It was certainly quite the storm we had last night which dumped bucket-loads of rain on us in a very short period of time to where our streets were getting flooded. One of the people who stopped by my office today who lives in a home in an out-lying area, said that once she was able to see the field behind her home after the rain let up, appeared as if she were looking at a lake. Yes, there’s no doubt there were people who had water in their basements last night. Oh well, these violent storms are just another by-product of climate change. I was just glad I didn’t have any water in my basement, and thankful my sump pump was diligently doing its job.
When I got to my office this morning, the first thing I checked was my basement, and quite surprised it really didn’t get that much considering how fast that rain came down. Of course anyone owning a home in North Iowa with a finished basement, is playing Russian Roulette with the chance of getting their carpets and drywall soaked, and unless you’ve seen and smelled the after-effects, you’ll soon decide it’s just not worth the risk.
Just recently I noticed a relatively newer home that sold, and when looking at the square footage, and then the final sale price, I did a quick calculation and found that it had topped the $200.00 per square foot threshold when landing at $212.00 per square foot. Now that’s insane. It’s no wonder there are all the fewer homes being built when seeing something only a few years old selling for so much. When looking more closely at the photos, I didn’t see one feature of it which I would’ve considered remarkable. Oh well, some poor devil is going to making high mortgage payments on it for a very many years, and likely eating a great deal of day-old bread while sipping cheap whiskey.
Most of my day was spent following up on showings and returning phone calls and emails. I did have a number of errands to run, and one of them was to Sherwin Williams which is my favorite paint store. I learned a long time ago, that if you want good paint which lasts, you’ve got to go with tried and true brands. There’s a certain cabinet and trim paint they sell which has been my all-time favorite when painting cabinet fronts and trim. It comes in different shades of white, and what I like about it the most, is that it has a pearly cast to it which gives it a rich depth. When getting my mother’s home readied for sale after she passed, I scraped all the old paint off her kitchen cabinets and drawer fronts with new sliders, and then repainted them with their paint, and you could’ve sworn they were higher-end cabinets, when in fact, there were just re-skinned mid-century modern. With that said, I encourage everyone to make sure you get good paint that lasts, unless you’re like some who enjoy changing your room colors often.
I had just a few little areas needing to be mowed, which I didn’t do on Monday because I knew I’d have enough time over a noon hour to get them done, and today’s sunshine gave me an opportunity to mow them, and glad for it because they were getting tall.
I had a nice chat with a colleague today regarding the direction this China-virus is taking us, and of course he’s fully aware of how many people from Black Hawk, Linn, and Polk Counties have summer homes in Clear Lake, which concerns him as much as it does me because it’ll only take one asymptomatic person out partying in one of their bars, and a few weeks later, we’ll be finding Cerro Gordo County having been branded as another hot-spot. It amazes me at times when seeing how so many have such dis-regard for others, while thinking everything is just peachy-keen in their “bubble” worlds. Another dark thought, was that some of those who believe they’re the “anointed ones”. and believing they are, because they own second homes on the lake, and in possession of indignant mindsets by thinking because they own on “lakeshore”, they’re all the more privileged and licensed to do exactly what they want and where they want, and to the heck with the rest of us. I do know a few with such mindsets whom I distance myself from at every opportunity.
When I checked on my little tomato garden today, I found the little darlings doing just fine, and in a few weeks, I’ll be removing their mini-plastic greenhouses, just so they can really start going to town on their own. I did find a small spot where I’ll be planting ten of those specialty pepper seeds in a day or two. I mentioned it to someone today about planting peppers from seed this late, who then insisted I wouldn’t have any, but little does she know, I’m going to profusely pamper them so they’ll grow as quickly as possible. What is to my advantage, is being that garden located in a very protected site where there’s little or no wind gusts getting thru, which makes for better growing conditions. As all gardeners know, wind can be a terror for delicate growing plants.
When thinking about this weekend, I decided to have a public open house over at 15 Farmstead Square this Saturday morning from 10:00 am – Noon. I’m finding the morning open houses to be more buyer friendly, and since many of the other Realtors are not yet hosting open houses, I figured I wouldn’t be having a conflict with someone else’s afternoon open house.
I’m not surprise it hasn’t sold yet, because there’s been a great number of purchases early-on in this home’s price range this season, and thankfully I did mention to the seller that it may not sell right out of the gates because there are only so many buyers out there in a given market year. Without a doubt, that home is spotlessly clean and ready to move into, and most certainly in one of City’s sought-after neighborhoods. Pass the word on if you don’t mind.
Last night the wind was blowing and the rain was pounding, and tonight’s it’s sunny and calm. Yes, that’s our North Iowa weather, so get out there and enjoy it while you can.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Whoever is in a hurry, shows that the thing he’s about, is too big for him.
