SOLD by Friday!

The new stimulus bill has a $8000 credit for first time or new buyers who haven't owned in 3 years or more. This credit is taken after the purchase so may be used for improvements or paying back Mom and Pop for the down payment they borrowed you. This is a great deal and with low prices and interest rates, you may never find a more affordable time to buy.

Go to HomeByFriday.com to start your search or email me at joel@joelfridayhomes.com.

We just went for a walk at the Coon Rapids Dam. It is one of the hidden gems in Anoka County. We typically ride our bikes down there several times a year but, it is a tad cold and icy for that right now. So we drove down to the park and hiked out across the dam. Their is some great ice formations and ice bergs floating on the river below the dam. We also saw a red tailed hawk and several deer, one had even ventured out onto the ice. I snapped a few photos for your enjoyment. I highly recommend coming out of hybernation one of these days to see the mighty Mississippi River as it winds through Coon Rapids and Brooklyn Park.

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

Joel Friday Homes

JoelFridayHomes.com

612-868-6287

I received a call last month from an assett manager in Dallas. He asked if I could check on a home in Ramsey, MN for him and of course I said yes. Asked if the utitlities were on he answered probably not and was stunned to find out it was -24* F here in the Twin Cities that day. He thought 50* F in Dallas was cold. The utility companies both said they were on but, a trip to the home quickly revealed the furnace was shut off. Apparently the last tenants had moved out in August so this wasn't a surprise.

The company who winterizes for me came out, shut off the well and started the furnace up. Pipes had already burst in several locations along with the fiberglass water softener tank. Fortunately the thaw produced very little leaking on sheet rock and other sensitive areas. The ice is now all melted so time to start marketing the home.

This is a great reminder for those of you who work with banks to make sure the winterizing is done by late September.

If you are ready for a little work...

This could be your

"HOME by Friday!"

Joel Friday

HomeByFriday.com

We have been receiving snow almost every other day here in Minnesota this season. While that keeps everything nice and white, the slush tracked into your garage and driveway is annoying. Seems like I can shovel out gallons of the stuff on a daily basis. Worse yet that salt in the slush eats away at your concrete floor.

I have found a great way to clean your garage floor and remove the slush with out buying anything. The trick is to simply shovel clean snow onto the garage floor and wait an hour. By then shovel the snow back out as it has absorbed 90% of the salt and dirt that was on the floor. You will be amazed by how great this works. Just remember to use clean white, powdery snow.

I am dreaming of a green spring!

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

JoelFridayHomes.com

Joel Friday

612-868-6287

I just went over to the Coon Rapids City Center to hear about the plans to widen Highway 242, now known as County 14 and Main Street. The road will be upgraded to 4 lanes from Coon Creek to Crane Street, which is just past Hanson. The construction will start in 2010 and likely close down the road from Hanson to Shenandoah Blvd to clear out the peat bog or build a land bridge. The county engineer said there is around 5 feet of tar from all of the fill down over the years in the area by the sod fields.

This project will be the first of many segments to turn county 14 into a 4 lane highway from 10 to 35W. Of course this will go as fast as funding comes through. The state has turn back funding available to help as part of giving the highway back to the county last year. Very little land acquisition is needed as the county has a wide right of way along the higway. They also plan to build a bike trail along this section of the road.

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

JoelFridayHomes.com

As a parent we hope to never receieve a call saying your child was in an accident. Last night my phone rang after midnight. My daughter said we were in an accident and every one was alright. She was planning on spending the night at friends anyway so we said we would pick her up in the morning.

The story was not a good one on how this happened so I thought I would share it with others so they can talk to their kids. They were already at the friends house and it after 11. They decided to go play a game called ding dong ditch. When they went outside they heard voices and discovered the boys were there egging one of thier cars.

Mistake #1 They ran for their car and gave chase.

Mistake #2 There were 7 of them in a 6 passenger car.

Mistake #3 None of them wore a seat belt, which they are ussually very good at doing.

Mistake #4 The chase began and they followed the boys down a dead end street, now they have them!

Mistake #5 After the boys simply turned around in the cul de sac, they continued pursuit.

Mistake #6 They were going too fast!

Mistake #7 The speed prevented them from making a corner and they spun the car and headed for the ditch. Mistake #8 This occurred in a residential neighborhood.

End result was the car took out a 6 x 6 post, some fencing and stopped when it hit a tree. The girls paniced when they saw smoke, most likely antifreeze from the radiator. They had been pinned in the back seat as the rear passenger door was against the tree. Once they all were out and back on the street, they called the boys to rescue them. The boys brought them back to the home they were spending the night at and they started to call home.

