| Ups & Downs of Buying & Selling |
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I love my job…most days. One Sunday, I was driving to my open house. The sky was blue, my sellers are nice people with a nice house to sell, I had the radio turned way up and was singing along with it. I just felt good about the day. The Sunday before that, I was on pins and needles about a real estate transaction that had so many challenges, both physical and emotional, that I was having nightmares and indigestion over the whole thing, and the radio in my car was turned off so that I could find some space to think clearly about things.
You see, selling real estate isn’t just a game of price for the buyers or for the sellers. Some buyers don’t want to buy, and some sellers don’t want to sell, but life circumstances have caused them to come to a place in time when they are forced to do one or the other. Feelings, emotions, and baggage from the past all play a role in the buying and selling process.
A friend of mine recently followed her husband to Atlanta when he was given a job opportunity that was just too good to refuse. She reluctantly uprooted her family and left her Knoxville friends and her home. Thankfully, her home sold quickly, which helped reduce the angst of being torn between two cities, but it didn’t reduce the sting of emotion that comes with packing the last box that you don’t want to pack, and closing the door behind you one last time.
On the other hand, I have a family who is both selling their existing home and buying their next one. Sometimes, as it is in this case, the two deals come together at relatively the same time, making the whole transaction easier. This family is excited about both selling and buying, and, after sending me the final necessary paperwork to seal the deals, they are headed out to celebrate with a night out at a fine restaurant.
Then, somewhere in the middle of the emotional highs and lows, I had a client who just sold her house of 45 years in exchange for a condo. Although the emotion of leaving a home with so many memories surely weighed heavily on her heart, there was also a sense of relief of having less grass to maintain, fewer rooms to keep clean, and fresh, new surroundings to enjoy.
When I was in school to get the education necessary to obtain my real estate license, I concentrated intently on learning the facts about real estate laws, about how to measure square footage and acreage, about what paperwork is necessary to put a transaction together, and about using today’s technology to sell more houses faster. I know more than I want to know about termites, I know why home inspections are a good idea, and I know the definitions of more real estate words than I will ever use.
I just hope that, through my own life experiences, I have learned how to be a good listener, how to celebrate or mourn life-changing decisions, how to be a sounding board when needed, how to lead the forward progress with great fanfare, and how to lead by gently guiding. I hope I know when to stand in the way and when to get out of the way. Real estate is about the ups and downs of the market, and the ups and downs of life.
Claudia Stallings
Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace
