Anoka County does it again, they win the three legged milk stool award for the Main St project in Coon Rapids. Over a year to upgrade a mile of roadway from 2 to 4 lanes. They accomplished this by starting on the quickest part of the project first, then moving on to the portion that would take the most time to complete. I am hoping this opens up in the next few days as people have been using the Oaks of Shenandoah neighborhood I live in as a detour. This part that was closed is from Coon Creek Blvd to Hanson. Of course now that that part is open, they are moving on to the next portion. From Hanson to 65. They were going to close the road yesterday at University. So no telling how long that will be shutdown. Of course I do appreciate the road widening as it has been needed for years. I j... 07/14/2011

02/11/2011

More Coon Rapids homes are in 2010 than in 2009 but sales slumped. The average sales price of a home in this vibrant Anoka County community was down a bit but 2% is not significant so the Coon Rapids area is still very affordable but prices are leveling. Inventory rose by over 7% which is a bit of a concern but market time is not excessive at 113 average days on the market. The ratio of original price to received price is down in Coon Rapids but only by less than 1% so it looks like we will be continuing toward a balanced market in 2011 but we haven’t quite leveled off yet. 01/29/2011

Well, our first snow of the year started last night and is still coming down with over a foot here in Coon Rapids. I drove over to a client's home on their first day in it to snap a few photos. On the way I saw several cars in the ditch and a head on collision on Coon Creek Blvd. I would gues the slippery conditons not only caused it but saved further injuries by allowing the cars to slide freely after impact. Although the crash was on a curve, the curve is not hard to handle in most conditions. But with 5-6 inches of slush on the road, the cars don't don't always follow the track you want them too. So enjoy the beauty of the day and slow down on the roads!   11/13/2010

Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?                        This little squirrel and I had a "spy" party at my last open house.                                                              He ran along the fence and stopped to watch me in the house,                                                                                              so I'd stop to watch him run along the fence.Seriously, this was a two hour event!I just couldn't resist a photo of my new found friend.Hoping that he'll be there tomorrow!And, if he can't make it... Maybe you can?   Open House Schedule October 23rd & 24th, 2010 11469 Zea StreetCoon Rapids, MinnesotaSat & Sun 11-1:306162 146th Ave NWRamsey, MinnesotaSat & Sun 2-4pmGive me a shout if you want more information on either property (or see t... 10/22/2010

OPEN HOUSE:Saturday and Sunday(October 16th and 17th)12 - 3 PM11469 Zea StreetCoon Rapids, Minnesota$138,000Don't miss your chance for a first peek at this great property!Three bedroomsThree bathsOpen and spacious with updated carpet and paint.Just waiting for finishing touches. Large corner yard with fenced backyard.Walkout from family room area.Hope to see you there. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the meantime... if you are looking to move into the area... I'll wait for you to call!Selling Real Estate in Minnesota! If you are looking for professional real estate services I am only a ring away! I am looking forward to working with you. And, please feel free to share my name with anyone that you know who nee... 10/14/2010

Love this time of year! If you like the picture... keep your eyes open the next few days. I have a great new listing coming on the market this week and you won't want to miss it! Stay tuned to see where you could go to own these leaves! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________   In the meantime... if you are looking to move into the area... I'll wait for you to call! Check out my Journey with my Chevy Traverse at Mom's Timeout TwinCitiesSelling Real Estate in Minnesota! If you are looking for professional real estate services I am only a ring away! I am looking forward to working with you. And, please feel free to share my name with anyone that you know who needs assistance buying or selling a home ~ I love referrals! Li... 10/05/2010

Don't drown yourself in the ocean of real estate information that is floating around.  Let me help you find your new home. Updated Real Estate Statisticsfor Coon Rapids, MNNumber of Homes for Sale by Price Range This is one of those times when a picture says a thousand words.     The number of homes for sale in Coon rapids MN broken out by their price range shows an interesting pattern.  When you look at the graphs on the right, it doesn't really hit you.  You can see that the sales in all price ranges has fallen and that the lowest price range ($142,899 and below) was actually up in 2009 and then back down again, which shows the impact of the recent tax credits for first time home buyers.     Looking for a deal on a good home in the north metro?This is a fantastic area to consider.   ... 10/03/2010

