Made in Pakistan

When reading the online weather forecast, it’s supposedly going to be a soggy week ahead, which translates into more rain. I’m sure the farmers are delighted to seen this type of rain, because that means all the more is soaking in, rather than being a fast runoff.

These past several days, I’ve been noticing all the more people with potted plants around their doorsteps, and making me very happy, because to me, it translates into being the likelihood that all the more are paying attention to their homes instead of out running around like they’d grown so accustomed to over the years. When not at work, isn’t home the best place to be?

Since the China-virus hit, I’ve been reminding my recent buyers all the more, that a person’s home should be treated as their sanctuary where they can go to get themselves re-rejuvenated. This business of being out doing something all the time, doesn’t give our bodies, minds, and spirits, the much-needed time to slow down on a daily basis for rest and re-calibration.

Pretty much the entirety of my day was spent handling troublesome issues with tenants, clients, and customers. Having been interrupted by an “immediate attention” need of another, I found myself getting a little short because of the intensity of the call which I could barely understand what was being said. Oh well, it was all rectified in a short period of time, and everyone was happy, so I guess that’s all that mattered.

Since I’m hosting an open house over at 902 – 1st St. SE tomorrow morning, I made sure to go out and place the tent signs with arrows this afternoon, so hopefully there’ll be a good turn-out on that home which happens to be tucked away in a very much sought-after district of our City. If someone were to ask me to profile it’s future buyer, I’d say it’s going to be a young and likely single first-time buyer who’s now wanting to get out of renting, and having sold that home twice before, those buyers fit such a profile.

When thinking back on the homes some of my colleagues have sold for similar prices in districts containing high numbers of rentals, I’d buy 902 – 1st St. SE in a New York second before plugging myself into a neighborhood where there’s a much higher turnover of residents. As I’ve said before, there’s less of a “bonding” taking place in neighborhoods that have those rates of turnover, which in turn creates an alienation within those districts. Homeownership nearly always forms more long-term stability, and when the conditions are right, most remain for a very many years.

When knowing I was going to be needing a pair of leather gloves this weekend, I went out shopping for a pair. My first stop was out to Tractor Supply which had a wide selection of them on racks, but each and every one of them had a tag reading, “Made in China”. No thank you very much.

One of my dear clients mentioned Fleet Farm, so I drove out there, and sure enough, they had all kinds of them, and luckily I found a pair that fit me, and when looking at the country of origin, it read “Made in Pakistan”. I didn’t have to think twice as to which country’s gloves I’d be buying, because Pakistan is far less concerned about making geopolitical inroads in our world. There’s no question those gloves are going to work for me, and far better than the ones I had to throw away because of all the gear grease I managed to get on them.

With this being Memorial Day weekend, I’ll have to set aside some time to visit the graves of my dearly departed. If the weather isn’t so bad, I’ll be making trips to more than one cemetery because some of them aren’t buried here in our City. Paying our respects at least once a year to those that’ve gone before us, was a good tradition to get started, because it reminds us all of our beginnings, as well as invoking some of the fondest of memories.

There are a number of them I still miss, but having lost my dear best friend/mother over four years ago, I’ve come to grips with it forever being a great loss which will be felt for years to come. Thank goodness I can still see and hear her, and nearly all the rest of them in my mind, so whenever feeling a bit down over their passing, I think about some pleasant happening I was a part of while they were alive.

Just today, while in conversation with a professional, I couldn’t help appropriately adding one of my grandmother’s euphemistic sayings. There was a good laugh or two, and then an argument started over where that saying originated. I wouldn’t back down, because at the time I heard it out of her mouth, and then questioning what it meant and where it came from, I got the whole low-down from her. While speaking about such sayings of hers, another one came to mind which goes, “Be careful when out looking for wool, because you may come home shorn.” Likely very few know the beginnings and cryptic meaning of that one, because it goes all the way back before the 1900’s. Believe it or not, I’ve actually appropriately used it a few times over the years.

While out on the west side of our City today, and noticing the heavy traffic and full parking lots, it was telling me all the many have dismissed this pandemic as being well on its way out, but you can be sure, I’m not falling in line with such notions, because there will be a second wave, and we’d better be prepared for it. We must never forget that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Tonight’s one-liner is: Hear one side and you’ll be in the dark, but after hearing both, all will be clear.

Related Property:
902 – 1st St. SE – Mason City
Joe Chodur

About the Author | Joe Chodur

First of all....Joe Chodur really doesn't like talking about himself but this is what we have found out about him. Joe Chodur began his real estate career in 1981 during the height of the savings and loan crisis. It's hard to imagine how difficult it was to sell homes when…

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