Sometimes it takes some perspective to remind us of how important our profession is. When it comes right down to it, what we do as REALTORS® is help our buyer clients find an environment that will become the backdrop of dreams and memories.
I recently returned to my hometown of Rockaway, New Jersey for the first time in many years. Thanks to the prodding of childhood friends who found me on Facebook and insisted we have a small reunion, I found myself in Rockaway standing across the street from the house I grew up in. As I stood there, the house, which as a child seemed enormous, looked far too small to contain all the wonderful memories that were formed there. Family holidays, Lifecycle Events like my Grandfather's 60th Birthday Party & Clambake, Planting in the garden with my dad, BBQ's, my childhood pets, and, as my friend Sheril reminded me, the party I had in the basement where we all played spin the bottle.
It was a great house to grow up in. I wonder if the REALTOR® who sold my parents that house knew how wonderful a setting it would be for our family and my brother's and my childhoods? Hopefully I will do as good of a job finding the perfect homes for my clients and their children!
Remember when working with buyers, it's not always just a property... it will be somebody's home.
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Working on behalf of Short Sale clients throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area has provided the opportunity to assist remarkable people facing real-world financial challenges and foreclosure.
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I am of the opinion a family makes a home, even if it is a one bedroom flat. Your house is very charming. The one I grew up in is now officially located in the Hood.
Like Melody, the house I grew up in is now in a "rough" area of Dallas, from my understanding (Buckner Terrace). This is an interesting post - cute house!
Steve, that is a great perspective to have. Homes hold so many memories and sometimes remains a haven for people to always return to. Your home looks really cozy.
Steve: This is really "funny"... but tonight I wrote a post that had the first new home I had built for me and my family. It was in Mentor, Ohio... and is the one pictured with all the snow... in the post about my daughter's trip to Cleveland last week. GMTA !
By the way... as far as what you say about this home, and about any home we as Realtors sell to people... it is imperative that we understand what a dramatic and life-changing event this may have on their lives and families. Thanks so much for sharing about part of you with us. Take care...
You are so right. Last year I took my son back to see the home I grew up in. I hadn't been back for over 30 years. It was located in the middle of nowhere in SE New Mexico on an oil well lease. The new company turned my childhood home into their headquarters. I was able to go in and I literally stood in my old bedroom. That experience shook me to my core. Homes are everything.
Hi Mel... I agree, a family is what makes a home, but the home is like a veddel full of memories that the family creates. After standing there looking at my childhood home, it still hold those memories for me.
Hi Jason... Yeah, Buckner Terrace is facing its challenges these days, but it is like a lot of suburbs on the fringe of the urban center. I do some business down there and have not had any problems.
Hi Kathy... I understand your feelings 100%. My opinion was the same as yours for many years, but I have to tell you that while it definitely seemed smaller, being there brought back many memories that were just beneath the surface of my consciousness. It felt good to see it in-person again.
Steve - great perspective. I often do a "drive-by" whenever I'm over by my old house in Carrollton. Lived there from age 2 to age 19. Funny thing is, at the time I thought our house was just the right size. NOW - I often wonder HOW we managed to live there - with no game room! no study! just ONE living area! Funny how time changes things!
Steve,
Great story and picture. Looks like a wonderful home to grow up in.
Steve - I had the same high expectations of my childhood homes when I returned for a visit. These always seem larger than life in our memory.
Hi Tanya... Thanks. Being back there I could actually "feel" the memories.
Hi Karen Anne... We really do make a bigger difference in people's lives than we sometimes realize.
Hi Alyce... I wish I could have gone inside. That would have been icing on the cake.
Hi Kim... I think that as energy costs rise, homes will decrease in size again. Should be interesting!
Hi Richard... It really was!
Hi Carol... I couldn't get over how much it had shrunk! Or perhaps it was because I was bigger now! :)