Finding Your Dream Home
“Experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, does at least move you forward. After a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much you’ve closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you’ve done today.”
I find that many rea
l estate transactions are tied to dreams. That dream home a buyer imagines, or a dream realized with a new job, a new love, or a new life. When she was around four, my daughter, Amanda, loved to watch the movie Miracle on 34th Street starring the young Natalie Wood. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is about a little girl named Susie and her struggle with believing in Santa. She decides she will only believe if Santa gives her what she wants for Christmas – her dream home she saw in an advertisement. In the movie, dreams do come true. Not only does Susie find the house of her dreams, but her mother and their neighbor (who saved Kris Kringle) marry and live happily ever after in the dream house.
In both buying and selling, it is how we move people toward what they may or may not know is their dream home – stirring in them what they aspire to.
When we are working with sellers, I try to help them think about how their home can be the dream home that the buyer may be imagining. For some buyers, it is the dream of showing prestige, others comfort, still others want the type of family home than Susie longed for. The more the home shows as clean and uncluttered (yet with a touch of love), the more a potential buyer can see themselves in the home.
Sellers may not always be able to provide that dream home. We work with sellers to tell the story of the home in hopes we can stir something inside the buyer’s heart and mind that will move them to act. I have been in multi-million dollar homes that did not have a soul that a $300,000 condo that did.
I have talked often about the changes we’ve seen in real estate, but I think this one element is so important. In Miracle on 34th Street, Susie formed the opinion about her dream home from an ad in the paper. At that time, the only way to see inside a home was to go there in person. Now anyone online can peek inside any home for sale and dream about it. Therefore, it is vitally important for sellers to understand that presenting their home online must stir the soul of the buyer. Sparkling windows, no clutter, and attractive furniture that appeals to their most likely buyer all play a role in helping a home to shine.
The buyer may not be able to afford their dream home in our market, but your home, no matter how big or small, can stir something inside them that moves them to buy. It can be emphasizing the neighborhood that they see themselves in, ditching the car and walking to shops. Alternatively, buyers may aspire to having land around them or a garage to tinker in or a garden to grow. It might be an open kitchen where they can cook or entertain and still watch their kids play in the next room, or maybe a luxurious master bath or closet. What stirs your soul?
We are in the business to make dreams come true. We facilitate the dream of the seller selling their home quickly and for as much money as possible. For the buyer, we are tasked with helping them find that something in a home that aligns with their vision or dreams. Sometimes, just owning a property is a dream come true.
If we can help you with your real estate dream and finding your dream home, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email. We love nothing better than helping buyers and sellers realize the very best for themselves.
