Another one of my listings sold today to where I may have to turn into a town crier and issue an all points bulletin screaming, “We need listings!” I hope my future sellers realize that I do attempt to get my listings sold more sooner than later. I’ve never been one who knowingly lists high just to get the listing, and shortly thereafter start badgering the sellers to reduce. I worked for a broker many years ago who did that very thing which we now refer to as “Buying a listing.” Falsely promising sellers big bucks is a very bad thing to do which in the end, hurts the sellers financially more than if they’d listed their homes in appropriate ranges in the first place.
The highlight of my day was spent showing a home to the most delightful older couple who’re looking at down-sizing. Yes, once most people reach a certain age, they begin wondering why they live in larger than need be homes filled with so much “stuff” which had been slowly, and near magically accumulated over the years. My time spent with them was approaching an hour and a half, but at least they were able to comfortably get a good look and “feel” of that residence. Making likely that last purchase, is all the more critical because I certainly don’t want unhappy buyers living out the remainder of their golden years in spaces that were purchased on a whim. It would devastate me if I should later find buyers having felt compelled to purchase something they weren’t fully comfortable with before buying.
It looks like I won’t have my Sunday fully free after scheduling two showing for the afternoon over in Clear Lake. I do hope the streets and sidewalks will be cleared of snow by the time I get there. Since the buyer is over an hour’s drive away, I made sure he call me to cancel if the roads aren’t safe. There’s no home that’s yet been built worth getting in an accident over. Don’t you think it’ll be wonderful when the pleasant weather does finally arrive? I’m to the point of freely dancing in the streets once we’ve shaken off winter for good.
President Trump is doing something that should have been done years ago, and that’s the imposition of tariffs on China due to the bulk of the crap they’re dumping on our markets. Everyone’s been programmed to buy new and “needed” items as cheap as possible, but don’t realize they’re compromising quality. The Chinese have stolen too much of our proprietary information and then using it against us. Since they have questionable quality control systems in place, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised that many of the cancers affecting our society is coming from toxic chemicals in their “bargain basement” products. I’ve even been wondering of late about the glazing that’s on all those many coffee mugs people are using that have “Made in China” stamped on them. We really don’t need a quarter of that “Sheisse” nearly everyone’s buying simply because it’s new and sure to be better than what they already own.
Oh, I must give you a good laugh tonight. Yesterday morning I was visiting with a client of mine about his world travels. He’s the type that asks the “real” natives of those countries questions most would never consider. With his contagious wicked laugh he said, “One day while I was touring a Chinese city with my wife, I asked our guide a question, who’d by then become comfortable with us, and that question being, “What slang word do the average Chinese people call Americans?” I braced myself and asked what his guide responded. He laughed all while saying, “They call us the big noses.” He definitely got a belly laugh out of me, and certain to never forget the big noses. I wonder if they’re jealous of our big sniffers.
