The on and off cloud bursts seemed to inspire more phone calls at the office than normal. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if we are now entering the time where buyers and sellers start thinking about winter and either getting moved into a new home before the first snows, or having their homes sold before being forced to turn the furnaces on in their vacant homes. It’s always a seasonal happening when summer is reaching its end and the arrival of Fall. This cycle has repeated itself every year thus far in my years of marketing homes.
I did my good deed for the day in helping a client move a used metal desk he purchased for his home office. When we went to pick it up at the garage stall, I said to him, “You couldn’t have found a desk any heavier to move?” He smiled and said, “Well it didn’t look that heavy when I saw it yesterday.” I went on to tell him that it was likely a desk out of a bank or law firm, or possibly an accounting office due to the number of drawers and heavy duty locking system. It definitely wasn’t a secretary’s desk because of the all the little mid-Century extras it had including funky looking mid-Century legs and drawer knobs. The top was of that marbled rubber-like material. It’s a handsome desk but oh was it heavy. With all the drawers removed, it was still very heavy. I told him to name it the “battle ship” because of the thickness of the steel contained.
I was quite surprised when reading the article several days ago in the Globe Gazette about a farm auction that took place at the Nora Springs Community Center. With commodity prices still very low and the yields likely being high again this year, I was a bit shocked to find those parcels of farm land selling in the range of $9,000 to over $10,000 per acre. Either the farmers that were purchasing the land were either paying cash or had access to cheap money. I’m not being negative, but I still don’t know how some of the farmers can actually make a living out of farming unless everything is paid for including their machinery and homes. I understand the concept of investing in farmland and getting a better return than savings accounts, but I’m not so sure if that $10,000 per acre is pretty much the top tier of pricing. I wish everyone well and continue to hope the land investors know what they’re doing. I’ll never forget being at a funeral of a relative several years ago and a distant cousin of mine bragging about having purchased another chunk of farm ground. I reminded him of something my wise grandmother said several times in her life. She’d say,
“Just remember my dear ones, we entered this world naked and penniless, and we’ll leave this world naked and penniless.”
She would usually say this whenever someone was being boastful and carrying on about their material possessions. Having seen how little wealth does for the elderly after their years of hoarding and likely believing their wealth will keep them alive, when in fact likely killed them before their time over the fear of loosing it all. Many would roll over in their graves if they knew how fast their beneficiaries squandered their savings. From brand new red Mustangs to all the toys most adults only dream about. I’ve always thought it curious how money that’s not earned manages to slip so quickly through the fingers of a decedent’s relatives. A classic example of here today and gone tomorrow.
