Holtz Realty

I encountered several people over these past days that I haven’t seen in many years. The first one is a gentleman who raised his family and is looking at going into something smaller and more maintenance free. He and his wife want to travel more and don’t want to be tied down to a larger home and yard as well as worry about it while away for weeks. We played catch up with what has happened in his life as well as what his plans are for their retirement. He was telling me things about himself that I’d never imagined. He likes to do detailed woodworking which I admire in anyone immensely as well as a keen interest in modern art. It’s funny how you think you know people’s likes and dis-likes and yet at times you get a boomerang between the eyes for not taking the time to discover their interests. I was gifted a pen about a month ago from a dear client whom I never would have guessed creates original pens in his workshop and they are beautiful! Yet another interesting happening was a person who arrived at my open house today and spoke about a blond-headed girl in her high school class with the last name Chodur. I asked her if she recalled her first name and she did. To my surprise, she went to school with one of my sisters. She is temporarily here with her husband to help take care of her 91 year old mother. She has lived in the Seattle and Portland areas nearly all her adult life. She said since she’s been back here and walking with her husband, she can’t believe the beautiful homes in Mason City as well as the extremely low prices compared to Seattle and Portland. She didn’t think any young people wanted to live here but I didn’t hesitate to tell her that there are more and more younger people returning to Mason City because of the far lesser cost of living as well as the desire to be close to their families. I assured her that in these past five years, I have seen more and more younger people wanting to stay if at all possible as well as others wanting to return. Every time I sell or rent a home to an upward thinking young person, I always tell them to encourage friends. Yes, every community has its quirks, but after its all said and done, we should be very thankful for what our city has to offer. It’s so interesting to see how the movements of time in the universe somehow get us re-connected at intersections.