Another earlier than normal journey to the office this morning, and mostly due to a laundry list of things that needed to get finished before noon arrived. Those intermittent cloud bursts weren’t helping matters while running errands. I’d say we’ve got our fair share of rain and then some.
The absolute highlight of my morning, was catching a glimpse of a blue heron slowly moving thru a slough, and likely watching for anything that moved and ready to spear with its long beak. I stopped to take a photo, but as soon as I got out of my car, off it flew. They sure are beautiful creatures, and wishing all the more I could get close enough to snap a good photo to share.
One of my customers called and asked that I show him an acreage that was recently listed, and since I’d already shown it, I asked that he do a drive-by before I set up the appointment because it just so happens to have close neighbors, which is normally a turn-off with acreage buyers.
He text me back saying he drove by and noticed a “pending sale” sign, but seeing how close the neighbors were, he likely wouldn’t have wanted to see it. Hearing that it has an accepted offer on it already, is telling me once again how crazy this acreage market is. That home is much smaller than the online photos are making it appear, and the basement has an un-excavated dirt area which would also be a downer for many.
My listing at 115 S. Connecticut had an accepted offer on it, but come tomorrow, it’ll be back on the market and up for grabs again. I’ll have to be making some calls next week to the five agents that wanted to show it after it went under contract, and the reason I’ll be waiting, is the current tenants will have been moved out by then which will help that home show and sell better.
After getting a real good look at the Marvin windows that are in that home, I’d say for sure they truly are the Cadillac of residential windows. I’ve seen just about every brand and type of window, and without a doubt, they’re the best I’ve seen. I’d say those window are possibly 10+ years old, and not appearing to show even the slightest signs of wear. Judging by today’s prices, I wouldn’t be surprised if each one would fall in the $750.00 – $1,000 price range.
I was shown an estimate for unfinished interior doors without any boring for hinges or lock sets, and those were averaging around $600.00 each. Most people think you can just run out to Menards and get pick up quality doors, but unfortunately, they’re all special orders from the few companies that still create them.
Whenever people talk about building a new home, I give them fair warning regarding all the hidden and unforeseen/over-looked expenses they’ll be faced with after they’d pulled their triggers, and if they want quality, they’d better have a friendly banker, along with a thick checkbook. The last “spec” house that was sold in our City which was last year, topped out at well over $300K, and certainly not offering much to write home about.
I personally would never have a new home built unless I was able to afford all natural materials, and when I say natural, I would refuse to use any composites, chipboard, engineered floor joists, and my list goes on. There are too many chemicals that are used to create that stuff, and all the more being considered carcinogenic.
I had to walk over to an attorney’s office to pick up some transfer docs this morning, and was nearly nauseated from the overload of the smell of Linden tree flowers. Don’t get me wrong, because I do like their smell, but when feeling as though I just immersed myself in a perfume bottle, no thank you. There wasn’t just one, but two of them in full bloom. I hope there are some wild honeybees in our City that are taking advantage of their nectar.
I’ve got to go searching for my bottle of muriatic acid which I have in storage, because I have some windows to wash that haven’t been cleaned in years, and when I looked at them, I could see they had cement dust stuck to them. Most people don’t think we still get it after the DNR made them add more filters, but we do, only not to the extent we’d get in the old days. One has to be careful when using that solution of water and acid to get that dissolved, but the results are worth the extra care one has to take.
Some years ago I had to wash my mothers windows, and the idiot contractor who installed her combination storms, didn’t size them right, so they all had to be taken down from the outside, cleaned, and then re-installed. It was a big job, but those windows sparkled when finished.
Every time I see shoddy work, I think of that wanna-be contractor who thought he was the cat’s meow. Some years later, I challenged him on his flub-up, and I almost laughed in his face when he said, “I asked your mother if she wanted combinations that you could take out and clean from the inside of the house, and she said, “No”. It’s it funny how some can come up with their knee-jerk excuses for being stupid?
It looks like I have another busy day in store for me tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll have those closings coming up fully readied for soft landings. I just received word that there’ll be a “clear to close” on another loan I’ve been waiting on. Yeah!
Tonight’s one-liner is: Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a home.
