It was another beautiful day in North Iowa with the clear skies and little or no wind. Thank goodness the many gnat bites I’d received over the weekend, had finally stopped itching and now beginning to heal. I’ve come to the conclusion they’re far worse than mosquito bites, but not as bad as flea bites, and unfortunately I managed to get a flea bite on my ankle several days ago, and still making me crazy. I absolutely must stay out of the grass, because all these hairy rabbits and squirrels we have running around in our city, are certainly dropping fleas as they’re wandering about. To this day I’ll never forget the time some years ago when I was mowing a yard, and later that day I discovered multiple flea bites on my legs. For whatever reason, I didn’t come to realize where I was picking them up until weeks later when those two mangy looking dogs belonging to the next door neighbor were out barking at me while I was mowing, and sure enough, that’s where I picked them up, so from then on, I always sprayed myself really good before going over there. Thank goodness they finally sold their home and took their flea-bitten dogs with them.
In these times, there’s absolutely no excuse for pet dogs to have fleas, and only because they now have pills you feed them which puts a substance in a dog’s bloodstream which kills ticks and fleas once they’ve fed on their blood. I now insist any person who has their dog outdoors at any time, must give that dog those pills, and only because it’s not just for the owners’ peace of mind, but also all the other dog owners who’re out walking their dogs in public places. Like I’ve always said, if you’re gonna have pets, it’s your duty to take care of them.
The bulk of my morning was filled with the showing of my new listing which is located at 1441 N. Hampshire Place, and not to my surprise, my buyers decided to make an offer on it, so by the time the hour of two rolled around, it was under contract. I believe that entire happening was so much of a fortuitous event that I’m even thinking there was a Divine intervention involved. From the moment I listed it, I was very fearful there’d be an investor who’d snatch it up, and now knowing it’s gone to owner occupants, I couldn’t be happier.
Since I had some extra time, I made sure I had all the information about that sale emailed to the respective attorneys and our closing company, just so we won’t have to be rushing to make our scheduled closing date. So it looks like sometime in August, I’ll have a chicken in the pot after it closes.
One of my colleagues stopped by my office this afternoon to share some information, and after I gave my take on it, I couldn’t help offering my thoughts about these falsely inflated sale prices which are being created by all these many multiple offer scenarios we’ve been seeing since the pandemic arrived. I went on to explain that when our appraisers and Realtors see those sales posted, they automatically consider them ‘arms-length’ transactions, which indeed they are not, and only because the definition for an arms-length transaction is when ready willing and able buyers and sellers come together on agreed-upon prices.’ In my humble opinion, multiple offers and bidding wars do not define arms-length transactions, so what we have going on here, is a false inflation of real estate prices. As much as I don’t want to see our market implode, there’s no doubt in my mind that if we have any sort of extended economic downturn, there’ll be millions of American homeowners who’ll be upside-down on their mortgages.
I believe one of the reasons I’ve been struggling with sales this year, is because I’ve been verbally cautioning our general public, but unfortunately, many of those sellers want to cut at fat of a hog as they can while the getting’s good. I mentioned today how silly I find it whenever seeing real estate agents charging into battle for their buyers and sellers, because most times, after the deal is done, the names of those agents are soon forgotten, and especially when it comes to the sellers who’ve fully moved-on. Several months ago I didn’t get a listing I was expecting, and only because I didn’t quote a high enough estimated selling price which I later found out the other agent and I were $10K apart. I can’t wait to see what that home ended up selling for. But the most laughable about it all, was the fact that the elderly seller wasn’t even living there, so even if that home did bring $10K more, you can imagine how fast it was gonna get spent at that senior housing complex. Now tell me, don’t you think that’s the silliest?
Another thing I’m getting really sick of hearing, is this “My sellers want to see as many offers as possible on the table.” Now if they think for even a moment I’m believing their sellers, and especially if they’re elderly, are saying such, then those agents must think I just fell off the cabbage truck. Really?
My last appointment for the day, was to meet the new buyers of 1441 N. Hampshire Place at the home, just so they could show their children and grandchildren, which was indeed a delight. The funniest thing that happened while there, was my mentioning to the wife how much she’ll enjoy the back patio in late afternoons and evenings, because it’s located on the east side of the home. Well, before we left, the husband said, “This’ll be the very first home we’ll own which has an east-facing backyard. We all got a good laugh out of it after my having earlier mentioned it to his wife. Too funny! I guess when you’ve been involved with all the facets of home ownership over these many years, you instantly notice such things. Yes, I personally hate having the sun shining in my eyes after hours. I was told a number of years ago by someone who was into Feng Shui, that the morning sun fills you with energy, but the setting sun sucks it all out of you. Now that’s something worth thinking about.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Whoever has provoked rage against him, has always gained a party in his favor as well.
