Holtz Realty

In spite of it being terribly windy and cold today, one of my office listings sold.  I’ve been working with these particular buyers for a very long time; actually too long to admit.  Sometimes these extended processes are meant to be and for good reason.  There are those few buyers in our market that have more specific needs than the average, and living in a smaller market area, the type of homes that are a near fit, don’t arrive on the market that often, and when some of them do, they’re usually over-priced and out of reach.  As chance would have it, the home they purchased was a new listing of mine.

With it being the sixth of December, I’m now doing my countdown on the time left when the sun starts marching back north and the days start growing longer.  You may think me a bit sacrilegious when mentioning how it’s not just the idea of Christmas that makes me happy, but also the fact that the days are starting to grow longer.  It’s no wonder there’ve been a few more negative words being printed and spoken during these cold days and exceptionally long hours of darkness. It’s always to be expected.

It’s not very happy the wind is still blowing after the sun has gone down.  This of course means it’s going to be blowing all night. On the up-side, at least those of you who have pine trees near your home, you’ll almost consider the ocean to be outside your bedroom windows when hearing the wind creating whispers in the pines.  Several of my clients just returned from sun and fun, and I was quick to remind them to wear enough to guard themselves against the chill since they’ve not grown accustomed to our weather.

The office calls were far greater that expected today considering the bitterness outside.  I even had to run over to Clear Lake and show a vacant home that didn’t have any heat or electricity on.  I teasingly said to the buyer, “You know, this is considered Realtor abuse.”  He laughed and said, “I thought all houses that are listed have at least heat and lights provided.”  Unfortunately, he didn’t know it was a bank repo.  While walking thru it and getting a good look and the home’s condition, I couldn’t help but wonder how the previous owner could make un-necessary improvements on it, yet leave important things like shingles get to be so worn and likely leaking.  I’m actually glad it was cold in there because whomever lived there before, had animals, and if it were warm inside, the carpet stains would’ve been giving off a much stronger odor.

I was walking thru a vacated building yesterday with its owner and said, “The tell-tale signs of dysfunction is evident nearly everywhere.  There are holes punched in doors, creepy graffiti painted on some of the walls with self-destructive notes written to the world, little piles of cat litter, cigarette butts, shards of glass, greasy countertops, and sticky door knobs.  While walking out I said to the owner, “If these walls could only talk, there would be volumes of “The Dark Side” stories told.”

While in Clear Lake, I took the above photo showing the Alberta clipper’s effect on the water.  It almost felt like I was standing at the shore of Lake Superior.

It seemed this to be one of those days that went WHOOSH.  Between taking phone calls, presenting offers, showing homes, inspecting others, and doing first of the month accounting, the hours seemed to go by in blinks.

There was an opportunity for me to speak to a 21 year old who is the son of one of my clients about the most recent events that’s been going on in regards to the spreading of falsities all over the social medias.  I was playing the part of the devil’s advocate by asking him relatively simple worldly questions and beginning with, “Did you know…”.  I would say he knew about half of the answers.  It may sound like it was a passing grade, but it wasn’t because the questions were centered around truths I believed everyone should have learned long before being of the age of one and twenty.  I believe it was a bit of a wakeup call for him even without my encouragement to learn and understand more.  I had to laugh when he said, “Your English isn’t like most I’ve heard.”   I then said, “Perhaps it may sound different because I do attempt to choose words which are most appropriate when relaying my ideas or opinions.”  We both got a few more laughs when speaking about the “fill” words many people unknowing use when in conversation.  Perhaps I’ll start writing them down and share with everyone some time this winter.  I’m sure you’ll find them laughable.

It must have also been a day when I was being a bit more frank with my opinions of people to where I said to a businessman today, “You know, I never could understand why that person dis-liked me.”  Before I could wait for a response, I continued by saying, “Oh. Now that I think about it, he didn’t like anyone.”  There was a wink and a simple three word response, “You got it!”  When walking back to my car I thought, “You know Mr. Chodur, it’s good to step back a little farther when passing judgement on those acid-tongued people because they’re most likely treating everyone around them similarly.”  We can all survive living in the midst of venomous snakes as long as we keep a safe distance from their fangs.  The best way to handle them when finding ourselves in their midst, is to slowly back away and never go down their paths again.

Without surprise, I’ve already received two offers on one of my most recent listings.  It’s funny how I can sometimes make the call before a home gets listed.  I told the sellers it’ll likely sell more sooner than later, and it looks like my forecast is going to become a reality.  As long as a home presents itself with its best foot forward, that’s usually all that’s needed to get the job done.   It sounds like we’re going to have a turn for the worse with our weather this week.  I’ve already warned a few people regarding their being appropriately dressed. It’s not so much the cold, but rather those biting winds that can chill bones.  When looking at the above photo, aren’t we all now wanting a white Christmas puppy?

We can say “sayonara” to November, and “Hello” to December when starting our day tomorrow.  It was spitting snow early this morning, and while I was driving in the dark to the office, the headlights of my car caused the snow to appear as an undulating wave of white specks.  I was trying to look past them because they were beginning to have a weird visual effect on me.  I can see how people can fall asleep while driving at night during snow storms.  After a while, they create some sort of hypnotic effect on drivers.  At least we got past the month of November without any measurable snow and all I can say is, “Hooray!”

