What a great game last night!  Shootouts, Overtime - Edina Wins!!! Edina 4, Burnsville 3   (Details from the STARTRIBUNE) The blood dripping down Anders Lee's nose after the game at Mariucci Arena suggested the kind of battle the Hornets had with the Blaze before knocking it off in overtime. Truth is, however, one of Lee's teammates drew blood in the postgame celebration after Lee's goal gave the Hornets the Class 2A Section 2 title and a trip to the state tournament.See the rest of the story...http://www.startribune.com/sports/preps/16060267.html  02/27/2008

For the last seven years, James Westin's ice castles have melted before he could finish them.That has not a problem this year.Helped by a cold and snowy December, the Edina resident finished a three-level, 22-feet tall ice castle in his backyard recently.It will be lit and open to the public 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 to 9, at 4501 Garrison Lane.For more info: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2008/02/08/news/ed07icecastle.txt 02/08/2008

It's that time of year again to sign up  for soccer!   The Edina Soccer Association (ESA) is committed to providing a quality soccer program to all children in Edina. Sportsmanship, fun and an understanding of the game are stressed at all times. Soccer is the most popular youth sport in Edina, with over 3,500 kids registered in 2007 for the spring/summer and fall leagues.  Register at www.EdinaSoccer.orgRegistrations received after February 29, 2008 will be considered late. A $20 late fee will be charged per player. Age divisions will be closed out if full and a waitlist will begin. LATE FEES ARE NOT REFUNDABLE LATE REGISTRANTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED PLACEMENT ON TEAMS OR SPECIAL REQUESTS All Players must be registered online by Monday, April 7th. This is the final cut-off date. 02/02/2008

This afternoon, my family and I spent some fun time out on the ice at Centennial Lakes Park!Centennial Lakes Park features a 10-acre lake that is groomed daily during the winter for ice skating. Spread out over three main ponds connected by narrow, meandering canals, the rink gives skaters a unique skating experience reminiscent of a Currier & Ives setting from bygone days.Complementing the rink is a cozy, rink-side warming house, complete with indoor and outdoor fireplaces, restrooms, concessions and skate rental. Concession items include hot chocolate, pop, popcorn, hot dogs, chips and candy. Skate rental is available for $4 per pair, with sizes ranging from children's Size 8 up to adult Size 13. Ice sleds may also be rented for $6 per hour. A photo identification must be given as a d... 12/30/2007

The market wide slowdown has not missed Edina real estate.  New listings were down for November, 79 this year versus 97 in 2006.  Year to date figures show new listings at 1524 versus 1750 for 2006 year to date.  Closed sales finished the month at 53 for the month versus 60 for 2006.  The combination of these results leave Edina with 39 more homes for sale than at the same time last year.The steadiness of Edina real estate is demonstrated, however, by the fact that home prices have held steady with last year.  This while some areas have dropped by 12% or more.  Percent of list price received at closing also demonstrates the relative strength of the Edina market, stand near 95%.We are recommending our clients look hard at Edina real estate.  One of the twin cities cornerstone suburbs, Ed... 12/18/2007

Thanksgiving day is now behind us and New Year's Day is Fast Approaching!Our seasonal slowdown has reduced the number of Edina Listings from 457 in October to 417 in November.ACTIVE PROPERTIES FOR SALE There are 221 single family homes for sale (Down from 249 in October)There are 196 Condos and Townhomes for sale (Down from 208 in October) SOLD PROPERTIES There were 30 single family homes sold (Down from 36 in October)There were 24 Condos & Townhomes sold (Up from 15 in October)MARKET STATISTICSYTD Edina Stats: 627 properties sold (Down 13.2%) and average sale price of $495,237 (Down .7%)YTD Metro Stats: 37,679 properties sold (Down 16.2%) and average sale price of $275,313 (Down .9%)In a nutshell... The Edina market is running slightly ahead of the general Twin Cities Metro Area market... 12/17/2007

The Edina City Council (ECC) decided not to vote on the proposed moratorium on teardowns at last nights meeting.  With respect for the massing and appropriateness concerns, a temporary ban helps no one.  ECC will continue to research the issue and work on developing effective policy that balances neighborhood improvement with neighborhood preservation.The temporary ban would have had the unintended consequence of placing into limbo hundreds of buyers and sellers.  For every "monster house" there is a long chain of transactions connected to it, for example, the owner of the "tear down" may be an elderly couple who want to buy a condo, and the future owners of the "monster house" also need to selling their old home, perhaps to a younger couple moving up, and the chain goes on.I for one co... 12/05/2007