Updated Real Estate Statisticsfor Coon Rapids, MNNumber of Homes for Sale Traditional Sellers With Property for SaleOutnumber Foreclosures and Short Salesin the Coon Rapids Minnesota real estate market. Much attention has been given to the number of foreclosures and short sale properties in Coon Rapids Minnesota, but as you can see from the data, there are still more traditional fair market properties on the market than those that involve a lender or bank.  These fair market properties do not involve a bank foreclosure and many are move-in-ready little gems that can now be had for a great price and closed quickly.  They are a little more than 50% of the market so there are plenty to choose from. Looking for a deal on a good home in the north metro? This is a fantastic area to consider.... 10/02/2010

The scam shown below has occured twice now to one of the home I have listed, beware!     You are receiving this notice because I do have people trying to rent my listings on Craigslist. This has happened twice now to one of my homes for sale and I just spoke with a potential renter caught in this scam. He said the owner stated they were in Africa on a missions trip and that he needed to wire them money to rent the home. He googled the address and found one of my ads so he called me to verify their story. Things to watch for: Calls to rent your home or people stopping by to ask to see the home. Only Realtors can or should be allowed to show your home and they will contact you through Showing Solutions, a Kansas number.Let no one else in. Contact me immediately and find out where they saw... 07/15/2010

  If you watched the news this weekend, you probably heard about the deck collapse that happened in Coon Rapids on Friday.  On WCCO news, they even had an expert speculate that the deck collapsed because it wasn't properly secured to the house.  When I hear news stories about a deck collapses, they usually say they'll come back to the story once they learn what the problem was, but they never do... so I decided to inspect this Coon Rapids deck myself.  Here's what I found: Epic Fail According to WCCO, there were only five people on this deck when it collapsed.  The problem wasn't that the deck was improperly attached to the house - this deck was completely missing a post. I marked up two photos to show exactly what went wrong.  Click on the photos to get a large version. As you can see,... 07/12/2010

   "Friday Funnies" - Can anyone tell me who this CRAZY man is wearing this African Headdress?    One of my best friends was given this real African Headdress from one of her friends that was in Africa on vacation, she traded one of her cameras for the headdress.  When I was over at her home in Coon Rapids Minnesota last week this CRAZY man frightened me and so I quickly snapped a photo of him, any idea who he might be?  I don't think he is from Africa but you never know!      Photographs by Robert Swetz (Vegas Bob) - All rights reserved - 6-11-2010 - Coon Rapids - Minnesota 06/18/2010

     The Miss Minnesota competition starts today and for Miss Coon Rapids the first phase will be the interview with the judges at 11:30 AM. Questions could be on anything, her life, her platform ( which for Allison is her life) current events - anything! It has been hard during this week for contestants to keep up with the latest news on the BP oil spill and all the events happening throughout the world moment by moment. I have had a hard time keeping up with it all and formulating an opinion and possible solutions ( the greatest minds are having trouble) but such is the nature of the interview. Allison is an intelligent young woman and will do well in this phase regardless of the questions.      Tonight she will be performing her talent- singing "Reflection" which was in the Disney mo... 06/17/2010

     Our daughter, Allison Lordbock, is the current Miss Coon Rapids and is competing in the Miss Minnesota pageant this weekend. Many activities have been planned for the contestants throughout this week leading up to the pageant along with the necessary rehearsals and photo shoots.  Here are a few shots from the week.  My daughter calls all the contestants in their red production number dresses THE RED SEA.  They would be hard to miss with all the sparkly crowns and super high heels as well.          I would like to thank the Miss Minnesota Organization board and volunteers for all the work that has preceded this event to make every day go smoothly and be a success. It takes a year of planning and hours of unpaid work to have a Miss Minnesota pageant. Things happen, personalities conf... 06/15/2010

