A few of weeks ago, I got called by a former client, who was ready to sell the home I'd sold them a few years before. It's always gratifying to get a call like that - after all, if they didn't think I did a good job for them when they bought their house, they'd hardly call me to sell it, right? To make it even better, they told me they had decided when they bought their home that they'd call me when they wanted to sell.
The odd thing about this call was, it was the THIRD call from a former client I received THAT Day! That's right, three people who bought homes from between 2007 and 2009 called me on the same day. I made arrangements with each of them to go look at their house and give them advice on pricing, as well as how best to market their home. As it turns out, all of them needed a bit of time to get their house ready for market - they all worked like crazy over the weekend, and I listed all three last Monday.
The Lincoln real estate market is strong right now - there is a shortage of quality listings on the market, and buyers are active. By Friday night, all three of my new listings were sold, and one of my sellers had already written up a contract on a new home. A second seller is still looking, but will probably buy a home in the next week or two. In addition, I sold two lots, which will turn into a pair of town homes (one of which is already sold!), and listed another new construction town home that is just getting started. All in all, my week was one of the best - and busiest - since I started selling real estate.
I know I'll never be this busy all the time - and who would want to? I don't mind working late when I need to, but I certainly don't want to do that every day. When it happens once in a while, it's great fun. Now, I'm taking a week off. I don't need to feel guilty - I got enough done this week!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
"They're Not Gonna Catch Him!"
The Spring Game was last Saturday. The Huskers, as usual, have some talent - they won't win the national championship, but they'll have a decent team, I suspect. Often, one or two relatively unknown player will step up and be the star of the intra-squad scrimmage, and it happened in a big way last weekend!
Jack Hoffman didn't play until late in the game. On 4th down, he carried for the first - and probably last - time as a Husker. The result was incredible. Even if you're not interested in football, check out the video clip. I suspect you'll be impressed with Jack, as well as the rest of the team.
Jack, by the way, is a 7 year old pediatric brain cancer patient. He was befriended by former Husker running back Rex Burkhead, and has become close to a number of players on the team, and one of the players came up with the idea to put him in the game. With this run, he goes into the record books as the leading rusher in the spring game, and his touchdown gave the Red team the win in the annual scrimmage that marks the end of spring practice. I love the play by play guys calling the play ("He's got another gear!"), and it's quite touching to see all the players gathering around Jack.
One way to look at this is that this game doesn't count - it's just a practice, after all. As I said before, often players will look like stars in this game, only to fall back into obscurity by fall. In this case, I think this game does count. This play may not mean much to football fans across the country, but it meant a lot to one little boy. Twenty years from now, no one will remember who scored first in this spring game. I bet we'll all remember who scored last.
Jack Hoffman didn't play until late in the game. On 4th down, he carried for the first - and probably last - time as a Husker. The result was incredible. Even if you're not interested in football, check out the video clip. I suspect you'll be impressed with Jack, as well as the rest of the team.
Jack, by the way, is a 7 year old pediatric brain cancer patient. He was befriended by former Husker running back Rex Burkhead, and has become close to a number of players on the team, and one of the players came up with the idea to put him in the game. With this run, he goes into the record books as the leading rusher in the spring game, and his touchdown gave the Red team the win in the annual scrimmage that marks the end of spring practice. I love the play by play guys calling the play ("He's got another gear!"), and it's quite touching to see all the players gathering around Jack.
One way to look at this is that this game doesn't count - it's just a practice, after all. As I said before, often players will look like stars in this game, only to fall back into obscurity by fall. In this case, I think this game does count. This play may not mean much to football fans across the country, but it meant a lot to one little boy. Twenty years from now, no one will remember who scored first in this spring game. I bet we'll all remember who scored last.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Blown Away
Many years ago, I owned several guns - a couple of shotguns and a .22 rifle. I didn't hunt or shoot a lot, but on occasion I'd get out and use them a bit. My father had a .22 pistol that I had fired a few times, but I've never owned a hand gun.
After having kids, my hunting and shooting got put on the back burner - I didn't fire a gun for over 25 years. My guns were sitting dusty and rusting in the closet, so I eventually just got rid of them.
A week or so ago, we were out to dinner with my son and daughter-in-law, and they mentioned that there was a new indoor shooting range that had opened in Lincoln. When they said they were planning to go, Theresa said, "I'd love to go shoot a gun!" Once I got over the shock, I reluctantly agreed to go and give it a shot (pun intended).
BigShots Indoor Range is a nice place, located just off of West O Street in Lincoln. The owners are very friendly, and they seem to be quite safety-conscious. Since we hadn't been to their range (or, in Theresa and my case, any range) we were required to view a short video on gun safety before we could shoot. Although they are experienced shooters, Matthew and Mitzi also had to watch the video. The woman who set this up - "Terry" - was nice, and didn't look down on the neophytes in our group.
