In spite of it being only a handful of days before Christmas, I found myself quite busy today with walk-ins as well as out-of-office appointments. Since we have less than two weeks before the end of the year, I’ve already been preparing myself for the arrival of 2018. After looking back at the number of transactions my office racked up this year, I’m again exceptionally thankful to all our faithful clients and customers in North Iowa who’ve helped us to get to this point. I can’t thank them enough for choosing Holtz Realty when knowing there’s all the more competition out there.
I’ve been receiving some exceptionally beautiful Christmas cards and letters from clients these past several weeks. A letter I received today from out-of-State buyers was particularly touching. I smiled when I read, “and we LOVE IT here!” Yes, we all know the winter weather can be challenging, but other than that, we should be thankful we have it as good as we do. Being in the know of what’s happening in other cities, I’d say we should consider ourselves pretty darned fortunate to live in such a pleasant community.
Yes, our population is growing older, and the young are leaving for bigger cities and better jobs, but at least we’re now getting those that moved away when young, coming back to live out their golden years, and their numbers are growing. As many of the re-plants that I’ve sold to these past 10 years, nearly all of them are happy they came back so to have quieter and gentler lives without suffering the rising costs and growing congestion in the metro areas they left behind.
Since California has been plagued with what seems to be yearly catastrophes, I’d say we should start placing advertisements in their large circulation newspapers as an encouragement for them to sell out for big bucks and come here to buy on the cheap so they can have all their loans paid off and still be left with tidy nest eggs. Some that I’ve spoken with seem hesitant about moving away from their children. My normal response has always been, “Your children and grandchildren won’t always be there for you, so don’t you think it’s best to make sure you’re safe and financially secure in your retirement years?” They usually don’t like it, but it gets them thinking.
I’ve know far too many children who’ve had little at best to do with their parents who live either near or far away, but when they find their last parent approaching death’s doorstep, they begin circling above like vultures over a dying carcass. What’s sad about it, is that if their parents were living on the State in some 2 room flat, they’d be whistling another tune. If you look close enough, you’ll find that in the end, it’s not tears you see in their glossy eyes–it’s dollars signs.
Someone who’s worked with the elderly said some years ago, “It’s funny how you can nearly always tell if given patients in a nursing home have money because those that do, get all the more visitors towards the end, while those that don’t, are lucky if they’re visited by a social worker. It’s interesting how relationships in these times are dollar driven. Just thinking about it makes a person want to go out and get as tight as a boiled owl.
