When are these windy days going to stop? It’s almost like clockwork when finding it coming up with the sun and then subsiding once it sets, but thankfully our temps rose high enough today to where it was no longer biting.
Most of my morning was spent working on another sale file which is supposed to be closing this coming Monday, and since it happens to be an acreage, there were more documents I needed to get readied for signatures. It’ll be nice to have that one sold and closed because my drives up to show it were beginning to grown old. I’m going to give that new owner a full year, and then take a rubber-necking drive up there to see the transformation with its new home. You can bet it’ll be a shocker. I’m of the belief that’ll go down in history as being another good match-up between buyers and sellers.
When visiting with a client today, he also mentioned how much higher in price acreages are selling for in North Iowa and mentioning just a few in his area which not only sold high, but also quickly. The only disturbing thoughts I’ve been having about such frantic purchasing of country homes, is that too many of them haven’t a clue when it comes to taking active steps in caring for their acreages. They always seem to dismiss those extra concerns like keeping their wells active, septic tanks and leech fields working properly, and above all, preparing for the unbridled forces of our North Iowa winters. Our city dwellers don’t seem to notice how much more often power goes out in rural areas and usually don’t get restored until days later which means most forward-thinking acreage owners equip themselves with alternative sources of heat and power. When living outside corporate cities, one must always be prepared for the worst.
Please don’t think me one who’s trying to sway people from buying acreages, but rather wanting them to be in the know as to what it takes. Far too often I’ve heard those new owners complaining only a few years later how they didn’t like all the extra driving they had to do with their school children, always being on the alert for accident-creating deer, and most of all, their white-knuckled winter drives to and from work. With more home offices being created due to this pandemic, that complaint may not be so great going forward in time. Knowing how evil our drifting winter winds can be, you can bet I’d not want to be driving very long distances on east-west gravel roads, as they’re the worst for drifting snow build-ups. Even the east-west highways can be deadly when it really gets bad, and if you don’t believe me, I’ve got enough of my own shivering stories to tell.
When speaking with one of my friends today, he mentioned how upset he’d become when finding every store in this town selling work shoes, and all being made in China. I reminded him that it’s the fault of big corporations in our country who either sold out to the Chinese, or off-shored their manufacturing. You can bet it’s going to take a number of years if ever before we can get our country’s factories back to work.
Do you remember when Walmart came to town and how they touted many of their products being made in America? Where are all their aisle signs now? The few times I’ve ever darkened their doors in recent years, have never been trips to buy anything made in the Orient because I’ve stopped wasting my time within when looking for something made in America. I couldn’t help being a little sassy with my friend when saying, “I never have a problem buying shoes made in America.” Of course I was clever enough not to tell him I have an exceptionally narrow foot which means I have a limited variety to choose from, and always being on the expensive side. Oh well, the shoes must always fit the horse when it’s put to work. Right?
I decided to have another public open house over at 115 S. Connecticut this coming Saturday afternoon because I’m on one hellacious burn to get that home sold. We’ve had three close calls on getting it sold, which means it’s even longer over-due being under contract. If there’d be another distinct change in the mentalities of this year’s buyers, is the vacillating between two completely different styles and sizes of homes which makes absolutely no sense to me. In prior years, it was a normal occurrence when given buyers would tell me what style and price range of homes they were looking for, and nearly always, they’d end up with one. But not in these times, because they’ll flip from mid-century ranches to older two stories, in-town homes to far away acreages, along with sweeping price-point differences. Could ADHD be the causing factor?
I’d planned on getting some exterior work done at my office tomorrow, but unfortunately I have a long appointment scheduled over at my listing at 114 – 11th St. NE. An out-of-town buyer has a friend who lives here that’ll be doing a video for them while there. I’ve been down that road enough times in the past to know it’ll be a long showing. That’s another listing which should’ve been sold out of the gates, but as I’ve said, not many handy buyers remain. I’ll not fault our young buyers for their inabilities as much as I blame parents for not encouraging them to learn how to do things instead of continually enabling them to where they’re all thumbs when it comes to repairs.
Just recently another lightbulb went off in my brain when suddenly realizing more in our general public are lacking of true compassion to where they now have canned responses whenever being told unfortunate happenings of others. Just today when visiting with an older gentleman, I mentioned someone we both know, now having a tough time in the hospital with the China-virus, and then being in near shock when he didn’t acknowledge what I said, and actually changing the subject on me. I’ve also noticed how little regard many have when being told about the rise in suicides this year which is even more troubling. You can bet I feel blessed knowing my compassion for others is still intact.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Man’s inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn!
