The Saint Paul Condo Blog

We had a wonderful turnout for our (CRC) second First Friday, a community based happy hour.  My rough estimate puts attendance at about 65 people or so, representing about 15 buildings.

The idea behind First Friday was to bring a bigger sense of community to Downtown and I think it's working.  I saw plenty of people talking to their neighbors from different buildings and their own.  The night was also designed to raise awareness of Capitol River Council or District 17.  CRC operates as a private, non-profit organization engaging residents, business owners and property owners in issues and projects in Downtown Saint Paul.  To get involved with CRC, click the link about and find out what you can do to be active in your community (or soon to be community).

The next First Friday is scheduled for June 1st at the Hat Trick Bar and Lounge.

It has been a busy week!  After taking two days off over Memorial Day, there has been a lot for me to do around the office.  I have been showing condos all over downtown and in fact as soon as I wrap up this post, I am off to another showing.  So please accept my apologies for such a long time between posts.

Just an interesting observation about the current market conditions.

When you compare 2007 year-to-date stats with that of last year, there are two very interesting facts coming up.

First, There are more condos for sale this year (247 compared to 223)

Second, there are less sales (78 compared to 109)

What does this all mean?

Depends.  If you are a buyer, it's primarily good news.  More condos to choose from and you have better negotiating power than ever before.  The down side is a longer time before you can expect to be in an equitable situation with the property you buy (My gut tells me 5+ years).

If you are a seller, it's not the news you want to hear.  If your house is on the market now, or if you are planning to sell it, you need to have everything in perfect, near model condition.  The key is taking away all of the potential buyers' objections.  Meaning if you have dated appliances or cabinets and your budget permits, you should replace them.  Pricing and staging are two important factors as well.

I'll write more tonight about what Sellers can do in a "Buyers Market"

I read an article on Foxnews.com this morning talking about the sale of the Penthouse at the plaza Hotel on Central Park in New York.  Almost 9500 square feet with three levels of space (called a triplex in NY) and it just sold for $56,000,000.  Not a typo, 56 million dollars!!!  I knew it was common to have price per square foot in the $1000 rage in New York, but this just blew me away! 

I talk a lot about price per square foot, because it gives you a quick comparison of condos and lofts.  It really is a good tool to understand the market.  Obviously, there are other factors in whether or not a condo or loft is a good value, but the PPSF gives you a snap shot which can be helpful.

Well when you take $56,000,000 and divide by 9500sf you get $5,894ppsf.  Saint Paul?  Try an average of about $230ppsf!

Hmm, some really corny saying is coming to mind....

Location, location, location.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275191,00.html

Thanks Nancy for catching the typo's!!

Since I live in Downtown, office out of Downtown, and nearly all of my business is conducted in Downtown, I do a lot of walking!  Most of my showings are on foot, which I am pretty sure is rare for a Realtor.  Well today is the kind of day when I question my sanity of always walking to work.  I got absolutely soaked today!  The umbrella did little to protect me from the buckets of water falling on me and my socks were soaked.

If I were just a little younger, I would have likely started jumping in the puddles because after living in Downtown for 3 1/2 years I have never seen so much water in the streets!  The corner of 7th & Jackson was flooded with water easily 4 to 5 inches deep.  I am actually writing this entry with my shoes off to let them and my feet to dry off!

Not sure how this is real estate related, but I think all of the excess water has short circuited this highly connected agent ;)

Oh, I know how this is real estate related!!  I don't have to worry about my basement being flooded out since I live on the 15th floor of the Pointe!!

Our business trip lasted a little longer than expected, but we did get a lot done!  I wish I could have spent about another week working on our new project, but that was just not realistic.

Like I said earlier, the new site is not complete, it never will be (the same way this site is never complete).  I do however still have a lot more that needs to be done to the site to call it functional.  I would guess that the rest of the site will be up and running by the end of the month.  I will be adding to it today, so if you check it out early, stop in again, more will be done to it.

Drum roll please.........

www.TheStPaulWay.com

We are leaving town tomorrow for a three day business startup trip.  We are making some big changes at The Kleppe Group and it seems the only way to do it right is to step away from the day to day operations of YourStPaulHome.com for a few days.  We have become the go-to source for all that is Downtown Real Estate and we plan on expanding to all of Saint Paul.  We should have about 50% of the new site up and running by Monday, May 21st.  I would love feedback on the new site, so I will post a link to the new site on Monday.

If you are a fan of this site, you will LOVE the new one!  And don't worry, YourStPaulHome.com will only get better!

It sounds like a joke, but it's not!  One of the exhibitors at the 2007 Millard Fillmore dinner, River Cities Condos is building 200 condominiums on top of four barges.  The plan is to travel the waterways of the USA, depending on the time of the year.  When I normally talk about price per square foot cost for condos, it's in the $150-400 range with most falling in between $200 to $300 a square foot.  This project is pricing their condos at $500 to $550 a square foot!  Then there is the association dues...  Most buildings in downtown are charging between $.30 to $.45 per square foot.  Any guess on the cost for River Cities??

$1.95 a square foot!

Now before you completely think these number are out of line, keep in mind the association dues will include the salaries of nearly 35 people, plus the fuel to power a 4200hp engine.

Because it would be nearly impossible to get real mail in a condo like this, they will have an on-road semi following the "River Cities" that will have the mail couriered to and also hold cars that are available to rent.

Don't believe me?  Check it out for yourself!

www.RiverCitiesCondos.com

This past Thursday night, my wife and I got all gussied up to attend the 13th annual Millard Fillmore dinner, Saint Paul's "Town Hall" dinner.  We were there representing the Farmers Market Flats project we are working on in Lowertown.  The night starts off with lots of displays of different projects or events that are happening in and around the Mississippi River.  Then dinner is served in the Grand Ballroom of the RiverCenter.  Don Shebly was there as kind of the recurring MC of the event.  Chris Coleman, our mayor was also there talking about the important work that the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation does.

The dinner was packed, over 1000 people showed up. This was my second year attending and I plan on making this an annual tradition for us at The Kleppe Group.  Part of the fun of the event is looking through all of the display booths that are set up (this part is free for anyone to attend).  I found possibly the most interesting project I have seen in years call River Cities Condos (More on that later).  Some of the other interesting things there was the plans for the coming light rail.  They plan on starting construction in 2010 with service beginning in 2014, not that far away!  Other interesting things to note - Raspberry Island is getting a facelift this year, Chestnut Park (the park itself, not the condos) should start construction, and a new high tech company is relocating to Saint Paul, which will bring in about 200 new jobs.

I left my camera at home, so I am hoping to find pictures of the dinner from other people who attended.  If I find some, I will add them ;)

Between showing condos, holding opens, working at the sales center for Farmers Market Flats, and keeping this website up-to-date, I've come to the conclusion that I need to schedule my days off!

I am planning on taking this Wednesday off completely, turning off the blackberry and spending some time with the family.  A needed break.

Real estate is a great business, but our schedule is always backwards from the rest of the world.  Most of my showings end up being in the evenings or weekends, which is fine.  I am happy to do it.  But what ends up happening, that no one else works late, so I am in the office in the morning to get in touch with banks, inspectors, web vendors, and developers - the 9-5 crowd of our industry.

Not much of a point to all of this, but I do my best to work with your schedule - not mine.  This is part of being a realtor, making sure I can be available for my clients.

And hey, if you are reading this during the 9-5 time, there is a good chance I have the live chat up and running, check it out!

LIVE CHAT

These are buildings along my walk home.  I really love the buildings of Lowertown so much, I wish there were more of them to admire.  Enjoy!