Inspired Real Estate For Today

Lola, what a wonderful dinner conversation. Is this why my kids have a fit when I talk about downsizing?

Lola-this is so true...the human spirit is amazing...and to me home is where the heart is... While I have experienced hurricanes and yes it's devasting...I was lucky...I kept the roof over my head. 

Hi Missy, If it is, you've done your job of raising them mighty well! :)  When purchasing a home simply becomes a numbers game, we miss out on so much that's vitally important too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wow! That's quite a story and not at all what I expected when I started reading your post. I love that you were present enough to engage and learn from this couple!

Midori, The human spirit is extraordinary.  That is one of the things that struck me about this couple...this and the fact that she trusted her own spirit when it came to making a decision about the next place to call home.  Thanks for your comment.

What a wonderful story and reminder of what makes a house really a home. When I was younger we traveled around and I thought by doing the geographical thing it would "heal" some stuff...Funny thing...self always followed....so in the end I ended up back home....where my heart has always been....and after the healing inside it made it all the more home no matter what "house" I was in :)

Hi Joeann, I'm delighted that the story surprised you.  Thanks for stopping by to read and comment.

I never even thought about not being able to get your bearing when landmarks are removed. And they certainly chose the right reason for their current move. You did a wonderful job in telling their story. I was drawn right in =)

Lola- I have a post in draft about what a home really is too! I will have to credit your post here too. This is a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. Katerina

Sally, what you shared in your comment is powerful...simply powerful.  Thank you for adding such depth of insight to this post.  "Self always followe...so in the end I ended up back home...where my heart has always been..."

What a beautiful post-  I always find myself a little surprised when listening to people's motives for purchasing a house.  All too often, they are purchasing a financial investment, rather than a future, emotional investment for their families.  While it's astute to consider the numbers game, it seems so many people have forgotten that it's supposed to be a HOME.

Lisa, Thanks for the compliment.  I truly appreciate your stopping by to read. As I listened to them, that was one part of the story that really struck a cord.  We find our bearings by the stuff that surrounds us.  When all that is gone, you realise that your true bearings are really elsewhere.  They are on the inside...

Having grown up in California, we had earthquakes, but none that match the devastation of a hurricane, let alone Hurricane Katrina. I was fortunate enough to have a one on one talk with a survivor of this disaster, who lost everything, and moved back to Eugene, OR. Having heard the tale of all he and his family went through, I realize that these folks experienced something that could have devastated their spirit.

"Homes are created by the wealth inside the inhabitants who live in them"

For the couple that you had dinner with, the wealth inside is the wisdom and foresight to know what is right for them, what is safe for them. Wonderful post, Lola.

Katerina, I look forward to reading your post.  Thanks for stopping by to read and engage in the discussion here.

Sandi, Yes...absolutely.  I think this type of focus is a step backwards.  While it is true that a home should be a wise financial investment, there's more to a home than just the material.  In fact the true wealth within a home can never be measured by the dollars. In some ways, this type of mathematics can make mansions impoverished dwellings and more humble dwellings palaces.  Thanks so much for sharing your insights.

Hi Alecia, This was the first time I had actually spoken to people who lived through the disaster of the Hurricane.  It was extraordinary listening to the story from a first hand survivor.  Thanks for sharing your insights in this discussion.

Nice post especially this time of the year.

Patricia Aulson/Hampton NH Real Estate 

Appreciate your stopping by to read and comment Patricia.

Lola! Congratulations on the feature!

You post was touching. The woman you describe has been through a lot. Thanks for sharing. All the best.

Lola, when memories made in a home are washed away, it is hard for people to choose their next resting spot...to be able to start a new chapter in life when all they really want is to stay in the one that made them comfortable.  I'm so glad this couple has found peace and happiness in your area - they truly deserve it.

Lola, My family endured a devastating flood after a hurricane, inland in Pennsylvania with a river overflowing its banks in 1972.  We had water to the ceiling of the first floor; we lost so much.  I was 14 and it was devastating.  I saw my parents cry for the first time maybe ever.  Your post was eloquently written and brought me back to those days.  They recovered, rebuilt, and the large family home is still in the family, my mother still living there, my father now gone.  My sister and her husband bought the property, moving from Phoenix so my mother can end her days there if at all possible.  Home is not about the numbers as you and your dinner guests so clearly understood.  It is about the heart.

Thank you Alecia.  Truly appreciate your thoughtfulness in stopping by again.

Yes, they have been through a lot Bob & Carolin.  They are survivors who weathered the storm and emerged battered, but certainly not bowed down.

