A Good Dose

When knowing it was going to be a hot one today, I made sure to get as many of my out of office chores taken care of before the blistering sun was high in the sky. Having awakened earlier than normally, I went out and gave my vegetable garden a good soaking, just so those pepper and tomato plants wouldn’t be suffering from the heat.

After arriving at office, I went to work at getting all my office duties done as quickly as I could, just so I’d have time to provide a handful of hours paying it forward by transforming myself into a janitor in a drum, and then going over to help get one of my clients homes more presentable to the general public.

Thank goodness the home had central air, because I would’ve been ringing wet again from all the exertion. Those quite hours alone went by quickly, and by the time I finished up, I gave it a good looking-over and then said to myself, “This is about as good as it gets.”, and then loaded up my janitorial supplies and headed over to a drive-thru to pick up a lunch snack before heading back to office where I had a quick bite before my afternoon appointment arrived.

What I’m finding to be very lacking in our community, are honest to goodness cleaning people who actually work for what they’re charging. Too many times over these recent years, I’ve been seeing some of the worst cleaning jobs to the point of wondering if anyone really showed up to clean. Yes, it’s getting that bad.

My little project today was one more confirmation on the sloppy work being done by those who hold themselves out as being professional home cleaners. For example, I knew just by looking at those three rooms of oak floors having not been properly scrubbed, and was glaringly confirmed when finding I had to change that pail of dirty water after finishing just one bedroom floor. The dining room floor was the worst, but at least I got presentable.

I’m convinced that cleaning crew only went over those floors with a dry mop, which in my book, is only good for getting the dust picked up and not the ground-in dirt. I dare not even get started talking about the way in which they washed the windows, because every one of them looked like they were wiped down with a dirty wet rag. You can bet if I can find an honest to goodness house cleaning company, I’ll be posting it for everyone to share. I’m not a maniac about cleaning, but if you walk into a home and can smell the dirt after someone’s cleaned it, that’s when I’d be saying, “Not acceptable.”

I heard another account today of how some of our rental barons treat their exiting tenants who’d done everything they could to keep the home they were renting, clean and tidy. Since I know the character of those exiting tenants, I’m sure the hundreds of dollars that was subtracted from their returned deposit, was nothing less than stealing. This preying on the vulnerable is outright shameful, and my words today was, “You may forgive them for what they’ve done, but do not forget.” I went on to say how people like that continue taking from others, only because they know they can get away with it, and to think those rental barons have suitcases full of cash at their disposal, and still feel they have the right to take from others. Shame on them! I strongly recommended they invoke karma to settle the score.

I’ve learned a long time ago that when you intentionally do bad things to others, they continue to build up to where one day there’s a bitch-slapping back by a Divine intervention. Of course when they do get their comeuppance, they’re crying like babies while insisting they didn’t deserve what they got. My litmus test has always been that if you’re in a questionable situation where you’ve already started justifying your actions, you’ve already gone too far. That’s it.

Not many days ago I crossed paths with the so-called “new patriarch” of a family I’d done a great deal of real estate work for over these many years. The old ones in that family which I’d done the most business with, have now long passed, but I’m sure they’re turning over in their graves by the way in which their son so casually dismissed all of the good real estate work our office did for them. He knew I’d not forgotten what he did to me, and to make matters worse, he forcibly grabbed my hand twice to give it a good shake. Little did he know, he likely absorbed a good dose of “resonance” back which may have him waking up in the night a time or two while trying to justify what he’d done. You see, we can never change the past, which is why we must be ever-careful about our actions of today. I know in my heart, the new patriarch of that family, is a worshiper of the almighty dollar, and nothing more, and just remember, such mindsets believe they’re going to live forever.

My last appointment for the day, was to show to show a home to a couple who’ve been looking to buy a second home in our City. Unfortunately, with the way in which our market is spiking, there’s no more “bang for the buck” when seeing so much over-pricing going on. As far as I’m concerned, North Iowa is now in a “Twilight Zone” of valuation, which tells me there’s nothing we can use as a forecast because it’s never been like this, and keep in mind, I’ve been doing this since before many of our trees arrived.

When seeing a good number of sales reported again today, I had a few more jaw-drops after reading what homes I’d either sold once upon a time, or recently shown. One of them in particular, I wouldn’t have taken if someone had given it to me. Too many questionable features in that house, which even I wouldn’t want to try figuring out.

Tonight’s One-liner is: The hypocrisy of some, is that we like to think of ourselves as sophisticated and evolved, but we’re still also driven by primal urges like greed and power.

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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