Central Ohio Real Estate Market News

At least that’s what some people outside the industry think, right! I thought about this yesterday afternoon.

I closed on a listing on Monday. At the closing, I told the buyer I would pick up my sign probably on Wednesday. I like to leave the SOLD strip up for a couple days so the neighbors know the new buyers will be coming, and can welcome them to the neighborhood. It’s that kind of a neighborhood.

Well, the snow storm hit on Tuesday and was severe enough for the county to issue a Level 3 emergency which means anyone on the road can be fined if it’s not an emergency. They didn’t change it to a Level 2 until late Wednesday afternoon – no fines, but shouldn’t be on roads.

Is keeping a promise to remove a yard sign an emergency?

When I went to the home yesterday – Thursday – I find that the new owner has shoveled the drive leaving the sign encased in 3 ft of snow. Now, how the heck am I going to remove it? Having just removed the huge pile of snow left by the city plows at the end of my own drive to get the WEENR mobile out, I was dressed for the bitter sub-zero wind chill and some serious work.

Boots, fleece pants, Michelin Man coat, ScoobyDoo earmuffs.

Like a horse pawing the ground, I start kicking the snow away next to the sign. I hang on tightly to the sign to avoid “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”! I fell on ice a couple weeks ago landing on my nose, so I’m a little leery now. After some time, I manage to get all the snow away from the sign so that perhaps, I can wiggle it enough to get it out of the frozen ground.

OK, that’s not working!

I remove each of the portions of the sign, leaving only the frame. This makes it lighter, plus, I can get a better hold on the frame and put my body into it. (I’ve got plenty of body to put into it!!!) I wiggle it this way … I wiggle it that way. I kick it … and hurt my toe! Finally, I’m able to have it begin to move. Eventually I make it – the frame is out of the frozen ground.

Should people over 60 be breathing this much cold air?

I start to put all the piece-parts of the sign into the WEENR mobile. When it’s cold, the hydraulic lifters on the tailgate don’t work. So every time I lift the hatch, it crashes down on my head as I throw each of the piece parts into the back. Except for the issue with the lifters, this is why I like the WEENR mobile – it’s indestructible and so-o-o handy for hauling wet, dirty, muddy or snow covered signs.

I’m done – my back is hurting – I’m winded – I didn’t fall down – I’m alive!

I wish I had taken my camera with me so I could have taken a photo of the sign, just so the Southern agents could see what a glamorous job we Northern agents have. Since I didn’t, I created the above photo to be “representative” of what it looks like here. I can imagine what some of the signs look like out East – if they can even be seen!

I’m holding an open house this weekend and selected the home based solely on the number of directional signs I will need to put up in the snow banks at intersections. How GLAM is that!

Copyright © 2007. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate,com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.