by G. Sax, @gsax

It's about 2:00 a.m. as I type this to you, because you deserve to have somebody whispering sweet nothings at you in the middle of the night while you sleep. That you have landed here and are reading these words is never lost on me, and I reward you with my unwavering, dedicated sleeplessness. Once-a-week dedication, at least.

I should be sleeping. In about four hours, I have to get ready for a jaunt to Atlanta for a conference called RE TechSouth where I'll talk about the importance of using real estate statistics to tell the truth about your local housing market and establish yourself as a local expert.

Teresa gets it, and she frequently produces her own tables and graphs from MLS statistics on this blog. She even puts her own stamp on the stats with original T background photos from her vast collection. Good data AND brand awareness? Be still my beating heart!

It's this kind of tell-all approach to both market and locale that first drew me to the St. Paul Real Estate Blog. It was refreshing to see a REALTOR® tell it like it is, no matter what it is. When I was looking to buy my first home, the usual smarm of the "It's a Great Time to Buy!" sales agent wore thin from the first twinkle of freshly whitened teeth. I knew right away that I needed something more realistic, and I found it.

But enough pandering to the publisher. I was talking about Atlanta, and I did have a couple of reasons beyond boring you with the details of my work-related travels:

Reason 1) Teresa was a speaker at last year's RE TechSouth conference (a three-time speaker, no less). She even posted road trip photos in one of her "Friday's are for fun" segments.

Response 2) I'm going to Atlanta in an airplane. It's easy for us that live in the Twin Cities metro area or in any other major city, for that matter, to forget just how awesome it is to live near a major international airport. It's pleasing to have this resource at my hip from my St. Paul-based holster.

If I'm lucky, I'll get the Atlanta Falcons plane that I took a photo of a couple of months ago.

Some first time home buyers really do their home work. They read books, and the news and learn as much as they can about the home buying process.  Some even watch those goofy television shows about buying a home. 

There are plenty of books about getting rich in real estate and of course all you have to do is "follow these simple steps", and plenty of books about how to buy a home.

I don't think much of most of the books that I have seen but if I didn't know anything about the home buying process I would consider reading one to get started.  That is what I did when I had my first child, I bought a how to book.

The problem with the books is that real estate is local. The laws and contracts are regulated on the state level.  General business practices are not the same in each market either.  The books are pretty generic and they try to cover situations most in Minnesota will never encounter while at the same time missing important parts of the process in this state.

There is a great guide for Minnesota home buyers and it is updated on a regular basis.  It is also free and on the internet and published by the Minnesota attorney generals office. It may not be a literary master piece or have the drama of the goofy television shows about buying a home but it is packed full of useful information about buying a home in Minnesota.  Find it here and read it first.  There is a book on the market with questions every home buyer should ask.  If you read the guide first you will understand why you might be asking the wrong questions.

I have been going down to the river every day to check on the flood.  took this shot yesterday and according to a marker in the river the water is almost 17 feet higher than it is supposed to be.  On the other side of the river the West side of Harriet island is flooded which is a shame because they just finished landscaping and phase 3 of the park  last summer and it looked wonderful.  The park in the picture is the upper landing park.

One thing that struck me when I went down to look at the river is how many people came that had never been in the park before.  It is a beautiful park. Many didn't understand how high the water is and were not aware that the piers are underwater or where the water is supposed to be.  I lived by the river for my entire life and don't even have to get close to it to know that is is high.

The flood has brought people down to the park and they seemed impressed with it's beauty.  They asked a lot of questions too.  I hope they come back and visit again. There are miles of walking and bike paths and wild flowers water fountains sculptures and a beautiful water feature on Chestnut Plaza.

I have several photos of the flood on Flickr and have articles about the park that include photos of it during the summer months.

St. Paul Municipal Elevator and Sack house

River Park Almost Completed

All about the bronze birds

The Park in the dark

Pretty as a Picture

BY Jack Boardman

A new car purchase today requires a trip to the suburbs as the last of the new car retailers, Midway Chevrolet, moved away from University Avenue to be combined with Merit Chevrolet. That in itself is interesting as Merit was one of the first to relocate to a suburb when it moved from near East Seventh Street and Arcade to it's current location at Century Avenue and Hudson Road in Maplewood.

The Crocus bloomed and the bees came back, all on the same day.  Spring officially starts today but at my house it happened last Sunday.

Daylight savings time started making it light later into the evening but darker for morning rush hour. The photo is of 35E taken from Grand Avenue in St. Paul, MN at about 7:00 AM on Monday.

St. Patrick's day was such a beautiful day that everyone took the day off and went downtown to watch the parade.  Maybe not everyone but it sure looked that way when I looked down the street. 

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun.  This sign is at Fresh Grounds a coffee shop on West 7th street. The shop is a favorite of mine for several reasons.  It is a non profit and part of a jobs training program which is why I would never complain about them using a photo I took a few years ago on their web site without asking. I consider it a donation for a worthy cause and they were kind enough to let me take the photos when I was in the shop.   They have excellent coffee and the place is well lit, fairly quiet and has free wifi and plenty of electrical outlets, lots of tables and some comfortable couches and chairs.  It should be no surprise that I am the mayor of fresh grounds on Foursquare.

Have a great weekend and if you go out for coffee go to a local coffee shop in your own neighborhood for fun but don't leave your children unattended.  

I took this photo last night in the River Park along Shepard road.  The Mississippi river has risen one foot since I took it and will crest sometime over the weekend.  We had a little flooding last year but the river is already as high as it was when in crested in 2009.  They are getting ready to close Shepard road near downtown. The last I heard the river  has risen 11.4 feet and will crest at 18 feet.  Boat launches have been closed and the river has been closed for recreational boating.  For those who remember the flood of 1965 the river crested at 26 feet.

I put a little arrow in this picture so you can see how close to housing the water will come. The housing is just up above the railing.  Many years ago there was housing along the river but it was wiped out by floods.  When the area was rebuilt ten years ago tons of dirt was brought in and the area was raised above the flood plain.  Some of the river watchers I saw last night were concerned. 

They are in the process of closing down the park right now and are asking people to stay away from the river. The current is very strong with chunks of ice and debris floating by at motor boat speeds. I may try to get some more photos later today or tomorrow but I will take them from a bridge or from the river bluff.  There were some pictures on the news this morning but they were taken in the dark from Harriet Island so all we could really see was a railing.