Placing Undue Strain

It was another hot one today, but fortunately I managed to stay out of the heat as much as possible, so by the end of the day, it didn't seem as bad as it was yesterday. Thank goodness tomorrow is supposed to be the last of it, so we'll all be able to enjoy the coming weekend more fully.

Since I didn't have any scheduled real estate appointments today, I putzed and scratched around the office with the straightening files, sending no longer relevant real estate docs to the shredder, and just about every other little task that had been pushed aside for another day.

I did take a number of little breaks, just so I'd be fully caught up on all the news, along with getting some of my monthly real estate periodicals read, so I must confess it ended up being one of those rare "What can I find to do next?" days.

I was supposed to show a new listing this afternoon which hit the market yesterday, but wouldn't you know, I ended up getting a call from the listing agent late yesterday, just to inform me it ended up selling to a cash buyer, which has been happening far too often this year, and most of those buyers are investors who're purchasing them to rent out. I'm sure my buyer is exceptionally frustrated by now, but I did assure him that this market cannot continue in such a fashion. We have to remember, we're living in a non-suburb city out in the boonies which has a declining population.

One of the articles out of that nationwide real estate magazine I read today was speaking about how our first-time buyers are slowly getting priced out of the market, and especially in the metro areas, which is likely why the rents in those cities are sky-high, and the most troubling thing for us, it's beginning to happen here. Just as an example, there was a nice home that was being rented for I believe $750 a month, which I thought was a fair price, but after the seller decided to sell it to an investor, I happened to see it posted online for somewhere around $1,200 a month. Isn't that crazy? Just today an apartment tenant mentioned he and his partner had looked at a very small 2 bedroom house in Ventura that was for rent which he said was a dive, and that one was somewhere around $800 a month. I guess the mentality of 'If I can ask and get it, then I'm gonna', has spread like wildfire.

Another interesting article I read, was about the rise in popularity of 'Accessory Dwelling Units' which are normally referred to as 'ADU's'. They first came to be out on the West Coast, but are gaining ground all over the United States, which I believe is a good thing. An ADU is a separate and smaller living unit which is built on an existing homeowner's property which is either rented out, or put to use as the separate living quarters for say an elderly parent or grandparent. Sounds like back to the past doesn't it? It all makes perfect sense when seeing how expensive senior housing can be, and especially if it's in or near a large city. Many of our States have already changed their zoning codes to allow for them to be built. I'm almost certain our strict City codes don't allow for it, but likely in time, they'll have to bend and go with the flow. If a person spent say $100K to build a studio or 1 bedroom ADU, it wouldn't take long to re-coup their investment, and in the end, their properties would be worth more. Since I've been involved in the renting of apartments and homes for a very many years, there's no doubt those ADUs would bring in high rents and low vacancy rates, and only because for the most part, conscientious tenants would much rather have their landlords living close to them, and of course the owners would be far more proactive in keeping their ADUs in tip-top condition. It sounds like a win-win scenario to me.

I had an extended conversation today with an older person whose been cursed with more than one break-ins at his house and garage. Every time I hear about such happenings, I immediately see red. To this day, I still can't get my brain wrapped around such wicked acts, and especially when it's being done to our seniors. I did suggest he install cameras and motion-sensor lighting, but of course that's likely extra costs he can't afford on his Social Security. I can't even begin to imagine how many seniors we have in our country who're living in fear on a daily basis. It sure doesn't sound anything like the 'golden years' everyone's looking forward to. I guess it all gets back to whether our wealthy seniors managed to reach, grab and growl their way into amassing so much to where they've got themselves fully insulated against the dark side of humanity, or are they?

Early this morning, I dropped off another bag of British cucumbers to a person who works well at putting them to use for the good of those who're in need. In spite of my having a generous-sized cucumber salad every evening, they're growing far faster than I can eat them. When looking at my garden this evening, I can see I'll have to give them another 'slow' overnight watering.

I noticed the possibility of our Gulf Stream coming to a halt was all over the news today, and for whatever reason, I have a 'feeling' it's gonna happen more sooner than they think, and likely because the ocean temperatures in and around the Florida Keys are averaging over 100 degrees right now. We all know there's got to be a natural reaction to it, so hang onto your hats.

I happened to go down another rabbit hole today with some deep researching on a particular building in our downtown, and once I get the extra information and subsequent confirmation of it, I'll be sharing it with all of you. I can assure nearly all of you, it's gonna come as a surprise.

Tonight's One-liner is: The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great.

original post ... https://niowarealty.net/life/2023/07/27/placing-undue-strain/