find companies listed from finance, credit, government, insurance, hardware, internet, mobil...

When it comes to housing and area amenities, what do seniors want?  Some of the important requirements for seniors are health care, churches, shopping and living close to children and grandchildren.  With the new hospital coming to Maple Grove we have all the right ingredients for an active senio...

According to the Keystone Report published by the Builder Association of the Twin Cities, new construction continues to slowdown across the metro area.  Permits are down 18% from last year and the slowdown is expected to continue through 2007.  The builders however, continue to focus on marketing...

Did you know that four times as many homes were built in Minneapolis last month than any of the suburbs?  Minneapolis was issues 193 permits compared to next place Shakopee which had 46.  What is the impact to Minneapolis with all of the lofts and condos being built downtown and along the river? ...

Service Employees International Union Local 113 has filed suit to challenge the construction of the long awaited Maple Grove Hospital.  The hospital will be the first one built in the state in 20 years.  Sadly this lawsuit could hold up construction for three to six years.  Read the full story by...

What a strange summer.  We are currently in a drought but with some heavy rains tonight we are having flash flood warnings.  As far as weather is concerned the number one killer is heat and right behind it is flash floods.  Please be careful and don't drive into rising water.  The current could b...

Coldwell Banker Burnet has announced yesterday that it is acquiring Coon Rapids-based Coldwell Banker Acclaim, an independently owned and operated Coldwell Banker® affiliate company. The company will become Coldwell Banker Burnet. The Coldwell Banker Burnet Northtown office will join the Coldwell...

The Maple Grove City Council voted last week to limit townhouses built on low and high density land.  Currently about 59% of all units built were townhomes but under the new plan that will change to about 42%.  The Council was concerned that the city was ending up with too many townhomes compared...

I read an interesting article today called Pump'd: The hidden cost of expensive energy in the StarTribune by Suan E Peterson.  Builder Bruce Nedegaard shares some of his observations about how this market has been effecting many local builder.Permits are down 27% from last year and a 44% drop in ...