Personally speaking, I’d say it was about as perfect a day a person could ever want with the temps in the mid to upper 70’s and the sun shining brightly. Yes, it was a bit more than nippy outdoors before the sun climbed high, but that’s to be expected when knowing we’re on the downhill slide of September. Now if we can get two more weeks of growing in before an overnight frost hits, both me and my vegetable garden will be all the happier for it.
My early appointment arrived on time with the documents I needed to keep the sale of her home on the fast track of getting it closed earlier than scheduled. I will say the mortgage company the buyer’s working with, is very much on top of getting time sensitive tasks completed. If that should happen to close much earlier, I’ll be adding them to my list of lenders. After she left, I headed out and delivered those documents to the respective parties who’re involved in getting the title work completed on time. If everyone would stay ahead of the game, real estate transactions would move much faster.
The remainder of my morning was spent running errands, taking photos, and doing a quick walk-thru on a home that was recently listed. I didn’t call my buyer about it until I gave it a good looking-over, and glad I did because it has far too many structural issues going on to where it would take many thousands to get them corrected, and in the end, the home would still be of inferior quality considering the way the floor plan was laid out when it was built. It looked almost like one of those turn-of-the-century do it yourselfers. Yes, there were weak builders even back then.
My Noon appointment at a home in one of our surrounding towns was more than a waste of time for both myself and my buyers. Between the sagging floors, funky floor plan and scary basement, I’d say that home is yet one more of those tired old homes that’s desperately wanting to return to the earth. You all know I have absolutely nothing against 100+ year old homes, but when they’re not built correctly and maintained properly, they become architectural eye sores.
When thinking back on the number of vintage homes I’ve worked on over the years, I can safely say that by the time I was done with them, they were in just about as good if not better condition than they were when first built. My most recent accomplishment will always stand out in my mind because of its beautiful hand-planed woodwork it contains. I dare say that was the first, and likely the last time I will ever have the chore/opportunity to strip and restore such beauty. To this day, I’m still wondering how I managed to keep my nose to the grindstone on that daunting project.
It came as no surprise there’ve already been four showing on my new listing at 1520 S. Carolina, and another one scheduled for Saturday. Since there are so few homes in that price range to choose from in our fair City, our entry-level buyers are forced to get what they can get before the investors swoop in and purchase them. My listing at 515 N. Massachusetts is getting more activity, now that the City has made the owner of the neighboring house, clean up that disgusting mess that was created my the occupant who just walked away after many years of residence. Oh how I know the feeling when seeing vacated homes of long-term tenants who were less than kind to those homes and their owners. Just as a refreshing reminder, we must always remember that nearly all good deeds never go unpunished.
It’s been a long day of waiting on another agent who’s supposed to be getting a contract I have on that office’s listing signed. If it wasn’t one excuse, it was another as to why it wasn’t, but I’m going to remain confident it’ll get signed, along with remembering how slow that agent has been in getting it ratified. Oh well, I just continued to busy myself all day with other things, just kept me from fretting over it.
When I went to pick up some panels I ordered from a glass company, I was greeted by a man who looked familiar, so I said, “I think I know you from somewhere.” Well, as chance would have it, I was standing there looking at a gentleman I sold a home to about 15 years ago whom I’d not seen since we closed on it. I grew almost teary-eyed because I remember how delightful they were to work with, and hoping they would make that home work for their young family. I couldn’t help teasing him a little by saying, “You’ve added a few pounds since I last saw you, and likely your weight gain is pandemic related.” I did go on to tell him I’d read several recent articles regarding the noticeable weight gain across America. Well, when you think about the months of confinement and worry over these near-two years, it comes as no surprise because for most people, continued stress usually creates an on-going appetite. Unfortunately for me, long-term stress causes weight loss.
Those tiny little biting black bugs are growing in numbers, which makes for annoying moments while attempting to enjoy the great outdoors, and while walking around the yard of that village property today, I got nailed a few times. Whenever they bite me, I’ll soon find a very itchy welt which requires an anti-itch cream because for me, when there’s a great itch, there’s a near non-stop scratching.
While on my way back to the City, I noticed a number of our area farmers out combining soybeans and picking seed corn. It’s always interesting to see those three or four rows of pollinators still standing at given intervals of those fields. I’m now wondering if those pollinators are later picked and then sent to the elevators with the regular corn. I’ll have to investigate now that I’m thinking about it.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Profitability comes from loyalty, productivity, and a good character base from which to work.
