[quote=Eugene][quote=jstoesz]
Are we talking renting or buying. Because the median home price in Brooklyn park is right around 200k (yup you read that right), but the median price in MM is right around 500k. [/quote]

The median price in MM is closer to 350k. There are 157 detached listings in MM as of this moment, and only 8 of them are above the 500k mark.

There are some really cheap houses in Brooklyn Park, like this one

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6217-Century-Blvd-Brooklyn-Park-MN-55429/1955923_zpid/

and the only hitch is that the house is two blocks from this elementary school

http://www.zillow.com/school/MN-Brooklyn-Park/Osseo-Public-School-District-6117/Zanewood-Elementary-School-48896/

and, judging by demographics, that part of Brooklyn Park is more similar to Encanto than to Mira Mesa.[/quote]

I have little interest in debating rent, because all of us here include owning ones own home in their version of the good life. Your focus on rent only proves my point, that SD home prices are screwed, and if not, they should be. A comparably rented home in SD sells for twice what it does in other markets. They are not a safe investment, they are a speculation. Sometimes speculations are good ways to make money, but that is not what a home is for, at least not for me. Remember Minneapolis easily cash flows and the unemployent is closer to 6% than 10%. So you can debate rents all you want, but it only proves my thesis that SD is a bad investment.

I stand corrected as to the price of MM, it is closer to 350k (I was looking at the wrong tract on the ny times demographic link SW of MM proper, more of the business park area).

So let us compare the ppsf of encanto (your suggestion) to brooklyn center.

Encanto has an average ppsf of $172
Brooklyn center has an average ppsf of $84

Hell it is even less than half the price of logan and golden hill. Do you all want to live in logan?

I can assure you that BP is much much nicer and safer than logan…

So it is still more than twice as expensive on a ppsf basis. But only one of those neighborhoods would I let me kid go for a bike ride or wish my to wife run when its dark.

This is not really a fair conversation, because only one of us has knowledge of both markets, and I offered up BP. I am not sure it effectively proves the point, but it still shines over SD.