Ok, Katy Perry's plastic bag just blew by again! Not uncommon for our west Texas town. I ran over the same plastic bag earlier. But what in the world do I do if I have out-of-town clients who have scheduled to shop for homes on a dusty/windy day like today!
Skipping the lip gloss and donning the goggles, we just have to grin (with our mouths closed, don't want west Texas grit in our teeth) and bear it! I remember 8 years ago when we flew into Lubbock on that cool, dusty day, we were moving here and our girls looked out the very bumpy plane window (on a very small balsa wood plane) and couldn't see the ground (due to the dust storm) until we touched down. They thought we were moving them to H E double toothpicks!
So, many sand blasted years later (and a few orange Styrofoam yard snowman) we have managed to deal with it. Hosing down after a dust storm is kind of helpful, but usually creates mud. Speaking of mud, sometimes instead of rain we get mud falling from the sky. Usually an eerie purple cloud rolls in from the west as a precursor.
Back to showing homes in a dust storm. Avoiding this scenario is usually best. Many a potential client has decided to stay in Antarctica because of the harsh conditions when looking at homes here. As one local meteorologist said, the day after a dust storm is beautiful with pristine air. Evidently the sandy dust "cleans" the air.
How does one prepare a home to be shown during or after a dust storm? Don't skip a detail. It is important that the home for sale look like it has not been affected by the penetrating dirt, super home of sort. Clean, clean, clean. From the dust vents to the windows, the red dusty cobwebs (which spring up overnight creating a haunted house effect) to the dust drifts by the front door (they can harbor field mice seeking shelter). It all needs to go. Oh yes, and the prickly 4 foot diameter tumbleweed must be dislodged from the hedge and chucked in the dumpster too.
We do this because we don't want the home to look abandoned. This could be a daily chore depending upon the time of year. But most important we do all of this because we don't want to scare off any potential new West Texans, misery loves company.
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