Earlier this morning I had a showing of an acreage up in Worth County. It was quite the pleasant trip with the roads clear and the sun brightly shining. With it still early in the season, most of our farmers are likely still down South or, out West enjoying their winter homes. You’d be surprised how many of our bigger than big row-crop farmers have sunny winter retreats elsewhere, because they’re pretty tight-lipped about that fact.
Times have indeed changed from when nearly all farmers of a half century ago were trapped on their farms nearly every day of the year due to their having livestock to take care of on a daily basis, and especially the dairy farmers who had to be there for their morning and evening milking sessions. How well I remember.
One definite change I’ve noticed since the casino was built, are all the better road systems Worth County has. The one that I was on for a few miles was exceptional. I doubt you’d find one that well built and maintained here in Cerro Gordo County. At least Worth County is getting some noticeable benefits out of all those gamblers.
As we were driving thru Kensett, my buyer asked why it hadn’t grown like Northwood and Manly. All I could say was, “Kensett has always been in a state of “funk” all the many years I’ve been familiar with it.” It’s never been a town where its citizens would step up to the plate as a group and make decisions to attract, improve, or develop. The close proximity to Mason City would make it a far cheaper alternative for first-time buyers. For years and years, there has stood there a Victorian style home which always appears to have been caught in a loop of chronic neglect. It still puzzles me why someone hasn’t purchased it and turned it back around.
The acreage showing went well, and hopefully my buyer will decide it’s the country home he’s been searching for over these many months. His reasons for wanting to live in the country are pretty much mirroring nearly all other acreage buyers I’ve assisted. They’re prone to say something like, “Don’t get me wrong when I say I want to be away from people, because I have no problem working with them, but when I get home, I prefer not having to deal with nosey neighbors, municipal restrictions, and all those other constraints that keep a person when after arriving home, from having an un-restricted, along with un-interrupted evening of quiet enjoyment.”
When remembering it, I must mention I’m having another public open house this coming Saturday afternoon at 1034 Park Lane here in Mason City. If I have as many show up as last time, it’ll surely be all the more sooner sold. That home is a perfect example of a blank canvas. It’s at a discounted price to where you can go in and make “your own” improvements instead of having pay for, and live with, someone else’s tastes. I’d much rather buy something that has obsolete decor, but still being a safe, sound, and secure home, because making cosmetic improvements is when the real fun starts.
