As a Realtor, I have to keep reminding myself not everyone views life as I do. For example... interest rates today are so low they seem silly to me. Maybe that's because I started selling homes in 1979 when interest rates were 16-17%. We couldn't even get loans on most of the homes then and had to use "creative financing" to close those escrows. Every sale closed with a major party for me and the buyer or seller! And celebrate we did ... it seems amazing today as we remember how happy we were just to be able to put together a transaction in those times ... sometimes you don't know what you don't know and it doesn't matter. We all visualize things differently and therefore we all see the outcomes from those perspectives. I was walking my beautiful Great Pyrenees dog the other day and was stopped by a lady walking down the street toward us. "What an amazing animal that it is" she remarked. "It looks like a wolf walking down the street." I laughed - you should look at her from behind I said, from this angle with her long legs and dewclaws she looks like a hooker in high heels. We both laughed. How different she looked from each perspective.
I was working with a first time buyer showing homes this month. He was so excited and worried as he looked at each home we were previewing from the perspective of what it would be like to live in that house, in that neighborhood and with that mortgage. We looked at quite a few homes over a few weeks and finally we found one that seemed to appeal to him. We parted ways for the weekend and regrouped on Monday. I asked him which home he liked best out of three we saw the previous week. I started with helping him remember how the houses appeared from the street, how big the garages were, how many bathrooms and then he stopped me. "I know" he said "which one I really liked." Which one? I asked - he hesitated for a moment and then explained "I liked the one with the kittens the best - remember the kittens in the backyard? I hope they are still there. That was the house I liked the best." I laughed because I remembered the kittens too, they really pulled at our heartstrings knowing someone had left them behind. But the big surprise was how he was processing all the previews and what made him remember his favorite house. He remembered the home quite well too but his trigger was the kittens.
I try to remind myself to slow down and smell the roses from time to time but sometimes the greatest help is to stop and try to see the world through someone else's eyes for a change. It can make such a difference.
Team South Bay Realty
24214 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite B
Torrance, CA 90505
310-378-4440
