Barker and Hedges Real Estate Blog

Minneapolis Ranks in the Top 5 for Women's Health

This summer, Women’s Health magazine came up with their list of the five best cities for healthy, happy, and fit women. Women’s Health magazine, a national publication with a circulation of 1.5 million copies, ranks Minneapolis as the fifth best city in the U.S. for women to live. An editorial team researched cities based on health, fitness, and emotional well being to determine their results.

According to Women's Health:

With 929 lakes and 13 miles of paved shoreline paths in the Minneapolis St.Paul area, it's not surprising that Minneapolis has the fourth-highest number of female joggers as well as one of the lowest breast-cancer death rates.

"Preliminary research suggests that women who are physically active may have a 30 to 40 percent lower chance of developing breast cancer," says Jennifer Ligibel, M.D., an oncologist at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Regular workouts...

Zero Down Payment Loans are back for Minnesota First Time Home Buyers

Minneapolis and St Paul Zero Down Payment Loans

No Down Payment Saved?  NO Problem!

The Affordable Advantage program has arrived to Minneapolis - St Paul!  We have been eagerly awaiting this zero down payment loan program for a few months.  If you’re like many Minnesota first time home buyers, saving down payment is tough with everything else you have to pay for.  We get it!  This couldn’t come at a better time – lower rates, super low home prices and it being a “buyer’s market.”   Who could ask for more?


So what about the issues some people have when using FHA financing?  Will this still be a problem?  All loans can have their issues, but this is NOT an FHA loan.  It is conventional financing...

New Owners for Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis

The Van Dusen mansion in downtown Minneapolis is getting reborn as an events center. The historic home was recently a multi-million dollar pawn in the Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme.

The mansion was purchased in April for $1.55 million by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, his son, Matt and daughter-in law, Jennifer, who have extensive food and beverage management experience. The Van Dusen Mansion, will specialize in weddings, social events and business meetings.

Jeff and his wife, Julie, have a keen interest in historic buildings and already own a bed and breakfast in Stillwater that's been renovated. They also completely renovated the downtown...

Beautifying Brooklyn Center's Bass Lake Road

Brooklyn Center is undertaking a make-over for Bass Lake Road Streetscape and Regional Trail Project. The intention is to beautify Bass Lake Road from Brooklyn Boulevard to Highway 100.

Highlights of the project include building a pedestrian bridge and improving water quality by creating a nontraditional median design to filter and treat water that usually runs off into Shingle Creek, said Steve Lillehaug, Brooklyn Center's director of public works. There's an aesthetic element, as well. Planners want to snazz up the landscaping, install a pedestrian plaza and benches, paint the concrete, and improve the lighting. City officials hope the facelift will lead to other improvements in the area.

"There is certainly an appeal that if you build good things then other good things will come around it," Lillehaug said. "It's really to draw good developers to the city and to encourage existing property owners to keep up their properties. We definitely have vacant...

What $229,900 Buys in Blaine

Check out MLS # 3882821

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This single-family home at 12552 Quemoy Street NE in Blaine, MN, is a new construction rambler with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,399-square-feet of space, and an additional 1,300-square-foot walk-out basement that could be finished.

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This home features hardwood flooring, stone tile, hickory cabinets, granite counters and a gorgeous stone fireplace.

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Located in the high-demand Legacy...

ForbesWoman: Twin Cities Best Metro for Working Mothers

ForbesWoman has gathered the data and determined the U.S. cities that offer the most to working moms for the second year in a row. Minneapolis - St. Paul has unseated New York, last year's No. 1 ranked city for working mothers.

To calculate the list, ForbesWoman began with the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Working under the assumption that "best" means different things to different women, safety, schools, and health care played a big part in the analysis. Quality of life, job opportunities, high earnings potential and a budget-friendly cost of living came into play as well.

The Twin Cities did exceptionally well with safety, health care and its number of local pediatricians. And based on expenditure per pupil and school systems, education standards helped land the top rank.

Cost of living is reasonable according to Forbes, which...