Questionable Dirt

It was another beautiful pre-Fall day in North Iowa, and I'll be happy if it continues on well into October. At least we're not having to water out plants every other day like we'd been doing for weeks on end now that our soil has been saturated by our many days of rain.

My Monday morning was typical to where there were numerous emails to return along with additional desk-work needing my immediate attention. Without a doubt, my anxieties have been on an over-load with this continued back-log of abstract continuations and title work. There are three closing which were to take place and scheduled well in advance of the 45 day rule, yet still lagging behind. If we get one of the three to the closing table this week, I'd say we'll be lucky. In all these years of selling real estate, I've never seen such a bottleneck, and what's making matters worse, are all the refinances that are taking place which also require abstracts to be continued and title opinions rendered. It'll be interesting to see what our market is going to be like a year from now.

I did manage to get my new listing posted which is located at 316 - 12th St. SE here in Mason City. Even though it's a 1 bedroom home, the price alone should incite a single person or childless couple to purchase it because with our interest rates being so low, the payment on it would likely be less than half of what a similar home would rent for. What better way to build equity while saving money?

What I personally like about the home is the large living room which has oak floors, as well as its more useable basement which is a rarity for homes of that vintage. I also like its large rear yard which has more than enough room to build a monster two or three stall garage off the alley. Yes, it's priced right with a great deal of up-side potential. There was already one showing on it this afternoon by another Realtor, and likely his buyer being an investor.

I'm sure the neighbors must think I have a corner on the market in that block because I also have 326 - 12th St. SE listed which is now sold and just waiting for title work to be completed and then having it vacated. That particular home went to a first-time buying owner-occupant who's exceptionally excited over finally being able to have a home she can call her own.

My late morning appointment was to meet with some sellers to sign their transfer docs. The husband managed to land a very good job down in the Quad Cities area where he'll be closer to family and friends. I'm always sorry to see young couples moving out of our area, but it's just another example of how fewer vertical job opportunities arise in smaller communities like ours which is why I've insisted we attract more high-tech industries in our area which would help to keep them from moving.

The permanent closing of Principal's doors in our Downtown has really been a kick in the teeth for the growth of our Historic Downtown. Now that all their employees will be working from home, there won't be any noon hour eating or shopping done by those very many. I'll never forget seeing the long lines of Principal employees waiting at the food counters of those eateries in the Food Court of our now nearly dead mall. The owners of the mall's Subway which closed last year must've seen the handwriting on the wall. Can you imagine how they'd now be struggling if they'd renewed their lease?

I had another conversation today with an exceptionally disappointed parent who spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on getting them educated in the best of schools, and now treating her as if she's not ever done a thing for them. All I could say was, "I know you did way more for them than I ever would have." She fully agreed while including the idea that our society has changed them because she didn't raise them that way. I confirmed her belief while saying, "Most parents do what they can to instill core values in their children, but unfortunately the pressures from peers, jobs, and social medias slowly erode away those hard-coded values, and mostly due to the belief that the almighty dollar is the begin all and end all." Many long years ago a dear one said to me, "Money is not the end, but only a tool with which we must wisely us as a means to better our lives and the world around us." Now that doesn't sound anything like something we'd hear coming from the mouths of financial advisors or wealth-building pundits, does it? Yes, the selfish greediness is running rampant in our society to where it has almost become a fad which I'm hoping will soon fall out of favor.

We're continuing to get more showings on 115 S. Connecticut, which is giving me hope there'll be an offer soon on the horizon. While speaking with a colleague today about it, she couldn't believe it hasn't sold because of all the extras it offers. All I could say was, "It's because it's not a lipsticked pig with all those fish-eyed lens glamour shots." I continue to be in dis-belief how shallow-minded some of our young buyers are to where there's no question they'll be wishing they didn't get pulled into purchasing their glossed-over and cheaply updated homes which they recently plugged themselves into on 30 year mortgages. Oh well, we all must live and learn.

I'm still getting those spam political texts from strangers every day, so it looks like I'll be tormented by them up until our elections are over. I'm already reading far less of the election news because that's all I find are each sides bashing each other. Let's hope that someday there'll be elections where the politicians focus only on issues needing change instead of digging up questionable dirt about their opponents. Too childish for my taste.

Tonight's one-liner is: The husband who decides to surprise his wife, is often very much surprised himself.

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