St. Paul Real Estate

Keeping it Real for Saint Paul

by G. Sax, @gsax

Hiya. I took last Wednesday off, but your favorite guest blogger is back to tell you about two cool little Saint Paul resources.

First Item: Saint Paul Tweetup.

Before you get all mad and shriek "I don't want to know anything about tweeter birds!" just hear me out. The group uses social media tools like Twitter and Eventbrite to get the word out about monthly meetups around the city, but the primary purpose of this group is to actually get people together in person to see if some good will come of it for friendship and for business and for Saint Paul.

So far, so good. I haven't been to any of the gatherings yet, but I know T and Jack have, as have several casual friends from Twitter and some real-life friends from real life. It's a growing group and it's good for Saint Paul.

You can find the Saint Paul Tweetup folks at twitter.com/stptweetup and #stptweetup.

Second Item: St Paul Spot.

It's a website located at stpaulspot.com about the things happening around Saint Paul but what really caught my eye is the app available for it. Why this boosts my interest is because I'm often looking for stuff to do after I'm already out doing stuff. I just started playing with it, but it looks promising enough to promote. If you care about doing things and spending your personal dollars in Saint Paul, then you should load this one up on your mobile device.

Our city won't thrive without homegrown effort. It wasn't so long ago that Saint Paul supported two downtown shopping malls and University Avenue was stuff with merchants. I'm not suggesting that we need more malls or storefronts selling cars, but it isn't impossible to think that our social interactions are a boon for the city. The resources and ingenuity are in place. It takes very little for us all to tap into it.

Plow

by G. Sax, @gsax

I have been fortunate enough to live in and or visit most of the major metropolitan areas in this great country, and none of them compare to the Twin Cities in terms of fast, efficient snow removal.

To be fair, St. Petersburg, Florida has less need for snow plows than St. Paul, Minnesota. And I can't say that I've witnessed the good work of the response team the day after a huge lake effect snowstorm in Buffalo, New York. But I have to imagine that we're among the most awesome places for driving the day after a 10" dump of white powder.

For anyone reading outside the Twin Cities, and probably for several of you reading from within the 13-county metro, the question is obvious: Who cares? Snow sucks, right?

To each their own, I suppose, and I'll admit that I'm happiest when snow is limited to a couple-few months of activity. But even when it's not, I can handle. I think it is a wonderful part of life in Minnesota.

Because I know the plows will come. Just be careful with them plows. Give them plenty of room when they're doing their thing. And pay attention to snow emergencies. Here, I'll give you the reason why you have no excuse for not knowing if we are in a snow emergency. This is via Twitter:

@cityofsaintpaul 24,500 people now get a text or email notification when a snow emergency is declared! Are you one of them? Join... http://fb.me/MlTifphM

That link is all you really need to get going with email alerts. You'll also get a look at several additional city alerts that you can receive. The City of Saint Paul has made it very easy to stay informed without ever having to visit their website. But if you wish to view that, too, it's a great site. Go to http://www.stpaul.gov.

Hey, check me out! I got to my point in half the words I usually do!

Minnesota home sellers

Just a couple of tips if your home is on the market during the winter months.  Leave the front light on.  The days are short. It is hard to open the lock box and unlock the door when there is no light.

Make sure there is a walk-off mat by the door that is large enough to put a few pair of shoes on. It will help keep you floor dry and clean. We will remind our clients to take their shoes off.  We don't want to mess up your home.

A home with lights on and that is warm is welcoming on a cold winter night.  Buyers tend to want to linger.  You want them to linger and to feel at home because you want them to buy it and make it their home.

I have been injured on the job more than once because I slipped on an icey sidewalk at night.  A couple of years ago I was hurt badly enough so that I couldn't work for a few days.  I know I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt on my property and I am sure you don't want anyone to get hurt on yours.   

Activity slows up a bit this time of year. This year it will be hard to notice the holiday slow down because it is already slow.  There is some looking but not a lot of buying. Each time a buyer veiws your home it is an opportunity. You need to do everything that you can to make it count and the little things do make a difference.

Car Vs Fountain

It happens every couple of years.  Someone keeps going South on N. Walnut street instead of turning right or left on Irvine Park and they hit the historic fountain in the park when they go off the road and straight down the hill. This accident wasn't caused by snow it happened before the snow.  The driver was taken away in an ambulance.  When it is car Vs., Fountain the fountain wins. 

