Wet and wintry
In my family there is a bit of tradition. When my husband gets home from work on Thursday, he asks for my best prediction for my weekend work hours. Last Thursday, I said something like, “it’s the middle of the winter, I should be around…who in their right mind starts marketing something when there is a couple of feet of snow on the ground?”
There were 68 sellers in my area who started marketing their homes this week. Deep in the snow, with parking from hell… go figure. I was busy all weekend. The requests to see property started pouring in on Friday morning.
So, what did I see out there? Deep snow, with parking from hell… (OK, I said that!) The places I saw were pretty darn expensive. The open houses I went to on Sunday were pretty busy. Go figure.
My clients always ask me who the January sellers are. Some sellers need to sell before they can buy something else, so they start early. Some sellers just have to sell. What do you think? Who in their right mind starts selling their house when there is a couple of feet of snow on the ground?
It's a drag to look for a house in the snow. Why? because it is physically hard to get around, hard to park, everything looks awful, and you have to take your shoes off or contend with those little blue booties. It’s not for people with weak lower backs.
At one place, we had a pleasant conversation with the listing agent about shoe mishaps. It can happen if you have a common shoe and a common size.The listing agent and I both have had the experience of someone putting on our shoes. I caught my shoe-snatcher in the act and showed her that she had the wrong ones (she was about a size 7; I wear and 9 and a half.) The listing agent said she lost her shoes forever and was left with a pair two sizes too small.
For that last few years, I wear unique shoes in bad weather (my snow boots are cordovan color and my mocs are red.)
At the next place, the listing agent was displeased with the bootie performance. She hung around the front door asking people to wipe the snow off their shoes before putting the booties on. “If you don’t do wipe your feet,” she said, “the booties leak and people without shoes get their socks wet.” She was spending a lot of time running towels along the floor. When did these bootie things become the norm…?
And, then there is parking… but that's for another day.
Were you out there this weekend? Why??
