Another beautiful day arrived in spite of it being a chilly 50 degrees early this morning. We’ll all be starting to see more dew covering rooftops and lawns which tells us the soil is warmer than the night-time air above. I’m continuing to be hopeful I can get all my little outdoor projects done before the hard freeze arrives.
Without a doubt, there are certain competitive trades we’re lacking here in North Iowa, and concrete contractors is one of them. It’s almost like pulling teeth to get bids out of them and then getting them to arrive at a job on the day they agreed upon. It seems far too many of them want the big projects while ignoring the little ones.
If there’s one thing I can say about myself over these long years, is that I consider buyers and sellers of lower priced homes, just as important as those who’re buying and selling the expensive ones. There’ve been numerous times when after closing on lower priced homes, I’d be finding buyers and/or sellers never being able to thank me enough. Whenever that happens, I’m reminded that being a good Realtor is not ALL about money, but rather an on-going attempt to improve the lives of North Iowans.
One of my dear customers met me at a home this morning which caught her eye over the weekend. She’s still in the tire-kicking stage which offers her enough time to weigh her options. Since today’s home didn’t have all the features she’s looking for, I took the time to point out possible changes she could make which would make it closer to meeting her needs. I’m not sure if today’s was the one, but I did agree to let her know of any other possibilities when they hit the market.
As chance would have it, I inspected a home that’ll be coming on the market next week which will be priced about $10K lower, and offers more square footage than today’s. It’s kitchen/dining room is more what buyers are looking for in our market, and the real bonus, is there being a very large closet in the kitchen which would make a perfect 1st floor laundry closet. I’ll be placing a call to her in the morning to tell her about it, and if she’s interested, I’m hoping she’ll be the first one to see it after it’s listed.
After days of waiting, I finally received a document on a property in Worth County I’ve been waiting for, so I made a quick trip up there to deliver it to the abstract office. When I walked in, I was surprised she remembered my name since she’s relatively new, along my not darkening her door on a regular basis. The last time I was up there, we had a good chat about how overly demanding the general public can be to where they’re downright rude.
One of our City’s great minds stopped by this afternoon for a quick visit, and somehow we ended up on the subject of loud-mouthed bullies who seem to have nothing better to do than watch the movements of others, and the first time something is said or done that trips their super-sensitive and closed-minded triggers, they’re back on the warpath. There’s an elder gent who was getting so bad with his twisting nearly everything I’d say to him into something not even close to what I meant, I finally had to wish him a great life and walk away for good. It was one more example of what happens to our minds when they’re not being kept busy with something productive. There are far more in our midst who’re doing nothing more than sitting around and waiting for God. I just now thought of a line I used to use with my underlings at a bank I worked at many years ago which went, “I’m sure you believe you understand what you think I said, but what you think I said, was not what I meant.”
The highlight of my day was getting a call from one of my all-time favorite residents of Prairie Place on 1st. If there would ever be a person I’d consider my kindred spirit, she’s the one. Each and every time I visit with her, she always has at least one heart-felt story to tell. Before hanging up, I promised to stop over to see her sometime this month. If only all our North Iowa seniors would take lessons from her in how to grow all the more delightful during their ever-evolving golden years.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Cynicism is humor in ill health.
