I’m delighted to raise the curtain to the general public on an acreage that I listed today. It’s not very often that an acreage so close to Mason City comes on the market in this price range due to the well known fact that the closer one gets to their work here in the City, the more valuable it is simply because of the cost of time and money saved in traveling to and from work. Another really big bonus is that it’s not on a long stretch of gravel. The amount of gravel one has to travel before reaching the driveway is about as much as one would have driving up a long lane to a farmstead. The address of this quaint acreage is 21448 Ulmus Ave., Mason City, Iowa. It’s a quick drive from my office where it’s located on the corner of the Rock Falls blacktop and Ulmus.
I know there are a number of buyers out there who want to live on an acreage close to Mason City and likely living in an apartment or rental home. With cabin fever building these cold wintry nights, I’ll likely get a number of calls for showings very soon. If I were a young man again, I would jump at the chance to own over 2 acres and a home with which I could build my own little micro-farm. I would have a state-of-the-art chicken house, a swine house for a pig or two, the world’s smallest yet charming cow barn where I would have my very own Jersey cow, and one of the most well tended vegetable and herb gardens which would be the envy of gardeners for miles, and of course a small orchard with several apple and pear trees. I would have a white Labrador and some barn kitties. Yup, that’s what this acreage would have in store for it were I young and filled with vision and enthusiasm again.
What I think most buyers will appreciate about the home itself is that it’s not such a big structure. Big old farm houses filled with drafty rooms and daunting necessary repairs are a bit scary, while small-sized repairs and improvements are manageable projects.
There have been many recent updates on this acreage. There are newer windows, permanent siding, a ½ bath and laundry room on the main floor, an updated bath on the second floor, newer paint and carpet, a wood burning stove in the dining area for an auxiliary heat source, a party-sized deck with hot tub, a garage/workshop with a wood burning heater, and much more. There are recent plantings of wind-breaking evergreen trees which will afford the home privacy as well as a blowing snow deterrent given a few more years of growth.
Whomever owned the home some years ago created a more open floor plan on the main floor which gives one an “openness” feel to the main living area. The two bedrooms upstairs are more than generously sized for those who like their beds big. The basement is unfinished and I would likely leave it that way and focus more on creating a real sanctuary away from the stresses created out in the work world of today. I can see in my mind’s eye the new buyer seated out on that deck with a refreshing drink and simply watching the sun set in the west after a hard day at work and their subsequent labors of love at home. Sometimes I think people find reasons not to go home after work simply because it’s just another place to eat and sleep, but I’m sure being the future owners of this acreage, they’d be quick home long before eight to 21448 Ulmus Avenue.
