Real estate, like life in general, is a journey. Sometimes it’s physical, sometimes emotional/intellectual. Sometimes it’s a bit of both.
Yesterday, I met with a couple moving here in a few weeks. Oklahoma natives, they have never lived anywhere else. Nashville is a long way from home. They don’t know the city yet, and they have no idea where they want to land, so they plan to rent for a while before buying. They will continue to move – even after they move here.
Last year I worked with a couple whose one “gotta have” was a detached garage. They weren’t averse to doing upgrades, but they didn’t want to do a total rehab. Turns out they fell for a great house – one that did not have a garage and happened to need a ton of work. Last week I closed with a buyer whose major “gotta have” was a fireplace. He ended up falling in love with a house in the right neighborhood, at the right price, with a totally wonderful yard. Did it have a fireplace? Um, no.
These buyers were also on a journey. Not from another state, but toward their ideal house, and away, at least in part, from the house they had in mind when they started.
All this is completely normal. The purchase of a house is always about facts, figures and money, but it’s also – sometimes much more so – about intangible things.
That said, facts, figures and money can be in motion as well. Needs change, finances change, markets change. The perfect house of 5 years ago can grow too small. The perfect house of 20 years ago can become too large. With retirement or the loss of a job, an affordable house could become too expensive. With a re-fi at a lower interest rate, the house that was a stretch to afford, can become a cakewalk.
Life is in motion. Nothing stays the same. We are all on a journey – from one not-so-fixed point to another. And the road ahead may look pretty murky.
So, a good guide may be just the ticket. And that’s what I do for a living.
The longer I do real estate, the more I find this to be true. I don’t make choices for my clients. I present options, lead them to resources, offer them the benefit of my experience, and help them get to the next stop. It might be a permanent stop. It might be just a point along a much longer path.
Either way, it’s a total pleasure. The more I do it, the more I love it.