Real Estate....the good, the bad and the ugly

"How's the market....really?". I hear it a lot. I think most of us answer that question with such trepidation. Is it better? The answer is complicated. We aren't selling 2 bedroom ranches w/ no basements for over $300,000 and Capes aren't selling for $420,000 anymore BUT, houses sell. Every single day something sells. Buyers are pickier and sellers have been beat up. When homes are selling well, prices are controlled b/c when a seller controls price, they don't need to accommodate any other factor. Everyone can price their colonial for $500,000 whether you moved in last year or have owned it for 30 years. But when a buyer controls the market, the seller's personal motivation plays a HUGE part in the process. People who have owned their home for 20 years can be much more flexible than a couple who bought their home in 2006 and that is why we such discrepancies in price....all over the board really. Very rarely are sellers ABLE to list their home for the price I think will work. They just don't have the financial flexibility. The best thing about a seller's market is consistency. This current market is completely random.

Sometimes I think people think we miss the old market b/c it was "easier". But truth be told, my "best" years have come after the peak. Here's what most of us miss.....the JOY of real estate. I miss checking MLS every 20 minutes b/c we were waiting for that perfect house to come on the market so we could POUNCE! I miss seeing buyers fall head over heals w/ a house b/c they have been waiting to live in a certain neighborhood and now here's this house....finally! I miss seeing sellers thrilled at the price of their home. I miss the excitement that would come from an offer on one of my listings being faxed over and just dying to see the price (of course, almost every offer came in high...so not a lot of mystery but certainly a lot of excitement!). I miss calling my sellers, barely containing my own joy, that they have an offer. (Now when I call with an offer, I often have to start slow and easy b/c the number is a painful stab in the gut.)

BUT....here's why I still do it!!!! People can buy a house now who didn't have a chance before! Every year I still have clients that feel more like friends than clients and their happiness is my happiness. I still believe in the HOME. I still believe that this commodity that I manage to broker is STILL one of the greatest dreams come true. I still believe that what I sell isn't a building....I still get excited when I get a new client who is vested in the process....b/c believe me, it's a process. There's almost greater satisfaction at a closing when you and your sellers have traveled through many challenges to be able to sit there at that moment knowing WE DID IT! I still love to sit at the closing table and more times than not, we sit there sharing a bond that makes sellers and Realtors more like family.

The ups and the downs....there are pendulum swinging moments for sure. They can swallow you up. I have been in downs that are really tough. There are dark moments for every Realtor who feels helplessly held hostage by our current market. But for every "down" moment, I have had the ups too like seeing buyers tearful w/ joy that they FOUND their home....they are home.

Would I rather make a living singing folk music and traveling around the country with my band? Sure would. But until then, this gig ain't too bad!!!

Complete melt down

Tonight, while taking a few breaths looking out my kitchen window, I wondered what would happen to lab rats if they had to jump on and off their wheel every 45 minutes and do something different and then back to their wheel again......all day long. Would they too end up literally shaking while making dinner with head spinning and heart racing? I'm guessing YES. Some meltdowns you can see coming. Some come out of nowhere. This one could have been predicted. Why I hadn't done a better job preparing myself, I have no idea. Actually I do have some idea - I have no time to prepare myself. It all started with the always bad combination of too much work, too much volunteering, too little attention to my own mental health and far too many cold and dark days. Throw in a little "race against the clock" mentality and a smart ass kid and things get rolling. Top it all off w/ the fact that I had one child being dropped off to my house at the same exact time I was picking one up. And that I couldn't find shoes in the 5 seconds I left myself to get out the door so I actually wore HIGH HEEL DRESS SHOES w/ gray sweats. And had peter and b/c I feel guilty running in and out of the house all day, I brought Harper too. At this point, I was okay. Tired, but okay. As I got to school, I noticed all of these cars were parked. WHAT??? Why are they parked? Are we supposed to be at this dress rehearsal? Oh shit....is this the day I am going to be trained as the "microphone supervisor"? I am wearing high heals w/ sweats!! I have a preschooler and a dog in the car? I am supposed to be home for Lily!! That was the moment it all came crashing down. I didn't have my phone. I was so panicked I was actually going to just drive off when I saw Maeve flag to me that I needed to come in to check her out. I am SURE this information was in an email. I am positive of that. But I read a billion emails a day and lately, I can't keep track of what is what - work emails, volunteer emails, school emails, schedule changes....who knows. I was just proud I knew last Tuesday was "bun day" at ballet. Anyway .....I run into Fairview huffing and puffing, car running w/ Peter and Harper, and me in brown high heal shoes, white sports socks and gray sweats..... When I returned to the car, I was a disaster....ranting about how all of this is "too much". I am boo hooing big time all the way home. I arrive home to find that indeed, Lily and her ride is waiting for us (thankfully, the driver is a dear friend!!). As I am melting down, I think "I have to make dinner....I have no idea what to make". Once inside, I trip over boots, backpacks. I yell out "pick up this crap. I do not want ONE SINGLE THING touching this floor unless it's furniture...". I go to make dinner.....literally shaking....wondering why I said I would help with the cast party. Why did I say I would be microphone supervisor. Why did I say I would chaperon the 5th grade Open Gym Night. I know the answer.....I think it's important. I know it's the right thing to do. I know it means a lot to my kids. But as my mind races between work and writing Thank You notes for the Foundation and getting a deposit to the venue for next year and loosing weight and working out and the many missed choir practices and why I haven't gotten my family to church on a regular basis and how I really don't like playing Star Wars and how my son doesn't know the alphabet and have I had enough water today and we don't have a present for a birthday party and how Rob & I make zero time for our relationship, it's exhausting. And we all do this. I am not alone. This is not a boo-hoo fest for me. We are all interrupted every 45 (or fewer) minutes w/ pick ups and drop offs and questions and meal prep and phone calls and door bells and homework. We moms (and dads!) are insane humans. That is why we all long for quiet and peace and our beds. This is why sleeping is my favorite thing to do. I know I need to simplify. It's VERY difficult to do....it's all important. Work, life, kids, our health, our time, our experiences. I have zero idea how to do it any better. I should make better lists, take better notes, be more prepared. But, in the end, I am just too tired.