Most of my day was spent getting errands run for clients and customers, as well as checking on a few homes that I have listed that are vacant and the owners are living out of town.  I encourage everyone who’s gone for a day or more to make sure their water is shut off at the meter while they’re away.  I’ve see and heard too many horror stories of what happens to a home with even the smallest of water leaks.  There’s one feature of modern appliances that I absolutely hate, and that is a refrigerator with an ice maker or featuring drinking water.  Those flimsy lines that run from refrigerators to the nearest cold water supplies have failed more than anyone wants to admit.  Even the smallest of leaks in one of those hoses or fittings can be disastrous for flooring, sub-flooring, and finished basements.  Some friends of mine went away for a weekend some years ago and upon their return, discovered their kitchen floor water-logged, along with the drywalled ceiling of their finished basement collapsing from the weight of the water-soaked sheetrock.  Fortunately their insurance covered it, but can you imagine the mess they had to deal with for weeks?  Since then, they refused to purchase a refrigerator that has a water supply going to it.  Most recently, one of my customers discovered a small puddle standing on her bathroom floor. After looking nearly everywhere for the leak on the main floor, she discovered it was coming from a rusted-thru hole in the “p” trap under the sink in the bathroom on the 2nd floor.  Its slow dripping faucet created enough water in that trap which subsequently drizzled onto the cabinet’s base, then under it, and finally managing to find a way to run down along a wall and onto the main floor.  Yes, little problems can, and do create exceptionally large ones in time.  Preventative maintenance is the best bet in dodging future nightmares.

So if you think the future of internet speed has ended with 4G?  Well, think again.  I read an article late today regarding the proposed build-out of two European cities that will have it some time in 2018.  One would think the world is moving fast enough with 4G, but it sounds like it’s more meant for businesses that use cloud computing.  Of course it will be offered to the general public as well, but I still can’t see why everything has to be  all the faster.  Several days ago a business person shared a story about what had happened early one morning when she took her son’s cell phone away from him. She said he acted as though the worst thing had happened to him.  I then said, “Isn’t it interesting how the world has changed?  In our youth, we were happy to have quiet times to ourselves or even possibly reading a good book.”  She nodded and said, “Yes, I’m beginning to wish for the return of quieter and more gentle times.”  We’ll soon be seeing information moving all the faster when the age of 5G arrives.  I’m still happiest when I can relax with a good book on snowy winter’s night.

Yikes!  This morning’s temperature was a huge swing back to the cold when finding the wind had changed its direction.  The biting north wind can certainly put a chill in the bones of even the most warm-blooded of creatures.  Those steely gray clouds in the west were worrying me a bit in fear they’d be dumping snow or sleet on us.  I know I’m going to be busy again this weekend with more winter prepping.

There seems to be quite a bit of movement these past days with moving trucks and vans. It seems as though, there’s quite a few people changing residences for the normally quiet month of November.  I’m sure part of it has to do with more people deciding to purchase rather than rent.  I have a 2 bedroom 2 bath home that I manage here in Mason City that’ll be available sometime around the end of December.  It’s really quite charming to where I could actually see myself living there.  It has all hardwood floors, a master bathroom, and all appliances are furnished including the washer/dryer.  The rent on it is $650.00 per month but no pets or smokers allowed.  There is a possibility for a pet, but at the discretion of the owner.

For the first time in over a year, I had a sale fall thru due to the buyers being denied a loan.  I was absolutely mortified because that rarely ever happens with me or my office. For me, having to call the owner and relay the bad news, was worse than my being taken out for an old-fashioned beating.  After pulling myself together from this huge let-down, I decided I’m going to be all the more diligent in getting it sold to an iron-clad buyer.  I actually think, I felt worse than the sellers.  I can’t help but blame the lender for not being more transparent as well as timely with the whole transaction.  It seems there are a few mortgage lenders in our area that are shooting from the hip as well as speaking with forked tongues.  The lenders that I’ve worked with a great deal over the years know that I don’t tolerate this type of zig-zagging with buyers.  It becomes too nerve wracking for them and there’s nearly always hard feelings being harbored for months and years to come.

My two most recent listings this week are getting quite a bit of activity and I hope it will continue until they’re both sold.  Those two are stellar, and will make great homes going forward for whomever purchases them.  Please don’t forget another mid-century classic that’s been under the radar which is located at 15 N. Ohio.  Because I like the floor plan of it so well, I’ve actually sketched its floor plan in case I’d ever want to build a new home.  What I really like about it is the amount of natural light it has entering from all directions during the day due to its open design.  Someone’s going to have a real light-filled sanctuary.

One of my dear friends called this afternoon to have a little chat.  We ended up talking about how people who are normally manipulative, are also found to be hoarders.  They hoard materially, monetarily, and mentally.  They can’t seem to get enough because they themselves are empty.  They don’t realize their emptiness is the black hole in their soul/spirits that attempts to pull everything and everyone into it.  Whenever we’ve heard the saying, “The more they get, the more they want.”, really doesn’t relate to just our material world, but rather to every level of our existence.  This is the true mindset of hoarders.