Just these past four days, I have noticed more activity in home showings. Perhaps as the snow melts, the buyers will find more reasons to start looking. This has been beyond a beast of a winter. I have made mental notes of some of the most trying moments of the season, so I will likely not forget the winter of 2013/2014.
It was a coincidence that I happened to run into an old tenant whom I evicted about 4 years ago. Seems he’s finally starting to straighten himself out and now realizes the number of lost years of opportunities due to his refusal to make himself accountable for very bad choices. After hitting rock bottom several times with no safety net, his drive to make something of himself has finally awakened. When I found out what he and his friends were doing in that apartment, I gave them one warning and next time they were out. Sometimes I think society creates too many safety nets for people who are of the stripe that actually have to personally experience real hardship before they finally “get it”. It will be several years before he will be able to purchase a home, but at least he’s on the right track.
The buyers I’ve been working with these past weeks seem to be of a more conservative mind in what they are looking for as far as price ranges. I appreciate that because as I mentioned before, there are always those bumps in the road with the economy and personal lives. Due to the serious problems going on right now with the posturing of Russia, I convinced we have not seen the end of market swings. I believe it’s better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We as Americans will not likely see the immediate effects, but there are always those global ripples with which we have to contend.
I’m excited about our coming months of growth in Mason City and North Iowa. It’s been years over-due as far as I’m concerned. With the key geographic location alone, we should have been setting sail for horizons of progress years ago. I believe our time has now come.
