It was wonderful to have the sun out since it was in the low teens when I arrived at the office this morning. Unfortunately it looks like we’re going to have snow coming our way the end of this week which many of us aren’t happy about since we’ve been blessed with no snow for so many weeks. At least we’re out of our normal frigid period which usually takes place between December 15th and January 15th. With the daylight hours growing longer, the sun will have all the more time to melt snow.
Most of my morning was spent finishing up on some research on a listing as well as my continuous year-end accounting project. I was surprised by the number of calls I received on homes for sale along with those looking for rentals. There happened to be a gentleman who stopped in today who seemed in dire need of an apartment to rent. Since I didn’t have anything, I gave him a few names and numbers to call. I couldn’t help but ask why he needed something in such a hurry because oft times it’s because of an eviction. His problem happened to be his roommate deciding to allow another person of questionable character to move into their home. I felt a bit sad for him because he looked of the age where he’s lived long past those drama years.
I’ve also been getting calls and appointments scheduled for showings on my recent new listing at 807 – 5th St. SE. That home has been seeing a great deal of activity in such a short period of time. I took time to drive over there today to see how the painter was doing, and slowly but surely he’s getting closer to completion. I was really wishing it would’ve been finished before I listed it, but that wasn’t the case.
The highlight of my day was the listing of a home located at 341 S. Carolina Ave. here in Mason City. Since I’m very familiar with that neighborhood, I can’t stress enough how much that home has going for it. For starters, it’s located on over a half acre of land which is a rare find in that district. It happens to be one of those rock-solid two stories that usually outlast homes built decades later. There’ve been a number of big ticket updates that’ve been done including the kitchen and bath, and it just so happens to have a 1/2 bath on the main floor which is a rare find in homes of that vintage.
As far as I’m concerned, it offers the best of both worlds because it has my favorite heating system which is hot water, but there also happens to be central air installed. I’m personally convinced that people who live and work in homes and buildings that have hot water heat are healthier because you don’t have a forced air furnace blowing dust and germs all around. Most people think hot water heat just went out of favor over the years, but the real reason is that it’s very expensive to install when considering all the water pipes that have to be installed. As chance would have it, the very first listing I sold when I became a Realtor a very long time ago had hot water heat, and that family lived there for over 30 years and had absolutely no problems with their hot water heating system.
Since I’m very much into gardening, that home’s rear yard is to die for. I could see a huge vegetable garden, a small orchard, some grape vines, and a handsome patch of raspberries, yet still have room for beautiful lawn. Most don’t realize that our City will be installing a walking path that will follow that abandoned railroad right-of-way that’s bordering the rear property line. When that’s finished, it’ll be just one more bonus for living there. Just think, you can get up in the morning, go take a long walk or jog, come back home for a quick breakfast and then ready yourself for your work day.
Since it’s party-size deck is on the east side of the home, you can enjoy the morning sun while having coffee, and then later some cooling summer shade in the afternoon and evening. If you happen to have a dog, part of the yard is already fenced so you don’t have to worry about your favorite running off.
The above photo is the one I took of that gorgeous rear yard at 341 S. Carolina which seems to go on forever. If you’re looking for location, size and condition in an affordable price range, this home has it all!
Tonight’s one-liner is: People who do things without being told draw the most wages.