There were many spin outs and accidents on Saturday because of the snow storm.  My daughter spun out on a freeway exit ramp but she was not injured and there was no damage to her car.  I managed to take out a street sign in Bloomington.  My car was damaged which is a shame because I have had it for less than two months.  I am lucky that no other car was involved but I dislike having a new car customized that way.

I am sure insurance companies and car body shops will be busy today. Car repairs give someone local an opportunity to have a job and make some money so it isn't all bad.

The annual first snow

BY Jack Boardman - Guest Author

The heavy snow warnings went out and the media prepared for a “snow event” scheduled to occur Saturday through Sunday here in Saint Paul and the surrounding area. Dire warnings of up to twelve inches of heavy, wet, snow were given and repeated and repeated.

Weather is always a big deal here in the North-Country; it's what we talk about when there is nothing to talk about and in particular, the local media loves to talk about the weather. We also love to criticize the media when they get it wrong; and we soon forget when they get it right.

They got it right this time.

I had some errands to run on Saturday and decided to venture out early before the ill-prepared swamped the local merchants. It always seems there are folks who don't get the message the media is delivering and wait until the last possible minute to stock up. After mulching the last crop of fallen leaves on Friday I needed gas for the snow-blower and the car was down to a half-tank; I ventured out early Saturday morning.

The ill-prepared masses weren't awake yet so it was me, the car, and a camera versus the heavy snowfall. Piece of cake. And it was beautiful to behold. I took the long way home. The city looked like one big Norman Rockwell painting with snow falling and clinging to every available surface. And the silence; snow muffles the ambient noise of the city and makes everything seem peaceful.

I love the first snow-fall.

Sometimes even the second.

After that? Is it Summer yet?

Huh?

Pastery or lutefisk?

Now it is Friday and Fridays are for fun.  Yesterday was Thursday and tomorrow will be Saturday.

Sax already spilled the beans and now everyone knows that I was in New Orleans last week and so was he.  Our annual Realtors conference is a big deal. There are like a million of us and I think 9 to 10 thousand go to the conference. It is kind of scary seeing all of those Realtors walking around draped in the free bling they got at the expo. Nice plastic beads with round plastic medalians hanging from them and clear plastic objects with logos on them that glow in the dark.  They kind of look like tourists but not in a good way.

By this point you may be wondering what any of this has to do with lutefisk or pastery and I applaud you if you hung in there long enough to read this sentance.

I love New Orleans. It is colorful and vibrant there is art and music every where.  It is an amazing place.  A kind of photographers paradise. I took hundreds of pictures and may post a few tomorrow.

The food is wonderful and that is what got me to thinking. One of the foods that is popular in New Orleans is beignet. It is deep fried, covered in powdered sugar and served warm.  It is one of many  popular local dishes, most are deep fried but not rolled in powdered sugar, which is a good thing because powdered sugar is really hard to get off of camera equipment.   When people talk about New Orleans they mentionn popular local cusine.

I have lived in Minnesota my entire life. We have good food here but I needed help figuring out what passes for a local dish or regional speciality. I got some help through the internet.  Lutefisk . . which is fish that is boiled is one of our regional dishes. I have had it a few times and trust me it isn't nearly as good as the food that I had in New Orleans  and I question how popular it is. No one eats it or at least no one admits to eating it. Same difference.

Wild rice is popular in Minnesota too. It is also a food that we export . . unlike lutefisk which we import. No one knows why we import it but we do. Wildrice is good espeically in soup or turkey stuffing and it makes great "hot dish" which is popular here.  I have not tried it deep fried but I am guessing that even deep fried it would taste better than lutefisk tastes.  In fact if we put a batter on lutefisk and deep fried it even with a coating of powdered sugar, assuming there are no cameras nearby,  it wouldn't taste very good. It tastes like the lye and has the texture of jello that didn't quite jell right. 

If we can't have amazing local dishes like they have in New Orleans we could at least get rid of the lutefisk  and change the internet to say that Minnesota grown wildrice is our famous local food.  I am going to take it up with my friends at VisitSaintpaul.com and Explore Minnesota.   Maybe they can help get the imported lutefisk on the internet sent back and replaced with our own locally grown wild rice. Wild rice just has to be better for tourism than lutefisk.

Home ownership

Owning a home sometimes requires a little sacrifice. This week I had to give up two of my pretty cartoon postage stamps.  One stamp went to the water utility and the other went to the city to pay for yet another assessment that was levied because there are no new taxes but we still have to pay for everything.  The sheet of stamps looked so pretty that I hung it on the fridge that was before I took it down because two stamps are missing. 

No it isn't Friday.