As you can tell by reading through the previous posts, I love winter. In fact, as a vacation a few weeks ago, I went to California and happened to be in Squaw Valley while 101 inches fell from a Monday to a Friday! 101 inches! Let’s just say I could stand nude in front of my first-floor plate glass window and not have to worry about a thing.

And the skiing was fantastic!

But now that I’m back, I’m ready for spring and was deceived for a day or two. Yesterday morning, I woke up, took the necessary Alavert, and headed out for the day in shorts and a tee-shirt. I took a great run up to the top of Scaly, wiping sweat from my brow. I took the deck furniture from its winter hideaway and cooked out on the grill.

This morning–after a wail of a night (gosh, the winds can howl on Little Bearpen)–snow on the ground.

Oh well…..

In a way, this is sort of like the real estate market these days. It warms up a bit and then chills back down. But the “season” is inevitably coming and we’re all anxious to see what’s going to happen.

It’s a buyer’s market. We all fully realize this fact. No doubt. No question…….

But…..

“You get what you pay for.”

Remember that old adage? Are we to believe that just magically over the last couple of years this truism is now irrelevant?

Nope…. We are not. And there are some cautionary tales out there to remind us of this fact.

Yes, a buyer can get some great deals, but when deals aren’t good enough–when only “steals” will do, then watch out. For instance, I know of a situation now where a couple has found what they want. But he’s not willing to pay what the seller requires (even at a vastly reduced price from what it was originally). And now they’re looking at a foreclosure spec house: in a good neighborhood, yes, but about the worst spot in the whole development. And a house which has features which I’ll never understand. (“Why the hell did they do that?” is a pretty constant refrain in this business.)

Of course I wish them well. Hope they can make it a great home. But “everything that glitters is not gold.” And I fear that too many people these days, in their attempts to get only the best deals, are, indeed, getting what they’re willing to pay for……

My dad, who was not a wealthy man, but a smart one, would say this on a regular basis: “It pays to go first class.”

Especially when you can go first class for the price of coach…. But that’s what lots of buyers are overlooking these days.

It’s like that commercial (I forget what for) where the lady has her kid dressed up like a dog in the pet carrier at the airport. For some people these days, cheap is the only thing that’ll work, whether they get what they want or not….

Oh well………