Welcome back to winter! I guess we were far too spoiled these past four weeks with the weather being un-seasonably pleasant, so now it’s time to return to the real world of a North Iowa winter. Thank goodness I did cancel tomorrow’s planned public open house because I’m afraid it’s going to be snowing most of the night which means we’ll have another round of shoveling in the morn. I did manage to get everything scooped at least once today, so when I get back at it in tomorrow, there’ll only be half as much to deal with. The idea of waiting until it stops snowing is not what I consider the best of ideas because struggling with all that much more snow can wear a person out quicker than if they get out and clear off lesser amounts more often. I effortlessly shoveled out in front of my office three times today and glad I did when seeing it starting all over again.
I’m still working on that offer on 807 – 5th St. SE, and remaining hopeful it’ll get sold before the weekend is over. It looks like we’re going to have two buyers in competition for it, and all I can say is, “I hope it ends up going to the one who’ll turn it back into a showplace.” Every time I’m in that home I have flashbacks to my mother’s home which sold several years ago, except hers was in near perfect condition prior to my listing it which is why I mentioned that if I didn’t have my plate full, I would be buying it because I already know what it would take to get it in the condition hers was. Tomorrow I’m going to pull up the photos of her home for that buyer to see just so to create before and after pictures for him.
Early this morning I was greatly saddened when hearing one of my old customers having passed from this world. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when I helped him and his wife purchase their first home where they raised their family. I will never forget him catching me working on a project and hollering, “Some may think me an alcoholic, but you’re a workaholic!” He must’ve thought I was getting overheated that hot summer day because he actually went and got me a cold bottle of spring water. Whenever I’d run into him and his wife, they’d always have some humorous story to tell which would brightened my day.
There’s been more buyer activity at Prairie Place on 1st to where I’m in great hopes we’ll be getting the remaining units sold the first half of this year. After visiting with the seller, I believe I’m going to take a different approach with the advertising which I believe will create more serious interest. It annoys me immensely when seeing how weak the Globe Gazette has become with their readership, and yet they continue to raise their prices. I don’t even want to tell how much I spent advertising with them this past year, and not much of anything having come from it. Since we live in a small community, I still believe the internet, word of mouth, and yard signs are the driving forces in today’s real estate sales. The Real Estate Extra that comes out once a month hasn’t changed much since its inception over 25 years ago which tells me the Globe Gazette has been sitting on its hands for a very long time, and I haven’t even begun to criticize their ancient on-line real estate section. I stopped taking the paper a very long time ago simply because of their negative and all too often on-sided reporting. The Sunday edition is well over half full of flyers that don’t even get looked at which I consider a willful waste of our natural resources.
I had a soulful chat with a gentleman late this afternoon regarding how some families band together to look after their aging parents while others either ignore their needs or send them packing to the nearest nursing house. Since he’s been a prince by freely stepping up to the plate to help his aging parents, I couldn’t have praised him enough for the service he’s providing them. I would never consider him a caretaker, but rather a caregiver which all of us would like to have when the time comes when we’re in our own states of need.
Whether we like it or not, this next generation coming up is going to be all that more numerous, and I’m afraid there’ll not be enough safety nets to handle such numbers. I’m going to continue hoping that more truly caring families are going to return to the old ways of providing for their elderly by bringing them into their homes instead of sending them packing to strange haunts and un-familiar faces.
Several days ago I got into it with a cavalier chap who always has to have the last word, and when he said something about how young he felt along with how much money he now has to enjoy the good life, I couldn’t help saying, “Believe it or not, you along with all the rest of us have been circling our drains from the time we slid down our chutes.” That statement certainly got him quieted down.
Do be careful when out and about tomorrow because it sounds like the temps are going to be biting and the wind will be a-blowing.
Tonight’s one-liner is: Just because you finally got that naughty monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.
