Top Transactions: Newcomers make Golden Valley home.

Byline: Anne Bretts

Editor's note: Finance & Commerce checks certificates of real estate value filed with the Minnesota Department of Revenue as well as data from the Northstar Multiple Listing Service, Realtor.com, county records and other sources.

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When Gaia and Brian Jackson celebrated Christmas this week in their new $1.14 million home at 45 Western Terrace in Golden Valley, it was the ending of a journey that began years ago and thousands of miles away.

"My husband and I met in Europe," said Gaia Jackson. She was a lifestyle blogger traveling the continent. He was a native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, involved in real estate investments. With the freedom to live anywhere, they moved to Southern California and bought a house.

Soon, they were restless.

"We missed the seasons," she said. They settled on the Midwest and did their research.

Two years ago they moved into a downtown Minneapolis apartment to get the feel of the city as they explored neighborhoods and suburbs. They hired Ben Ganje of Ganje + Partners at the Minneapolis office of Lakes Sotheby's International Realty to help them.

Ganje said the Jacksons are among buyers who want new construction in an established neighborhood and are willing to consider all their options.

The Jacksons began looking in earnest last April. They looked at Minneapolis and Edina, and then found a model home under construction in Golden Valley. They made an offer in June.

The full price of the house is $1,143,757, well above the $368,400 median listing price and the $322,500 median sale price in the area, according to Realtor.com. The price would have been higher, but Anoka-based Tollberg Homes was able to buy the original house on the lot in 2018 for $250,000.

William Roemer, owner of First Impressions Home Group of St. Michael, credits John Arnold of his office with handling the sale for Tollberg.

"I represent eight builders," Roemer said of his brokerage, adding that he's...