Hire an appraisal firm that specializes in Minneapolis condos.
There are over 175,000 housing units in the City of Minneapolis, approximately 10% of which are condominiums. The majority of these condos are located within 1 mile of Downtown Minneapolis. In fact, a little more than half of the condos that sold in Minneapolis over the past year were located in the downtown neighborhoods of North Loop, Downtown East, Downtown West, Loring Park, and Elliot Park.
The second biggest concentration of condos exists in the area south of downtown, east of Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles, north of W 36th Street, and west of Interstate 35W in the neighborhoods of Stevens Square, Whittier, Lyndale, CARAG, ECCO, Lowry Hills East (The Wedge), and East Isles.
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The remaining concentration of the condos in Minneapolis are located sporadically throughout the city, including across the river from Downtown Minneapolis in St. Anthony, west of Lake Calhoun along West Lake Street, and west of Lake Harriet in Linden Hills.
Ideally, your appraiser will select comparable sales from within the same condo project as the condo being appraised. However, for condos in smaller projects, it may be necessary for your appraiser to utilize comparable sales from similar, competing condo projects.
Since condos are often located in the most densely populated areas of the city, street parking may be difficult to come by and off street parking can be expensive and not as convenient as dedicated parking. For this reason, condos with one or more dedicated off street parking spaces tend to have higher market values, depending on the location of the condo and availability of other parking.
When comparing two or more condos, appraisers will analyze differences in HOA dues. For two condos in the same project, one would expect that HOA dues would be similar. However, if the condo being appraised is located in a project that lacks similar condos that have recently sold, the appraiser will compare your condo to those located in different, competing condo projects. In these cases, HOA dues can vary significantly – we’ve seen as much as a $300 difference. One would expect that all other factors being the same, the condo with the lower association fee would sell for more than an identical unit with a higher association fee. However, condos with higher dues may have more amenities, and homebuyers are not always rational, so this may not always by the case. For this reason, it is important to hire an appraiser that specializes in condo valuations.
Urban condo dwellers enjoy amenities such as rooftop patios, community rooms, guest units, pools, hot tubs, saunas, gyms, and more. That said, many smaller and older condo projects lack the amenities offered by larger and newer condo projects. Therefore, your appraiser will analyze differences in amenities, both in the condo and shared, and determine to what affect, if any, those differences may impact value.
This is one feature that high-rise condominiums offer that most other homes do not. In Minneapolis, most high-rise condominiums have been built around two types of views: a skyline view and a water view. Skyline views are most common for condos located in or near downtown. There are also many high-rise condominiums projects located around Lake of the Isles, Lake Harriet, and the Mississippi River. How much is a view worth? It obviously varies depending on the view, it is not uncommon for unit with a skyline view to sell for measurably more than a similar on condo on the opposite side of the building that lacks a skyline view.
Going hand in hand with view, buyers tend to pay more the higher in the building you go. However, view and floor location are two separate features that are generally accounted for separately. For example, a 10th floor condo with a skyline view may have a superior view compared to 20th floor condo facing an industrial park.
Want more info? Orion Appraisals a premier provider of condo appraisals in Minneapolis.
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Our appraisers are experts at appraising condos in Minneapolis. We are often hired by homeowners, real estate professionals, and attorneys to perform expert valuations of condos in Minneapolis.
Work with Orion Appraisals and you’ll receive a highly-informative and easy to read appraisal product.
Our team consists of experienced Certified and Licensed Appraisers as well as talented support staff. Our President, Joe Sullivan, has also obtained his MAI designation. The MAI designation is a prestigious designation awarded by the Appraisal Institute to those appraisers that have shown a high level of appraisal expertise through a series of coursework, exams, demonstrations, and experience hours.
We specialize in preparing appraisal reports for non-financing purposes. Most condo appraisers work almost exclusively for financial institutions, which have different reporting requirements than property owners, the IRS, and the courts.
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So, what’s happening to condo values in Minneapolis? That’s a question with as many different answers are there are condos in the city. Market values for newly built 2 bedrooms condos in a downtown Minneapolis high-rise project may be significantly different than an pre-war condo studio in Powerhorn Park.
Appraisers and economists determine housing market conditions by analyzing a variety of different metrics in a given market area, including median sales price, median sales price per square foot, and months supply of housing. While these are sometimes general and simplistic measures, they are good overall indicators of what is happening with current housing trends in your area.
Note: These housing statistics are updated monthly, so please check back often!
That said, there are several tools homeowners can use to get a good idea of what is happening with the condo market in their area.
Contact us or obtain a fee quote for an appraisal from Orion Appraisals and we’ll analyze housing trends in your neighborhood and tell you the market value of your condo.
Email:
St Paul Appraisal Office:
Minneapolis Appraisal Office:
St Paul Appraisal Office
Minneapolis Appraisal Office