What a change from yesterday’s weather! Of course I didn’t even think it would be so cold considering how warm it was not but 24 hours ago. Having made a poor judgement call, I found myself half-chilled the entire day. It was yet another example of how predictably un-predictable our weather here in North Iowa can be. Oh well, we just gotta keep adapting so we can continue loving life in the upper reaches of our great State.
My early morning appointment took me to a home that recently sold which I had to open for an insurance person to take a few photos, along with making notes regarding the plumbing, wiring, furnace, and roof. She said the insurance company randomly picks homes that require a representative to do a walk-thru. I asked her if she wanted a copy of the listing, and she said that would be helpful, so after we finished, she followed me back to my office to get one.
When she arrived, she seemed to spend more time commenting on how beautiful the woodwork and floors were, than talking about the home we just previewed. What really set her off, was seeing the antique oak server behind my desk which I use as my office credenza.
After we visited about my office’s interior, she mentioned that about ten years ago, she and her husband purchased a 1900’s two story home that was in desperate need of restoration, which took them nearly four years to complete their project consisting of stripping woodwork of paint, removing paneling, opening up closed-off doorways, repairing and refinishing its quarter-sawn oak floors, and everything else in-between.
She mentioned that about half way thru their labor of love, they were ready to throw in the rag and sell because they couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel they created for themselves. But then one night during dinner, they had a heart-to-heart talk about where they’ve been, and where they should be going with it. They both agreed that they had too much of their blood, sweat, and tears already into it to just walk away, so they trudged on.
She went on to say they did get it finished, and all the happier for it because it’s now the most beautiful home they ever would’ve considered being able to afford if it were already restored. With a wink she said, “We both love it to the point where we’ll likely be there until they carry us off to the nursing home or mortuary.” I couldn’t have praised her more for seeing it thru to the end, because I’ve seen far too many grand homes fall into neglect and dis-repair to where they end up being turned into seedy apartment conversions.
It wasn’t but a week ago when visiting with a young gentleman who just moved here from out of State, and telling me his plan was to start looking for used furniture that’s made of real wood instead of that compressed sawdust junk that looks good, but quickly wears out. It’s amazing how today’s technologies can create furniture that looks to be actual solid wood, but when cut or broken, exposes nothing more than glue and sawdust. I was happy to hear he’d learned his lesson regarding buying new.
About three hours of my afternoon was spent showing homes to a delightful person who’ll be moving here in July. Of the four we looked at, there were two that seemed a better fit. He has his home for sale in another community, and hopeful it’ll sell soon so he can buy instead of renting here until it’s sold.
One of the homes I showed, was so saturated with air fresheners that my eyes started watering and nose running. For the life of me, I will never understand why people do that because it usually always gives the impression that the owners are trying to mask an underlying odor. It was so bad that I could still smell it when I got out of my car at the following showing.
The home sale I’ve been working on these past several days did finally come together, so that’ll be one more I can add to my list. My greatest fear about that home, was it going to a slum lord, but dispelled today when discovering the new buyer is going to fix it up and rent it to a long-time friend of his family. It sold for less than I’d expected, but at least it’ll be improved instead of abused.
Please remember I have two public open houses this weekend. The first one is tomorrow from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at 422 S. Tennessee Place which should’ve been sold long ago, but I guess the right buyer has yet to arrive. My second one is at 320 – 1st St. NE which happens to be Prairie Place Condominiums. I’ll be there from 1:00 – 3:00 PM on Sunday, and have all ten of the remaining units open for viewing. There’s no question that complex contains the most delightful elderly residents to where I’m convinced there’s some sort of Divine intervention taking place.
Tonight’s one-liner is: By judicious daily exercise, you can develop good judgement just as you do with the muscles of your body.
