It was another up, out, and back at it again this morning, and if someone should ask me what went on this week, I’d have to look at my appointment calendar for each day because it’s been a roller-coaster ride.
As much as I was wanting to get more accomplished, the amount of time spent on various issues with buyers and sellers, eroded much of what would’ve been my free time slots. As we all know in the real estate world, buyer and/or seller wants and needs stand before any seasoned real estate agent’s.
I was surprised to find it had rained in the night, because I normally awaken every time it does, but likely missed it due to my being overly tired from yesterday’s work-out. I’d say we’ve had more than enough rain, which was confirmed when looking at the fields on my way over to Clear Lake for a showing today. There were definitely a number of low spots in fields with standing water, and as most farmers know, if crops are submersed in water for over 24 hours, the likeliness of crop failures are all the more real.
When I pulled up to show that listing in Clear Lake, I just happened to get a text from a client of mine saying the confirmed cases of the China-virus had risen markedly here in Cerro Gordo County. It’ll not surprise me if it’s due to all the summer vacationers coming in from every infected corner of our State, and unknowingly infecting our natives. I’m not sure when people are going to “get it” regarding how much more cautious we must be, considering it being asymptomatic for at least a week. What I’ve recently been reminded, is that the only symptom during that stage, is the loss of smell, so make sure you check your sniffer on a daily basis, just to make sure you’re not a carrier.
Around noontime I met with a buyer at my office to write an offer on a home listed by another agent. Since she’s a first-timer, I made sure she was fully up to speed with the whole process of purchasing a home. I’m really wanting the best for her because she’s a very kind and gentle person, and from the time we first met, we hit it off marvelously. After getting all the docs created and then signed, I scanned and then emailed them to the listing agent. We’ll see what happens with that offer over the weekend.
While visiting with another agent, we ended up on the subject of a few home inspectors we have in our area, along with sharing a few stories about their poor judgement calls. For some reason, there are those who seem to get their jollies out of raising un-necessary red flags on a given home’s components, which nearly always end up being an inspection error on their part. For example, on one particular home, we had to get a plumber out to check on a gas log fireplace which the inspector said he couldn’t get to work. Well, it took about two minutes for the plumber to get it working, and that’s all he had to do was light the pilot on it. Waste of time? Absolutely. I so badly wanted to call that inspector and ask, “Do you not know that some of the older gas log fireplaces don’t have automatic pilot lighting features?”
I’ve purchased and sold a few homes in my day, and I can say without a doubt, I’ve never had any of them inspected by a “certified” home inspector prior to closing. I’ve always figured that as long as I can visually see all of a given home’s structural components, along with checking its mechanicals, all the rest of those little fixes could be dealt with when and if something should go wrong.
There used to be a home inspector some years ago who did inspections as a side-line of his real job, and you can’t even imagine how many times he’d tear apart a home to the point where the buyers would walk away out of fear. I had to laugh to myself about his charging into battle because I knew his character fully well. I just so happened to sell him the lot he built his new house on, and during the negotiations, he’d try every angle to get that chunk of land all the cheaper. You can bet I was glad to be rid of him after it closed. I told my broker at the time that he must be suffering from the Napoleon Complex, because he was a very short man and highly aggressive. If any of you know the temperament of a Jack Russell terrier, that’s what he acted like with his non-stop barking and always being in a “wired” state. I really felt sorry for his near-speechless wife who likely had to listen to his diarrhea of the mouth every waking hour, each and every day. They did end up selling their home and moving out of State, and not long after, I heard they ended up in a divorce court. I had no reason to wonder why.
I’m having a public open house tomorrow morning over at 15 Farmstead Square from 10:00 – Noon, and really hoping there’ll be a good turn-out. Our market is still on a burn and no signs of it slowing down. I don’t even want to think about how Clear Lake’s market has been spiking, but on a positive note, perhaps there’ll be some recent retirees who’ve been saying for years they want to be living in the Southwest, and tempted enough by these high sale prices, that they’ll sell and finally move.
I had to make a quick stop at Fareway today, and when walking past a pickup truck with its tailgate down, I couldn’t help noticing about eight tomato plants which the owner of it had purchased. I’d say it’s getting a little late to be planting tomatoes, because it takes a good week or more for them to get past their transplant shock. Almost two weeks ago I planted two “Black Prince” tomato plants, and just these past several days, they’re finally taking off to the point where one of them is setting blossoms. Believe it or not, some of those San Marzano tomatoes I planted from seed, are at least twice the size of those two little princes.
Tonight’s one-liner is: It is unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm moves the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth.
