For many years I traveled internationally for work anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month at a time hopping from country to country. I experienced political upheaval and riots, limited service of the mere basics of life and the difference in public service protection application (police, fire and military).
The opportunity to absorb the beauty that exists everywhere in the world balanced by the challenges each country faces, enabled me to see life through a different lens. That combined with the hours upon hours of, ‘think time,’ on airplanes, I gained a special appreciation for the United States of America and in particular, the Pacific Northwest.
When I was away on the longer trips to countries that have deployed for centuries, polar opposite tactics from the USA in all of the mentioned areas, I found myself with a lump in my throat and snuffly tears each time I heard the US Customs guy say, “Welcome Home,” upon my return.
Reflecting upon all of those experiences and seemingly odd emotion upon coming home, my assessment is that it is more than being grateful for the USA, the PNW and our freedoms, it is coming home to the place where I lay my head down at night, where my chickens roam free and the deer nibble at their leisure upon my rose buds and grape leaves. It is being in a place I have called my ‘slice of heaven,’ for the last 27 years, where I searched and searched for a full year to find before I knew, this was where I wanted to call home.
The deeply seated emotion for people who have loved their home is precisely what should be captured and baked into marketing highlights of a home when being sold. Your real estate agent should dig deeper than the mechanical and robotic, structural facets of your house to be listed; and, to listen, truly hear what have been the special features to you, one who has lived in the house, and why. Capturing this history from a seller empowers the listing agent to share those stories during open houses and incorporate the most descriptive words into marketing materials or videos.
For buyers, their agent should also ask like questions well beyond; how many bedrooms, bathrooms, garage spaces etc. you are searching for. Prodding a bit further into what kinds of activities you participate in, what do you enjoy doing when you are at home (i.e. lounging on a patio with junglee plant life, swinging in a hammock on a covered porch or sipping coffee in a breakfast nook that is flooded with morning sunshine…).
Real estate, your home, is about, ‘Coming Home.’ Your real estate agent is there to serve you in describing to others why your home is a great place to live in order to nourish the sale and to effectively price and market your home framed by market dynamics to yield you the best price point possible. And, on the flip side, to understand what your vision is of your dream home and to be on top of the market to guide you towards those homes that meet your needs.
There is nothing quite like, ‘Coming Home.’
