Real Estate Snippets

Senate File 442 Affects Homeowners

The Minnesota Senate Finance Committee is meeting Wednesday morning, April 25, at 8:30 in Capitol Room 123  to hear testimony and vote on Senate File 442, a change in the state deed tax.  If you own a house and sell it in the future, Senate File 442 will impact your sale if it passes. 

Currently when a house is sold and the deed is filed, the filing fee is $3.40 per $1000.  A house that sold for $100,000 would pay $340 for filing the deed under today's law.  Wednesday morning the Senate Finance Committee will vote on whether to increase that tax by 50% to $5.10 per $1000.  That same $100,000 sale would have a new deed tax of $510.  The median price for a home in Ramsey county in February was $203,000.  The deed tax for a median priced home sale would be $690.20 under the existing system.  Under the proposed change in the deed tax the new tax would be $1,035.30!  The $345.10 difference could pay for the home buyer's inspection on that same house.

If you'd like to take a stand on this bill you can click  here for a sample response to your Senator.

Daylight Saving Time

It's only February 15, but that's less than a month to go before the new Daylight Saving Time change occurs.  If you've spent the last year hibernating and didn't realize Daylight Saving Time is different this year, you're not the only one.  The law was signed in 2005 bumping the spring forward time to the second Sunday in March and pushing the fall back time to the first Sunday in November.  That's going to be a boon for Minnesota hunters because the deer hunting season opener for rifle is the first Sunday in November as well!  I wonder if the deer will be changing their clocks!

Preparing for this change may be uneventful if all of your clocks are set for this new schedule.  Those of us with older computers may need to check out technical support websites to find out how to update our current calenders.  For PC users, the Microsoft website has easy instructions for updating your computer which took less than a minute for me to research and execute.  The website is here.

Remember that in St. Paul and the rest of the central time zone, clocks are supposed to move forward one hour at 2 AM on March 11 and  move back one hour at 2 AM on November 4.  Will hunters appreciate that extra hour of sleep or will it make them more anxious to be in the woods?  Will bars that normally close at 2 AM  close early in March and stay open an extra hour in November?  All these little difficulties to address because we think it's a good idea to save daylight!

St. Paul Winter Carnival

Have I mentioned that Minnesotans are die-hard lovers of winter?  The St. Paul Winter Carnival is a perfect example of Minnesota's celebration of what makes us unique: willingness to stay in the cold northland!  Those who don't appreciate cold weather, snow and ice needn't come, but for the adventurous and those with lots of layers of winter clothing, this is the place to be.   

The  Carnival is the oldest and largest winter festival in the nation.  Wikipedia claims an eastern reporter's slur about Minnesota's winter climate was the catalyst for the first celebration of winter in 1886 which included an ice palace built from blocks of ice cut from area lakes.  The tradition has carried on and grown larger with time.  The legend of the Vulcan King chasing King Boreas, keeper of winter winds, away adds to the fun.  You'll find an ice maze, snow slide, ice palace, Klondike Kate performances, Vulcan Krewe appearances, the St. Paul Pioneer Press medallion hunt, the Jamaican dog sled team, ice sculptures, a hot dish tent, Capitol treasure hunts, music, revelry, and good plain fun for all ages at the Winter Carnival.  Most activities are located at Harriet Island in St. Paul although the car racing is on Lake Phalen!  The dates are January 26 through February 4, 10 whole days to do it all!

U.S.Pond Hockey Tournament

Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes, cold winters and snow, ice fishing, skiing, snowshoeing, hockey, and every other winter sport you can name that requires snow, ice and frigid temperatures.  We Minnesotans have been terribly disappointed with the moderate and almost snow-less winters the last few years.  Last year's St. Paul Winter Carnival's ice contest melted before the week was out.  Thankfully, it wasn't the year for an ice palace.  Finally, finally we've gotten snow and cold enough temperatures to play outside again!

So, let the play begin with the second annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships.  The moderate temperatures in the Twin Cities threatened cancellation of this year's tournament, but the last two weeks of more "normal" Minnesota temperatures hardened the ice and the play began today.  The location was changed from Lake Calhoun to Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.  Twenty-five rinks provided area for 222 teams to compete in three categories (seniors, women's, and rink rats) for the coveted golden shovel award to be presented on Sunday, January 21.  Warming tents, a beer garden, merchandise stores, and hockey the way it started out assures fun times for all.