Again this year I will be offering you the choice of a free Christmas Tree or Holiday Wreath to decorate your home and help celebrate the upcoming holiday season.  All we ask is that when you come by my office, you bring a toy to donate to Toys for Tots.  Last year our office donate over 1000 toys to the program!Please ccontact me about the upcoming date and time - If you can't stop by but would still like to make a donation, please let me know.   I would be happy to make arrangements to pick it up for you!  11/20/2007

Halloweeen is past and it's time to take anbother look at the real estate market in Edina...As we've seen all year, there's lots to choose from - Edina has 457 properties for sale!There are 249 single family homes currently for sale.There are 208 Condos and Townhomes currently for sale.  In October, there were 36 single family homes that sold ranging from $157,000 - $1,900,000In October there were 15 Condos & Townhomes that sold ranging from $93,000 - $1,295,000 YTD Edina statistics are as follows: 574 properties sold and the average sale price is $503,309YTD Twin Cities Metro Area Stats: 35,061 properties sold with an average sale price of $275,751The average sale price in Edina is up slightly over 2006 vs the Mertro area which is down slightly.Number of units sold is off about 13% in ... 11/10/2007

There's been an outpouring of concern - both positive and negative - about what is hapening with new construction in Edina.  Over the past few years, there have been numerous tear down/rebuilds in the city.Some which have fit in very well and other that have not... Clients of mine did one MorningsideClick Here to see the before and after from 2005: 4307 Morningside Road Edina, MNIt's back on the market if you're looking for something like this...  4307 Morningside - FOR SALE!So what do you think?  Here's your chance to weigh in on what's happening with monster houses in East Edina...Are you For Them? Against Them?  Watch the YouTube video that was prepared by the neighborhood and leave your thoughts and comments. 10/27/2007

Really the only good data in Edina for September, was that the year to dayte average sale price edged up slightly from $501,046 in 2006 to $503,381 in 2007 wich is up 0.5%.  A more detailed look at the numbers can be found here:Edina Market Update for September 2007Also, there were 59 closed sales in Edina ranging from $90,000 to $1,900,000 Please feel free to contact me at 952-944-1728 if you have any additional questions about this information about the market in general - While things have slowed since last year, many homes are still selling and we are probably still looking at one of the top 5 markets on record... 10/27/2007

 Since I have been spending a lot of time here on active rain talking about coaching and helping agents, I also wanted you to know that I am still actively selling - primarilly in the city of Edina, Minnesota.If you are interested in finding out specific details about home sale prices in Edina or what's happening in the general edina real estate market, please take a moment to go to www.MoveToEdina.com  - I am looking for guest contributors to add some color to my blog, so if you have something to contribute, please contact me.Tommorw night it's Edina Homecoming vs Stillwater - the hornets are 5-0 and renked 7th in the metro high school football poll - It should be a good game! Talk to you again soon! 10/11/2007

John maintains a blog at the following two spots in addition to activerain.  Please check these blogs additional news.  If you have something that you would like us to comment on, just let us know.  Shoot me an email or give me a call.  The blogs listed below are maintained by john mazzara.  Patti Mazzara remains the main contributor to this blog. Go Here:http://www.twincitiesrealestatenews.com  This is a relatively new blog that uses wordpress as a platform.  I will be developing this out more actively in the near future.  Initially we ran into a few bugs with the software.Or Here:http://www.realtownblogs.com/johnmazzara If you like activerain, you will like this platform.  I believe there are almost 80K members who maintain blogs at this location.  It is pretty cool.  Just like active... 07/01/2007

Just in case you didn't already know...The Edina Aquatic Center is now open!  For the 2007 season, the Edina Aquatic Center will open June 9, and close August 26. The Edina Aquatic Center will be closed the morning of Aug. 19 for the IronKids Triathlon, but will reopen at noon.Ther are great prices on season passes as well as single day admissions so if you have time on one of these next hot days, maybe we'll see you there! Chris 06/20/2007

I'm always the one that looks for the positive, so the good thing for May in Edina was that the average sale price was up 1.5% to $421,946 for the month of May vs 2006 and up 8.5% to $481,833 for all of 2007 vs 2006.The details are from the Minneapolis Association of realtors:   Edina Market Update - May 2007Unit sales however continued to hang back with 74 closed sales in May, and 247 closed sales year to date.  THis is down from 103 sales in May of 2006 and 305 closed sales through May of 2006. Total number of Active listings are at 483 of which 269 are single family homes... If you would like additional information adbout this data please call me at 952-944-1728 I got my Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics form the University of Minnesota, and I love numbers!Chris 06/11/2007

Priced right and they are SOLD! Location, condition & PRICE in today's market. What are you finding? 05/01/2007