The second season in Minnesota is in full swing and about to get worse. That is right, road construction is the other season besides winter in Minnesota. The next big project starts Monday when Main St closes in Coon Rapids from Coon Creek drive to Hanson Blvd. They are going to widen the road to a 4 lane divided highway. So why do they need to close the road? Well the sod fields that the road crosses west of Hanson is basically a peat bog. Peat makes a lousy road base as we have witnessed over the years. They have filled the one section so many times from sinking, the state figures there is 10-12 feet of asphalt over lay in the sink hole. They will build a land bridge over that area so it no longer sinks. The stretch from Shenandoah Blvd to the end of the 4 lane will have the hill remo... 06/09/2010

My wife called and said a coworker of hers was the first customer of Dickey's Barbecue Pit on Round Lake Blvd in Coon Rapids. He received a coupon for a free sandwich and gave it to her. She asked if I wanted to take her out for lunch and off we went. We were greated by Troy the store owner who opened the door for us as we approached. As we went in to order the national spokesman for Dickey's told us all about their sandwiches and other menu items. The server recomended the chopped beef sandwich so we tried that with a side of waffle fries and jalapeno beans. Now that was a good sandwich! The beans and fries were also very good. We asked where the original store was located and they told us Dallas Texas. It is still their most popular store in the country and was opened in 1941. They br... 05/26/2010

I have truly enjoyed watching this home go from foreclosure sale to a very nice place to call home. This all started with a couple who wanted to help the economy. Their idea was simple, we have resources, some skills and a vision to help those under employed friends. They started by picking a Realtor who was just getting started on a full time basis due to a recent lay off from Sun Microsystems. From there we looked at several homes and a few bids. We ended up purchasing a home in Coon Rapids on Kumquat street. The city already had bad feelings about this home due to past half finished, no permit pulled work. It took a long time for them to warm up to the ideas being presented. They also found several flaws that were code back in 1955 when the home was built. Now they needed a general c... 04/08/2010

The temp hit 50* and the sun was shining. Time to clean off the bikes and pump up the tires. The trails still have some snow and ice on them so we hit the streets. We decided that the Coon Rapids Dam would make a nice first ride and headed south on Shenandoah Blvd to Hanson. Hanson was a little dicey as the cars weren't expecting bikes quite yet. Once we got to the dam we looked out over the river. As we were enjoying the mirror like appearance of the river up stream, a glanced back to the east and saw a bald eagle about 20 feet over the dam. That was an amazing site to see. the eagle went up river about 1/2 mile then circled back and landed on a tree on the Brroklyn Park side. On the way home, it was going well until I shifted up and my derailer cable snapped. That put in the lowest ge... 03/07/2010

Check out the latest breaking news for Coon Rapids Minnesota!Your local source for all kinds of current news about Coon Rapids,including: general news, real estate news, homes for sale,jobs/help wanted, recent houses placed on the market,and even events! 02/02/2010

Part 2 in a series.   We started off early so we could be in Cape Girdaeau by kick off, we stopped in Medford for breakfast at McDonalds. We picked up the Avenue of the Saints at the Iowa border and followed that through Iowa. Our 2nd stop was in Waterloo Ia. Doing good on time we stopped in Mount Vernon Ia for gas and lunch. Just passed through Hannibal MO. Hoping to be in Cape Giradeau for kick off! 1:44 PM Jan 24th. Hit Cape Giradeau by 5 now watching Vikes at Applebees. Great game but they lost in OT. St Andrews Lutheran Church in Cape Giradeau has a nice field house they let us stay in for free. At just over the halfway point on the trip it was a welcome nights rest in Rush Limbaugh's home town. This a great service they have provided since Katrina. Getting oil changed in Cape Gira... 02/02/2010