You might be privileged

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. it is also good Friday which isn’t meant to be fun but it can be.

My husband and I were talking about spring break. Neither of us ever went anywhere when we were kids during spring break. When I was in college I worked at a job during the breaks. I needed the money to pay my tuition. I was privileged because I had a roof over my head rent free and generally had enough to eat. I think I was well into adulthood before I learned that spring break is a thing and even a right of passage for college students.

I never heard the term “gap year”  until a few years ago. Apparently people take a year off in between high school and college and travel. I could have taken a gap year. I never thought of it, nor did I know anyone who was taking a gap year.  I may not have been able to travel for a year but I probably could have traveled for a few months.

Now that I am older and wiser I am thinking about taking a gap year. Most people near my age are thinking about retiring. I think a gap year would be more fun and at this point I have earned it.

You might be privileged if you had a gap year or if you get to travel during spring break.

Daffodils – rescued from the recent snow storms

 

Throwback Thursday-change is slow

Mississippi River
Building along the river are long gone

Former Adult Detention Center and Ramsey County Government Center West buildings, along Kellogg blvd. The picture was taken in 2008 before the buildings were removed.  Today this is the RiversEdge site which is nearly five-acres located at the southwest intersection of Wabasha St. and Kellogg Blvd., overlooking the Mississippi River in downtown Saint Paul. It is currently vacant. The proposed development will include:  public park, office space and housing. Part of the project will be a river balcony. I like that idea but for now I just look over the railing where the West Publishing buildings used to be.  The project isn’t likely to be started or completed for a few years. I need to get pictures before they get started.

Change happens slowly but it happens fast too.

 

Yes it snowed!

straw bale in snow
Hay bale

Yes it snowed and now it is cold but we really needed it. It was a wet heavy snow that will add water to the Mississippi river which is running low. The farmer’s need it so that there crops can grow. Most if not all of the state of Minnesota is in some stage of drought.

Snow is a good thing and this time of year it won’t be around long. A few inches of it have already been absorbed. It is going to be a beautiful spring.

 

Need more storage or less stuff?

self storage
storage

As an adult, I have always lived in a smallish space. As the owner of an old (historic) house, I have never had a lot of closet space. I have gotten used to storing what we need and resisting the urge to buy or to hang onto stuff that will be stored most of the time.

There are a couple of options for storage. One would be a bigger house, another is using a storage space off site, and having less stuff to store.

Having less stuff to store is the best option for us. It is by far the least expensive option.

Before moving to a larger home consider how you are using your space today. Do you have a lot of stuff? Is there a lot of dead storage? (Dead storage is space where items that never get used are stored forever)

During my first decade as an empty nester I worked hard to get my adult off spring to take their stuff. It finally happened and I haven’t been in any rush to fill up the storage space they left behind.

If you have items in your home that you have not used in years give them away or sell them. If your children have left some of their stuff behind make them take responsibility for it. We are never too young to learn how to manage our stuff.

Realtor Marketing can be misleading

Apples
Marketing apples

Everything I have written about the apples shown above is true. They really are fat free and gluten free and they have no preservatives . . so buy my apples today!

I often see real estate agents market their services in a similar manner. They may offer a “Free market analysis” or “CMA”, yet that is a service agents rarely charge for.

When houses are selling quickly some agents will use the fact that they sold a house quickly in their marketing.

Advertising that we get more for your home is a no brainer. How much is more? How can it be proven?

Some real estate companies advertise that they will sell your house “as is”. Any real estate company can sell your house “as is”. Fixing up a home before putting it on the market isn’t a requirement.

A do it your self for sale by owner company may advertise that you can use them instead of a Realtor but the companies are owned and operated by Realtors. They operate under a business model where the home owner does most of the work.

Do you need to have open houses to sell your house? No. Many homes are sold without ever being held open. The purpose of an open house is for the real estate agent to prospect.

There is an ancient legend about a “going rate” for commission. That rate is higher than what we typically charge. There is no going rate. Have you ever seen a Realtor price list published on a web site? Of course you haven’t commissions are negotiable.

Buyer’s agents services used to be free until someone figured out that home sellers are paying buyer’s agent commissions and the money is either coming out of their bottom line or out of the price of the house.

Mortgages can’t be used to finance Realtor commissions. However, when Realtors are paid from the proceeds of a home sale and the buyer is financing the purchase, the buyer’s agent commissions are being paid with a mortgage indirectly. It’s kind of like legal money laundering.

. . oh and while I am at it watch out for that huge fee that some real estate companies include in their charges. The fee is supposed to be negotiable but from what I have seen the agent has to pay it if they can’t get the buyer of seller to pay it.

Yes, you can buy apples that do not have any high fructose corn syrup in them. . . but hurry while supplies last!