Blessing #1 Other than a few scrapes and bruises, the girls were protected by God.

Blessing #2 Many lessons were learned and they owned up to their responsibility for what happened.

Blessing #3 The cause of the egging was shown to be very minor compared to the forgiveness shown to them on the cross. I believe they will all grow closer together as friends because of this incident.

Blessing #4 These are all great kids who seldom cause any problems and we love them.

Disappointed, angry, thankful and blessed parent.

We attended the fund raiser for Meadow Creek Christian School last night. They have a silent auction of donated items, you could buy anything from Wild tickets to baskets for presents. There was easily 400 different items to bid on. The items made by specific classes were always bid very high as each parent wanted to bring home what their child had made. My favortie was the scrabble board with everyone's name on it. We didn't win any bids.

After that we had dinner and updates on the capital campaign for the new building. Sounds like they are almost ready to start building on the land they bought in Andover, MN. The city has already apprived the plan for the lot at 161st and Tulip.

Sweetwater Revival performed while we ate our meals. They are 4 lady singers that sing original gospel music. They did a great job.

After dinner they do a live auction on 12 items that range from rock climbing with a couple of teachers, to a condo in Florida for a week. Everyone enjoyed the evening and a lot of money was raised. Last year they were able to purchase Mac books and projectors for the class rooms.

Hopefully we can raise enough money to start building the new school soon!

http://meadowcreek.com/

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

http://JoelFridayHomes.com

Joel Friday

After watching New Life Academy almost knock off Southwest Christian in their sub section final, the Meadow Creek Christian School girls volleyball team took the court against Heritage Christian. We were expecting to win coming in as the #1 seed and having beat them earlier this year. The Heritage team had a different plan though. After MCCS took an early lead in game one, they quickly found themselves in big trouble, down 23-17. Rolly called a timeout and Kelly Strandland rotation to serve was up. MCCs then rattled off the next 8 points to win 25-23. Heritage was not to be denied yet though as they came back to win game 2 25-19. The MCCS girls decided to take it to Heritage in game 3 winning decisively 25-7.

Heritage never gave up and survived several match points in game 4 before winning 29-27. The crowd was going wild on both sides at this point. Game 5 here we we come! Meadow Creek took an early advantage and never looked back in this game winning 15-4. Senior captain Tija Rudzitis had many blocks and made it clear this wouldn't be her last varsity game. Captain Lauren Sutherland also had a great match.

Here is the link in the Star Tribune showing their record.

http://preps.startribune.com/teamschedule.php?yid=0809&tid=1714

On to the section finals now against Southwest Christian who won the battle for the paddle earlier this season against MCCS. Stop by Minnehaha Academy Saturday at 1 to see how this match turns out. Winner goes to State!

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

JoelFridayHomes

Wow, the 3 legged milk stool award goes to the Hanson Blvd construction team. The project was originally slated to start last spring and be done not long after the bridge over 10 was done. That project was done by July 07 but the Hanson Blvd road widening project hadn't even started yet. After enduring 6 months of Hanson being closed last year we thought the end was near. No such luck however as the intersections with County 14 (242) and Bunker had yet to be started.

I have watched a lot of construction projects over the years and you can normally see the pace and get a rough idea of how long it will take. All summer long we drove on new lanes but traffic crawled while only half of the road could be used. Little progress was seen and hardly any work seemed to be happening. One day they work on a small section. Three weeks later they might work on another section.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 9th but the road was not fully opened to traffic until last weekend. Even now, they are working at a snails pace to paint the lines on the road. Any way we are thankful the road is now open to traffic as it certainly helps in speed and safety.

Make sure your home is

"SOLD by Friday!"

JoelFridayHomes

This home has been owned by the same family since it was built in 1961. Situated close to Quincy Park and Madison Elementary school makes this a great starter home for the first time home buyer. The city bus goes right by every morning to take you downtown. The National Sports center is only a few miles away with its 8 sheets of ice and 30+ soccer fields. The TPC golf course hosts the Senior PGA and is just down the street.

Hardwood floors throughout this home along with a fireplace and 3 season porch provide plenty of charm. An insurance claim is pending on the roof and siding so you can choose the look on the outside. Add a little TLC and this will be your home. Stop by or call me to see this home.

Joel Friday Homes

612-868-6287

JoelFridayHomes.com