Theresa and I don't own a gun, but Matthew and Mitzi have a .357 Magnum revolver, and some very nice friends of theirs (Joe and Audra) let us borrow a .22 pistol. BigShots has rental guns, but you must have a county handgun purchase permit to rent. If you don't have a record, the permit is easy to get - it costs $5.
We rented hearing and eye protection (required), and went to the range.
If you go, the first thing you'll notice is that some guns are LOUD! Some guy was shooting something about the size of a bazooka - we all jumped about a foot off the ground the first time it went off. Standing in the booth next to it, you could feel the concussion every time he fired. The .357 was fairly loud as well, making the .22 sound like a cap gun in comparison. Joe gave us some instruction on how to safely operate his .22 semi-automatic pistol, and Theresa blazed away.
The targets at the range are on a track, and can be moved to any distance desired. I'm not sure of the maximum distance, but it's enough that most of us wouldn't be able to hit the target at that range. We were typically shooting at targets in the 5 to 10 yard range. Surprisingly, both Theresa and I were able to group shots within about a 6 inch range at these relatively short distances. Not surprisingly, the .22 was much easier to shoot accurately, although both Theresa and I were OK with the .357. After a bit of practice, I improved quite a bit with the .22. Matthew and Mitzi were, of course, better. John and Audra were quite good, from my perspective - Audra had some really great groupings with the bigger gun.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Friday nights are "Date Night", so the range fee was $20 for the two of us. While ammunition for larger caliber guns is expensive, .22 ammo is still relatively cheap, so, if you own a gun, this isn't the most expensive night out you can imagine. Gun rental would add a bit to that, but it's still affordable.
A couple of weeks ago, I'd have told you I'd never fire a gun again. I'd also have been pretty sure I'd never own a hand gun. Even more surprising, Theresa had a great time! After going to the range, I find myself thinking about buying a pistol, and making the range a more or less regular outing.
After having kids, my hunting and shooting got put on the back burner - I didn't fire a gun for over 25 years. My guns were sitting dusty and rusting in the closet, so I eventually just got rid of them.
A week or so ago, we were out to dinner with my son and daughter-in-law, and they mentioned that there was a new indoor shooting range that had opened in Lincoln. When they said they were planning to go, Theresa said, "I'd love to go shoot a gun!" Once I got over the shock, I reluctantly agreed to go and give it a shot (pun intended).
BigShots Indoor Range is a nice place, located just off of West O Street in Lincoln. The owners are very friendly, and they seem to be quite safety-conscious. Since we hadn't been to their range (or, in Theresa and my case, any range) we were required to view a short video on gun safety before we could shoot. Although they are experienced shooters, Matthew and Mitzi also had to watch the video. The woman who set this up - "Terry" - was nice, and didn't look down on the neophytes in our group.
Theresa and I don't own a gun, but Matthew and Mitzi have a .357 Magnum revolver, and some very nice friends of theirs (Joe and Audra) let us borrow a .22 pistol. BigShots has rental guns, but you must have a county handgun purchase permit to rent. If you don't have a record, the permit is easy to get - it costs $5.
We rented hearing and eye protection (required), and went to the range.
If you go, the first thing you'll notice is that some guns are LOUD! Some guy was shooting something about the size of a bazooka - we all jumped about a foot off the ground the first time it went off. Standing in the booth next to it, you could feel the concussion every time he fired. The .357 was fairly loud as well, making the .22 sound like a cap gun in comparison. Joe gave us some instruction on how to safely operate his .22 semi-automatic pistol, and Theresa blazed away.
The targets at the range are on a track, and can be moved to any distance desired. I'm not sure of the maximum distance, but it's enough that most of us wouldn't be able to hit the target at that range. We were typically shooting at targets in the 5 to 10 yard range. Surprisingly, both Theresa and I were able to group shots within about a 6 inch range at these relatively short distances. Not surprisingly, the .22 was much easier to shoot accurately, although both Theresa and I were OK with the .357. After a bit of practice, I improved quite a bit with the .22. Matthew and Mitzi were, of course, better. John and Audra were quite good, from my perspective - Audra had some really great groupings with the bigger gun.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Friday nights are "Date Night", so the range fee was $20 for the two of us. While ammunition for larger caliber guns is expensive, .22 ammo is still relatively cheap, so, if you own a gun, this isn't the most expensive night out you can imagine. Gun rental would add a bit to that, but it's still affordable.
A couple of weeks ago, I'd have told you I'd never fire a gun again. I'd also have been pretty sure I'd never own a hand gun. Even more surprising, Theresa had a great time! After going to the range, I find myself thinking about buying a pistol, and making the range a more or less regular outing.
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