For it being the Friday before Christmas, I was definitely busy with real estate activities, and glad for it because I had a great deal of catching up to do after having an unusually slow first quarter of this year, and for sure I’m eternally thankful and grateful for the business my office generated this year, and all thanks to the many loyal and faithful clients and customers who made the choice to call upon Holtz Realty for their real estate needs. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again!
While out shoveling my front sidewalk, I received a call from one of the ‘powers that be’ over at St. Paul Lutheran, asking if she could stop by this morning, which was just fine by me. When she arrived, she handed me several Christmas cards and some treats before I seated her in my office.
Shortly after the small talk, I was informed that the woman who plays their organ and piano over at Our Saviors Lutheran, will now be playing for St. Paul as well, which came as no surprise to me because I’d already questioned some weeks ago, why they weren’t using her to play since they’re trying to get those two churches fully merged. I did hear, back when I brought up the subject, that the woman refused to play St. Paul’s pipe organ, and since they have a ‘home-style’ organ at Our Saviors Lutheran, similar to the one St. Paul had installed some months ago, it only made sense they would have her play instead of me, and especially since I told enough of St. Paul Lutheran’s members how much I really disliked playing it, and mostly because of where its speaker was located. How terribly annoying!
There are a number of St. Paul’s members I’ll miss seeing every other week, but as we all know, nothing stays the same, so my last stint over there, will be Sunday the 29th of this month. I was told they were having a reception for me after their Service, which I’m hoping won’t be one of those ‘all out’ things. Believe it or not, I suddenly realized after my visitor left, I’d been playing on and off for them for over ten years, and I will be sure to mention to them at their gathering downstairs, how appreciative I now am for them ‘forcing’ me to learn a great deal more music, which in turn elevated my sight-reading and keyboard skills, and especially after I had that work done on my hands several years ago which definitely put me in high gear. Thank you very much St. Paul Lutheran!
I asked my visitor to put the word out that I’ll soon be free to play on a weekly basis, for another congregation which is in need of an organist/pianist. I could actually see myself playing for an out of town church within a 20 minute drive of our city. Of course I’ll be ‘flying over’ any and all churches that have electronic keyboards and glorified home organs. Yes, I’m getting rather spoiled to the point where I’d much rather play a pipe organ or grand piano. Well, when you’ve played quality instruments, why settle for less?
My two closing went exceptionally well, and after the last one was over, I handed them a small bag of home-made goodies as a small token of my appreciation. There’s no question I’ll miss them terribly because they’re the nicest young family you’d ever want to meet, and I was almost brought to tears when the wife mentioned how much she appreciated my services. I then smiled and said, “Because of how high and above the rest I hold you and your husband, I dare say I could ride thru Hell on horseback for the both of you and not even get scorched.” Gosh, I sure wish I could clone that delightful family and sprinkle them all over North Iowa.
After getting those files closed out and put away, I busied myself for the rest of the day, with my running around and picking up items that’ll be added to the gift bags I’ll be handing out before Christmas. As of now, I’ve got pretty much everything under control, with the exception of my still waiting for another selection which will be added this coming Monday.
I did take time to review the recent sale postings, which were additional confirmations that our homes prices are softening, and definitely glad for it because the maniacal buying that’s been going on since the pandemic arrived, created too many homeowners who’re now upside-down on their mortgages. As the seasoned Realtors know, when there’s a sharp upward climbing of home prices, sooner or later, there’ll be either a leveling-off, or a downward dipping. There was one sale that caught my eye which sold for $43K under its original asking price, so that was but one more glaring example.
Another thing I’ve been noticing, are a number of homes that sold during the pandemic, that are now back on the market, and likely a number of them, are sellers wanting to get out from under their high mortgage payments. I’m very glad I stuck to my guns and continued counseling those first-time buyers who were at least willing to listen to me. I’m sorry, but I really don’t like to see good people bury themselves financially.
Tonight’s One-liner is: You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.
