IT'S CALLED LIFE

My client, a young man who was just buying his first home, arrived on time for his home inspection. He was beaming as he approached his home inspector and his pure happiness reminded me of the time when I bought my own first home. The young man had worked as hard as any young man I've ever known and the reward for all of his very hard work now had an address and was nestled on a beautiful lot in his favorite town.

As the young man and his inspector walked around the exterior of the home together, I entered what I thought would be an unoccupied home. (Sellers are usually not home during home inspections and the seller's agent was not able to attend the inspection.) When I opened the side door, an elderly woman stood several feet away from me in her kitchen. She introduced herself to me as the seller and she asked if it were "ok to stay" if she kept "out of the way". I reminded her that we were guests in her home and I asked if it were "ok" for us to be in her way for a short time.

The elderly woman forced a smile that failed to mask her sadness and she began to tell me her story. Her husband of sixty years had died only months before and it became financially impossible for her to keep the home that knew a lifetime of happiness within its walls. While she tearfully showed me her husband's military medals, excellent workmanship around their old home and photos that captured their past, I could see my young client in the back yard smiling with his inspector as he was learning more about his new home and plans for a bright future.

As the elderly woman pointed to a family portrait, I saw a large group of children gathered around the holiday decorations that must have filled the room with joy for years. The home would have new decorations and a new family portrait would be hanging someday with more children in it. It's called "life".

The cycle that affects all of us is palpable in the Real Estate industry. We see and address life's changes that bring tears or cheers every day behind the closed doors of the homes we share with our clients for the moments and times in their lives. The documents, deeds, records, reports, contracts, inspections, rules and regulations, are mere stepping stones that lead us from one home to another as we move through life's changes. The Real Estate business is far more about understanding and developing relationships than it is about "transactions".

Sometimes clients share things with Realtors that they do not share with their family members or close friends for a number of reasons, the most common of which appears to be because they "do not want to be a bother." No one wants to leave a home they love even if they appear "unmoved". The simple act of walking through the home and looking through photo albums with them or helping them pack may help them through the process of saying "good bye". Many of these homeowners are one as they go through the process of selling their homes and they could really use a visit or more frequent visits from family or friends during these difficult times.

The elderly woman signed the papers that made her home my young client's. After the closing, I accompanied my young new "homeowner" to his new home. When we entered the property, he bounced from room to room... his rooms. He ran down to his basement. He came upstairs beaming again and as he turned to leave his kitchen, he saw a note addressed to him on the counter. I watched him as he opened the note. I saw his eyes move through the handwritten lines before his face flushed. He folded the note slowly and he put it in his shirt pocket. He said "She is a very nice lady... a very special lady... a very special lady."