So when you hear someone knock on your unit door and you really don’t want anyone to know you are home, freeze!  Believe it or not we can hear you rustle around, turn down the tv/radio, or yell to your friend “Shhhhh, its my landlord”. It makes more sense to just not move until the party knocking goes away.  Also, avoid the door peephole.  While we cannot see who is on the other side, we can see someone looking right at us.

Bottom line, if there is a knock, freeze, count to 120, and go back to your normal routine.

Cons.

Money to purchase is a little harder to come by.  Talk to a real mortgage lender, not “johns mortgage shop” down the street.

Beggars cant be choosers.  While there are some great deals available, they usually are not the cream of the crop. Thats just the way it works.  Be willing to sacrifice some of your dream house criteria for the payoff in the long run.

MOST of the deals are bank owned, foreclosed on, or pre foreclosure.  Working with banks is a drag!  The person making the decisions for the seller (the bank) is a mid level manager who has not experienced anything like the current foreclosure trend, and probably had little personal experience with real estate.  I could write a book about how poorly banks handle these deals! No joke.

Pros

If you  can read a how to book, have a few bucks for paint, or know someone who is “handy”, you can dress up any property.  Watch HGTV, there are far too many shows about how to pretty things up for cheap.

Save 10’s of thousands by keeping an open mind of what is available.

Tips

Talk to someone that knows what they are doing. Lenders, realtors, and experience with home improvements goes a long way.

Have you ducks in a row BEFORE starting. Scrambling at the finish line spells heartache.

Your dream house is probably not going to be the deal of the century.  However you can probably find one in the same neighborhood.

Deals = needs help, ALWAYS.  If perfection is the goal, get ready to pay for it.

We had a great 4th of July.  Took the family to an early movie, spent the day near the Mississippi River, ran into some good friends with their families, had dinner and watched fireworks together.  We could not have planned it better, except…

We made a brief stop at McDonalds.  The kids wanted chicken nuggets.  So we parked the car, rolled town the windows, opened the doors and chilled out, so to speak.  We had the key in the ignition so we could listen to the radio. Unfortunately I did not realize that someone had bumped the heated seat button, causing the battery to die just enough to so the car would not start.

You might think Edina is a nice safe place to break down.  Throw in a mini van and two kids and someone is bound to ask if you need help right? Wrong.  Not even the seemingly manager who walked out, looked our way, and went back in seemed to care that there was a family parked in their lot with the hood up.

After asking about 15 people if they had jumper cables we finally found a guy that offered to drive home and pick up his jumper cables.  Hats off to the random guy with the APA shirt and hat. We really appreciate the help!

So friends, if you spot someone that might appear to need a little assistance, its probably worth asking them.

Games will be scheduled once enough people are registered with their preferred time of play. This will include regular adult hockey, youth hockey and pond hockey.

Everyone that registers between now and July 15th will be entered into a drawing for 10 Free Hockey Games.

As many of you know I play tennis on occasion. I have been really involved with coaching innercity tennis, playing usta league tennis, and playing with friends.

That all got a little side tracked last October when our kids Griffin and Gavin started playing mini mites hockey with the Washburn Hockey Association. Little did I know but I quickly started helping coach the mini mites and started playing minneapolis hockey with a group of my friends (several times a week now.) Don Giroux and I started hockeyisourgame.com to help keep the good sport going in the metro.

And to the hookup… While I love hockeygiant.com for its big box selection of gear, there is something to be said for the real local hockey shops for keeping it all together. My good friend Ryan Alexander introduced me to Phil Ronnebaum, the manager of Varsity Sports in Medina, there is also a store in Mound. Besides being a modern day hockey store with a winter season net set up so you can sample hockey sticks (currently a batting cage, they also have baseball gear) and the look of a happening restaurant, Phil is great!

Phil has really taken the time to explain the differences in all the hockey gear, from sticks to skates. He knows it all. And, he is willing to take the time to share his knowledge.

While I do not know if Phil will hookup you up with price deals, he will take the time to make sure you get what you are looking for. Stop by, hit some balls, or shoot some pucks in the fall. Tell Phil that Derrik sentcha. He might give you the flippingrich.com discount, doesnt hurt to try!

Mixed feelings but the concept is interesting. If nothing else, its additional free exposure. Anyone else run into this?

2 bedrooms, heated garage, arched doorways, updated kitchen with granite and stainless appliances.

Just a few steps from the indoor tennis center.  Easy bus access. FAST getting downtown on this one way all the way to downtown Minneapolis.

3948 1st Ave S, Minneapolis

Updated with California Closets

All new light fixtures and hardware throughout.

Finished garage with new epoxy flooring.

Private setting on nature preserve.

3200 Juniper, Woodbury

If you are looking for a rental unit or building equity, this is worth looking at.

2702 New Century, Maplewood.

Yes, supposedly, this is the most expensive house on the market.

Main house The penthouse floor consists of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two shower rooms and two powder rooms, two dressing rooms, two walk through sitting/dining rooms, a terrace with infinity pool and central leisure/reception area.

There are also a further three balconies/terraces, including the large terrace over the port cochere. The first floor incorporates eight bedroom/bathroom suites. Each is individually designed with balcony access. The ground floor surrounded by wide marble terraces providing access to the gardens, incorporates a grand hallway, a sunken reception area, as well as bar and dining areas which lead to the East and West Wings.

The East Wing holds the Master-bedroom Suite consisting of a sitting area, bedroom and bathroom, a limed oak corridor between the bedroom and the bathroom, direct access to the East Wing pool balcony and the glass lift to the pool area. There are two powder rooms, conference room and library/reading room.

The West Wing at ground floor level includes a cherry panelled office, open plan breakfast room, kitchen, private sitting room, two further powder rooms and the banqueting hall. There is access to the West Wing pool, which is surrounded by marble pillars and which includes a beauty salon, sauna and male and female dressing rooms. The basement of the property includes an underground garage, which can hold up to eight luxury cars, various store rooms and the industrial kitchen with cold rooms, freezer rooms and a wash room.

A corridor leading from the garage accesses a glass lobby which leads into the bowling alley and the gymnasium area. Close by are the male and female changing rooms, the cinema and wine cellar. There is also a walk in strong room/safe, a billiard/snooker area and a squash court. A lift has been designed to service all floors and there is a separate lift to connect the industrial kitchen with the breakfast room. Guest accommodation There are two separate guest properties. One consists of six bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchen/dining area and an upstairs sitting room.

The other includes three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchen/dining area and upstairs sitting room. Estate manager’s office Attached to the three bedroom guest accommodation is the block providing further garaging for four large vehicles, the laundry and the estate manager’s office with ensuite facilities.

Gatehouse The gatehouse incorporates two bedrooms, a conservatory, a kitchen/breakfast room, a sitting room, two separate powder rooms, a security room and waiting area. There are also two pool houses on the estate, one by each of the outside pools.

For more info see: http://www.dreamrealty.com/listing_info.php?lid=185