Journal – June 24 2024
A Week in My Life, 24th of June 2024
The more you do something, the more you learn.
If you only do something once in a long while then the steps you need to take are not very clear.
When we learn something, repetition, making the task familiar, makes it easier to remember.
Most processes are the same.
Real estate is the same.
To me it’s not hard because I have done it so many times over a long time.
What makes it different each and every time, are the people. Yes, okay, the houses are generally different too, but the stand out to me are the people. Their lives in the home, their good and not so good, how happy they are to be moving on or the lingering memories that make it hard to go.
If real estate was completed 100% by robots and to some extent it could be, then you would buy a house purely on its floorplan, its location, price, land size and composition and house size and composition.
The missing element would be how you felt about the home when you walked up to the front door, went inside and explored it.
This ‘vibe’ that a house gives off, is not attractive to everyone that walks through the door. Some get a completely off putting vibe. The same thing that makes your home an absolute HIT to one person, makes another walk in and walk out quickly.
What is it that defines a home? That gives it the vibe that it does? The thing that you can’t see on paper, on a floorplan or map?
I can see that a house would be appealing to some yet it doesn’t appeal to me as a home at all. Is it the renovation, the colour scheme? Is it too sterile, too cluttered?
The brilliant thing about real estate is the human element that each home brings. The story it tells. A brand new home is a blank canvas, there are no stories to tell just dreams of how life could be if you lived there.
When you are selling your home, you want people to see themselves living there. You don’t want them to see you. It’s why agents like you to remove photos, the clutter, the cat, the dog, the people. They want to present the home so others can imagine themselves there without feeling like an intruder, an interruption.
An older home has a patina of use, people have lived their lives here, they develop a warmth, a charm. Some will like this, a loved family home gives off a good, happy vibe. Some won’t like your family home vibe. That’s okay, houses are like people. Some you like, some you don’t.
Do you feel that your home gives off a ‘vibe’?
If you are thinking of selling then think about the message you want the buyer to receive. From the drive by, to the front gate and beyond.
What story do you want your home to tell?
Lego, Matchbox Cars, Train Sets, Butterflies and Barbies.
Each piece of plastic has a memory. The joy of birthdays and Christmas, the celebration of learning to tie shoelaces, of winning a basketball game. To you, it’s clutter, a cupboard that should have been cleaned out long ago.
To me, I cherish those memories. I hang onto the duplo, the Lego, the Star Wars memorabilia not because they were expensive but so I can tell the story of how their parents loved them to the future grandchildren I may have.
No pressure to my children, no rush. Just know that if you come to visit, then there are toys, books and stuff to make a mess.