Don't try to tell me Minnesotans hibernate in the winter!

Hmong New Year

While the rest of America was busy with Black Friday shopping, the St. Paul River Centre's Roy Wilkins' Auditorium was bursting with the three day Hmong New Year celebration.  My first awareness of the Hmong New Year came about when I was circling City Hall downtown.  Crowds of Hmong women, young and old, were making their way to the River Centre garbed in ornately decorated traditional dress.  The men were not so ornately attired but obviously has spit shined their hair for a special occasion.  It was very apparent, even to the uninitiate (me), that something wonderful was going on at the River Centre.  I promised to check it out when I got home.

Sure enough, the Minnesota Hmong population (I was told the Twin Cities is home to the largest Hmong population in the US but could not verify that today), was celebrating their most important holiday, the New Year.  The history of the Hmong New Year celebration is superficially described on websites, but it was enough for me to fill in the lines and realize this is a big deal, a really big deal.  In the various lands of origin, this was not only a deeply spiritual celebration connected with shedding the old and putting on the new, but it also was a time when new marriages were arranged and the agricultural community took a rest from their long months of labor in the fields.   

The tinkling of silver decorations as the women walked was fun to hear and as I reviewed the websites, I wondered if the silver "bell" sounds came from the silver coins used in the traditional ball toss.  The celebration fascinated me and I wondered if outsiders would be welcome to come and observe.  Maybe  by next year's celebration I will have done a little more research to find if visiting would be respectful or not!

Arts at 2402

Downtown St. Paul has it Art Crawl ( which was last month) as do other communities across the nation, but you haven't missed your opportunity to see the talent and expressions of more professional artists if you come to Art at 2402 this weekend. This St. Paul collective of artists and fine artisans located at 2402 University Ave. W. (just west of 280) will be showcasing a variety of artforms including painting, jewelry, mechanical sculpture and more!  The hours are Friday, November 17, noon to 9 PM and Saturday, November 18, 11AM to 7 PM.  Don't miss this chance to meet the artists and see where they work!

*This link was submitted for publication by one of Real Estate Snippets' readers.  I'm glad to become aware of the occasion.  Maybe we'll see each other there!

Cast Your Ballot

A lot of decisions will be made today; decisions by individual voters to cast they yea or nay on candidates and community issues.  Although this is not a Presidential election year, what is decided this year affects decisions the government makes for years to come.  Be sure to review the candidates for your specific location and cast your vote today.  If you haven't done your research, or you've recently moved, Minnesota polling places and ballots can be found at this website.  It's one of those sites you might want to bookmark in case I forget to post it in the next voting day reminder!  See you at the ballot box!

Daylight Saving Time

Tonight's the night of the big clock change.  Each of us will get an extra hour to play, relax, sleep, or just waste because this is the "fall back" clock change.  That means we get to relive the hour between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM an extra time tonight!  Don't forget to change your clocks.

St. Paul's Central Corridor

It's coming whether you want it or not.  Some funding has already been approved and the planning is in full swing.  The Central Corridor which begins in downtown St. Paul, passes the State Capitol, encompasses the 4 blocks north and south of University continuing through the University of Minnesota Campus into downtown Minneapolis, is in the development stage.  There will be a public Central Corridor Community Visioning open house on Saturday, September 16, 10 AM to 1 PM at the new Rondo library at Dale and University Ave.  Attendance at this open house will give you real information instead of rumors about the vision for University, the proposed development, the light rail system, and much more.  For more details check this website.

(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006

Minnesota Primaries

Tuesday, September 12, is primary day in Minnesota.  Polls will be open 7 AM to 8 PM.  Regardless of your political bent, take the time to find your polling place and make your voice heard.  Belly-aching after the fact is futile.  This is the time to make the choice.  You can check this site to find your polling place, your district's identifying numbers, and a copy of the candidates for all parties on the ballot.   If you want to check the candidates out, this gives you a few days to do your research before casting your vote.

(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006