River City Rag

Another hot one arrived again today, which prompted me to get all my running done as early as possible before the sun started beating down from high-above. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m really starting to see spots of green turning brown which were not only grasses, but also the more tender-leafed weeds as well.

It seems every time I look at the news of late, there are either forest fires, droughts and diminished water supplies out in our Southwest. Just today one of the headlines mentioned something about how the continued lowering of the water levels at the Hoover Dam, will affect fifty million people.

As time goes on, I’m convinced all the more people are going to finally realize that there’s a cause and effect to climate change, and the sooner we realize it, the more likely we’ll be able to get this greenhouse effect under control before we reach the point of no return. I personally cannot remember experiencing the extended high temps we’re now having this early in the month of June. I’ll be interesting see what this year’s crops of fruiting trees and bushes are going to be like when they’ve matured. Once again, just prepare yourselves for a near-future spiking in your grocery bills.

It was a semi-quiet day at office, which afforded me time to do some deep-digging on a property for one of my past customers. After getting all my research done, I did a quick drive-by of the home, and then placed my call. I’m sure he was surprised to hear that his suspicions were completely off-mark regarding the ownership, along with there being real people in ownership who happen to be living not so terribly far from here. The bottom line of my conversation, was having given my two cent’s worth of why it’s still standing there empty, and my guess being if they’ve got the money to pay the taxes, insurance and upkeep on it, then it’s their choice.

I’m now dealing with the results of an appraisal that came in yesterday, and when I noticed the so-called “certified appraiser” having insisted there’s no access to the crawlspace in that home’s basement, I’d wager he possibly spent no more than ten minutes walking thru it while taking photos. I paused a moment and then picked up the phone and called the lender regarding that major oversight. As always, the lender had to throw me a few bones of excuses as to why the access door was missed. For whatever reason, that appraiser made a mistake and will be forced to go back out and have another look. I’ve never been a fan of real estate appraisers due to how sloppy their work can be, and whenever challenging their notations, they’ve always got their self-incriminating weak justifications to throw my way.

Just yesterday while visiting with a colleague regarding the “new and improved” website of northerniowarealestate which is owned by the Globe Gazette, we both agreed that whomever dreamed up that website, must’ve been living in the Stone Age. It’s now actually worse than the one they’ve been hanging onto for well over 20 years. Talk about worthless! I’ve been getting emails and phone calls from my so-called ad rep asking if I needed any help getting my listing loaded onto their platform, which I’ve either ignored or changed the subject, but you can be sure I’ll be giving her my filterless opinion of it more sooner than later. What an absolute waste of time and money.

Speaking of our not-so-dear Globe Gazette and KIMT, I’m still wondering why there has been no news regarding that major vehicle pile-up several days ago over near Rudd on the Avenue of the Saints. There was only one little blurb on KIMT’s website, but no details which makes me wonder why there’s been no news of it released. I can understand why the Globe hasn’t bothered, as they’d likely been too busy reporting half-truths and silly little guest editorials from people most would rather not see or hear from again. We should start referring to our local newspaper as the “River City Rag”.
Sounds kinda catchy doesn’t it?

Personally, I rarely ever look at anything in that newspaper other than the obits because whenever in the past having just started reading something, I get turned-off by their reporting skills. Someone really must give them a refresher course on the art of being good reporters where they’re totally un-biased while gathering the scoop on stories from all four corners of the “subject”. Just recently I shared my evolved form of reading the online news with a friend, which is to first see what news outlet released any given article. I’m much more into reading truths than salivating over tabloid trash.

Just today I happened to notice a face out of my past lumbering across the street who wasted many hours of my time over the years with showing him properties, counseling him about what would be the best improvements to make on his home, as well as listening to his sugar-coated faux praises which were only used to keep my ear bent his way. Not long ago he purchased a for sale by owner, and wouldn’t you know, I’d already envisioned him doing such a thing a number of years before it actually happened. Unbeknownst to him, I’d profiled his true character years ago, and all I did was wait for it to manifest itself. Yes, he’s another one of those users, but when getting a good look at him today, I’d say his new “good life” hasn’t been all that good. Hmm…Me thinks it’s just another reminder of how the universe always manages to bring everything back into its true form. When seeing him, I was reminded how ever-so glad I am he’ll nevermore darken my door.

The remainder of my afternoon was spent showing several of my listings, and unfortunately neither one of them have central air, but since they were vacant and closed up, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but did manage to get a few river shots while out.

Tonight’s One-liner is: Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

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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