One of today’s appointments took me to a property the seller wanted me to look at just so to get an opinion on what needed to be done in order to get it prepped for listing. I found myself in a bit of a debate regarding suggested improvements I believed would optimize its suggested final sale price. I’m not sure if any of my ideas fell on deaf ears, so we’ll see if I get a call back to list it.
Most sellers don’t realize how much the mentalities of buyers have changed in these past five to seven years. It’s becoming all the more common to find any given buyers in possession of very little, if any vision or foresight. I blame much of it on HDTV’s near-comic episodes which in my opinion aren’t even close to being “real world” real estate here in greater North Iowa.
Just today I sent an email to one of my sellers with an update on the progress of getting it sold. My email contained language similar to, “It’s seems all the many first-time buyers are jumping higher in price ranges due to their wanting more updates now, instead of purchasing cheaper homes and begin waiting, working, and saving for them.” You do understand what that’ll mean for my seller in the near future, where if there’s not an offer on it more sooner than later, it’ll continue to get reduced until it’s investor grade, and subsequently be sold, and then added to already bloated inventories of those few in our City who have far too many rental properties.
While comparing a similar city to ours with a client who just returned from out East, I discovered the biggest differences between our City and that thriving community of 28 – 30K people, is that they’ve set standards by which nearly the entire community live by. I was shown photos of their Historic Downtown which would put our City’s to shame. I asked about the texture or quality of the city, and the near laughable answer was, “They don’t have low-hanging fruit like we have.” For sure I’ve never before heard such and expression. If that community were not so far from here, I’d do a day trip out there so to see and hear for myself, and then report back my findings.
What really bothers the heck out of me, is remembering how our City was 35 – 40 years ago, and then comparing it to now. As far as I’m concerned, there are far too many special interests groups with their own agendas, and nearly all of it’s about money, power, and control.
Why is it all the more are looking up to those who’ve made their money in dark ways? There should be no idolizing or mimicking of the ways of those who could give a hoot about anyone else but themselves. There is no given group of well-wishers in our City with enough clout to make any long over-due changes and get us back on track to being the thriving “Star of the North” we once were. And because there’ve been so many who’ve tried and failed, it’s left all the more of our good citizens, willingly throw themselves into growing puddles of apathy. If we indeed want the best for each other, then we must stop talking about it and begin taking action. Always remember that when need be, the voices of good can scream just as loud or louder than the voices of evil.
It looks like this week is going to be a busy one for me, and glad for it. As I mentioned, there’s a whole lot of catching up I have to do, and I thank every one of our Citizens for helping me make it happen.
Tonight’s one-liner is: The past cannot be cured, so it’s best to close the lid on its coffin, and start living a far healthier present.
