Joel Friday, e-PRO

This is the year for Meadow Creek Saint's 8 senior Volleyball players. They have been playing together at the Varsity level since 8th grade, when they formed the first B squad in Meadow Creek's history. They just knocked off both Champlin Park and Maple Grove last week and started conference play against New Life Academy at home with a win. Here are some other highlights for the year. I will update this blog as the season progresses through the State Tourney.

The girls stunned Heritage in a blowout and probably their best played game ever. There wasn't hardly a spike that didn't go uncontested. Every spike was hard, the sets were great. Deep serves kept Heritage off balance all night and they never built up any momentum. This was Heritage's first conference loss of the year.

Bethel Showcase!

The girls started out slow and never recovered against Leroy Ostrander in the first match of the Class A Showcase at Bethel. They came out hot in this game and never looked back winning decisively in both games against Buffalo Lake Hector. Nice turnaround ladies! In the closest match of the night, our girls pulled off two 2 point victories against Bertha Hewitt. Both games came down to the wire and the girls never relented to the pressure. In a strange twist, Bertha Hewitt received the 2nd place nod over us on point differential. We ended up 3rd in the pool and play tomorrow in the lower bracket. Underwood beat us here last year and caught us flat footed in the first game. We took over in the 2nd game with a nice win to keep the match alive and then thumped Underwood 15-2 in the third game of the match. Onto the 9th place game! Again we came out a little soft in the first game and didn't start the second very either, trailing 14-8 when Therese called a timeout. We then went on to a 17-7 run to win the game. The 3rd game was close but Nevis beat us in the end. Great tourney girls! We finished 4-2 and 10th place against some very competitive teams.

Apple Valley Tourney.

The team went out and beat the first team we faced and then drew Apple Valley in the 2nd match. Apple Valley had a great attack and we never quite matched their intensity. In the 3rd game we played Minneota. We lost a close game in the first set and then lost a player to an ankle sprain in the 2nd game and didn't pick up the pace enough to keep even with thwm. The final game was against Maple Grove and we played even with them and brought it up a notch to win both games in the end to finish 7th place.

Last night we played Providence Academy and won in three. Mora tourney this weekend!

Keep up the energy girls and finish the year strong!

Here in the Twin Cities they run a "Parade of Homes" each fall to showcase new homes and their builders. Recently I have noticed a new form of the Parade. A lof of the banks in our area are listings homes below market value and generating 10-20 offers within days of the home being on the market. So what happens is the home is listed for $59,000, even though the market might $80,000 on the home. Then you literally get tons of showings and multiple offers almost instantly.

As an example there were 2 homes in Anoka, MN that were listed. One listed for $90,000 and the other listed for $59,000. My client had an ionterest in both homes due to location. The first home we offered $105,000 after hearing there were multiple offers and seeing a line of cars waiting to see the home (The Parade). We lost out on that home by $15,000. On the second attempt, we were one of 16 offers and bid $85,000 plus closing costs and lost out by $1,000.

This trend is growing here in the Twin Cities and a lot of the bidders are all cash investors. Just curios if you are seeing this in you rmarkets.

How does one explain to a client where the supposed 3rd bedroom is in a home? Sure the listing agent conveniently hides the non conforming bedroom in the agent notes. I can explain this to my client when a closet is not there and most will understand. But I have show a few homes lately where the 4th wall is missing along with no door. As a matter of fact it is part of the family room.

About a year ago on 60 minutes or 20/20, there was an agent who claimed he sold his listings in an average of 21 days. The reporter went on to discover that he simply relisted the homes every 90 days. The agent actually bragged about this deceitful practice on the air and admitted this is how his time on market numbers were so low.

Our code of ethics states we must treat everyone with honesty, whether or not they are our clients. Advertising a home with 3 bedrooms when it only has 2 wastes everyones time. Looking back at the home the dining room and living room were also nonconforming bedrooms too. I guess they should have called it a 5 bedroom. And yes I can see the market history on the MLS but, home owners can't. We need to live up to the code of ethics we signed when we became Realtors.

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

Joel Friday

http://JoelFridayHomes.com

Right now is a great time to buy. Here are a few reasons to consider buying over renting.

Renters simply pay the mortgage for the owner.

Below 5% money for your mortgage, this won't last forever.

Really good buys on homes right now in every price range.

5% cash and you can qualify for FHA mortgage.

$8000 tax credit expires in December.

That amounts to $750 per month making most of your first years payments.

Payments can be lower than rent, plus you can deduct the interest paid, which lowers your tax bill.

I can find your

"HOME by Friday!"

Let me know what you want in a home and I will gladly help you find a home.

612-868-6287

http://HomeByFriday.com

Coon Rapids lost an icon during the last week. Have you heard of her before? If you have ever been to Crooked Lake Park or even the beach years ago, you most likely know to whom this story is about. The little store that almost goes unnoticed as you play at the park or drive by on your way home. The road that passes by once was a busy county road, now only the local traffic passes by. If you ventured in this 15 x 15 foot store you could quickly find what ever it was you wanted. If you brought a credit card or forgot your cash, you were instantly given credit by the clerk and owner. Could a place like this really exist in 2009? Indeed it did but, sadly Millie Buzzelli died recently.

Millie's husband Ted opened the store back in 1936 to serve Crooked Lake Beach in Coon Rapids, MN. My first visit came when I was still a kid enjoying the beach around 1976 grabbing some ice cream. My last visit was last summer on a bike ride through our neighborhood getting food for my next breakfast. The family isn't sure if they will continue this legacy but the community will certainly miss Millie.

Local TV news coverage

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=540571

And of course a fabebook group, even though Millie probably never visited the site.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=58058851559