Someone came to the office later this afternoon and mentioned his rain gauge registered over an inch of rain since yesterday. I know it was raining lightly off and on last night, but today was a different story with those intermittent downpours. I’ve been noticing a great number of toadstools popping up around town these past days which comes as no surprise, and some of them were bigger than I’ve ever seen before. Some day I want to learn about mushroom hunting.
Again it was a typical Monday were the phones were ringing often, which meant the market is still chugging along in spite of the cold and rain. I’m again very thankful for the amount of business my office has created these past several months, and hopefully it will remain the same thru the rest of the year.
Some real estate experts are concerned that the over-all market is going to start contracting now that mortgage rates are climbing, but what’s likely going to keep our area’s market moving, are the prices of single family residences. For the most part, North Iowa’s housing prices are far lower than the national average, and with our local costs of construction climbing, there are more buyers willing to purchase existing, and then make whatever changes they want rather than paying all the many thousands more for new.
This morning I went back out and took new photos of 1141 -14th St. SE just so to share with our buying public all the more recent improvements the owner has made, and they look fabulous. There are new countertops, new kitchen flooring, fresh paint, new light fixtures, and the list goes on.
1141 – 14th St. SE is a classic example of why any market-savvy buyers would purchase this home over any competing listing, and for one main reason only: it was custom built by the owners who incorporated all the many more improvements than you’d normally find in spec-built homes. There’s no question in my mind that this home is one of the best built I’ve seen for years. Even though there’s nothing wrong with the carpeting, the owner has decided to offer a $5,000 carpet allowance which we believe is a more than generous offer.
The above photo is one of many I took today, so don’t hesitate to click and see more because you’ll be just as impressed as I was. Yes, we’ve had offers on it, and yes there are people waiting to sell their homes to buy it, but I believe there’s a ready, willing, and able buyer on the horizon who’ll be able to purchase it now rather than later. There’s no question in my mind, whomever purchases it, will be living worry-free for years to come. As a footnote, the owner can attest there’s NEVER been any water seepage since it was built. Now that’s just one more confirmation of how well it was constructed.
Around mid-afternoon, I showed one of our condo listings for the second time, which gives me hope there’ll be yet another sale on the horizon. Thank goodness we did have so much rain because the buyers were impressed by the fact that there was no evidence of water in the lower level. Just this afternoon I was hearing horror stories about sales that didn’t happen this year because of “under-contract” buyers discovering water in the basements of homes they’d assumed to be dry, which prompted them to walk. This has been an exceptional year for us with the rains, so I guess we can’t help but empathize with those sellers.
Please don’t forget to take a good look at our new 1141 – 14th St. SE photos. You’ll fall in more than “like” with them.
Tonight’s one-liner is: I love the person who can smile in trouble, gather strength from distress, and grow brave from reflection.