Lisa, Your comment is so true!  That's why I was deeply moved by the lady's comment about finding a place "where her heart felt safe."

Susan, Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience.  There are certain things which are hard to express through the eloquence of words.  Thanks for adding dimension and perspective to this dialogue.

Lola -- you have great insight and I agree that a home is many things to an individual -- That is why I meet with clients a minimum of 1 hour before they even go look for a home. Often these meetings are 1-3 hours -- and during that time, we discover what "home" means to the person(s) looking.  It so important to help the client make the right decision on where to live and the house that will ultimate become HOME!

Lola, So, so true. A home is so much more than a place to add to your investment portfolio. I remember when we told my 19 year old son who was 8 at the time that we were thinking about moving he said nothing, but tears just started to roll down his eyes.

Great story. Homes are created by the memories you have inside them.

Lola- Another wonderful Post.....I would have loved to have been at that dinner just to have heard the story first hand.  In fact I could visualize it very well here, and you have written such a wonderful meaning of "Home"....and it isn't about the price, it's about the lives inside that home that means something. Thank you.....I hope many, many buyers read this.

Your post gracefully illustrates the distinct difference between a house and a home. A house is simply all of the materials that go into building a structure. But a home is the sum of all of the experiences of those within. Thanks for sharing a beautiful story of the human spirit triumping over a natural disaster.

"Where her heart felt safe".  Isn't that truly what home is?   I have family in Biloxi.  We'll be going down there again shortly.  Lola, all of the people I have met there who stayed post-Katrina feel the same way.  Wherever their heart is, is home.  It could be a local shelter, the next state in a motel room, relocating permanently to another state..their cars.  What a reminder for all of us, thank you so much. 

Hi Lola - what a wonderful dinner conversation you must have had, and I bet that couple enjoyed being with you as well.  How that must have touched you ways you might not have expected, and I love what she said about home ....  "she had looked for a place in which her heart felt safe"

No truer words could ever be spoken when descibing what home really is - where we feel safe, where our hearts are safe.  And where that couple found new friends, I'd say, too.  ;-)

Thanks so much for sharing this experience you had.
Happy Holidays to you,
Ann

Hi Lola:

You are so right, there is no place like home.  Dorothy said it in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home".  Then, Perry Como and The Carpenters sang about it, "There's no place like home for the holidays." Repeat chorus if so inclined.  The sense of place we get from living, and loving in the place we call home is as the Master Card folk say, "Priceless."

Whether you are enjoying a Currier and Ives kind of fantasy Christmas or making it up as you go along.  Your home is a place and Christmas is a time to reconnect, to share with friends, family, loved ones, even perfect strangers, what they mean to you.  Most importantly, celebrate the birth of the little baby Jesus.  Don't forget to celebrate that great birth! All the rest of the stuff is just Christmas decoration...

 

Amy Miller, Assoc. Broker, e-Pro Certified Internet Expert, REALTOR, ABR
"Your Urban Neighborhood Real Estate Specialist"
RE/MAX SunQuest - Downtown Grand Rapids Office
MailTo:amymiller@grar.com
616-262-7707

Very timely post. Thanks for opassing this along.

Eloquently stated, Lola!  Homes aren't created merely by what's inside the house.  An important part of a home is what's inside US - values, relationships, families.

Very true. Whenever I am showing homes to buyers, I always know when they've found the home they will buy. It's never about the sticks and bricks...it's always about the emotion, that feeling of home within their hearts. Thanks for another wonderful post.

We never stop to appreciate what we have until it is gone. Enjoy your family and friends all year long not just during the holiday season

Lola - Who better to write this kind of post during this season than you?  There is so much more to a home than the superficial parameters we often time associate with it.  The human & spiritual elements of a home are the most important elements it can have.

Thre is no place like HOME. It's where one feels most safe and comfortable.

Lola, Nice story, nice people. I hope you can be home for the holidays. Merry Christmas.

Bill Roberts

Hi Joan, I would agree that it is far more intelligent to truly understand what an individual or family is looking for in a home than in simply jumping into the car and starting to look at houses.  We go through a similar process with our buyers. In the long run, this seems to be more efficient.

Mana...Kids sometimes understand this better than adults do.  Appreciate your comment.

Wayne, Thanks for your comment.  Memories made within a home also stay with us for a lifetime.

Hi Kathy, Thanks for stopping by.  It was an arresting conversation.  To hear about the first hand experience of someone who lived through that crisis was quite sobering.  The heart and soul of a home is something that we all hold deep inside of us.  That intangible is what we instinctively long for.

Very well stated John.  Appreciate your insights.

Hi Kris, When you hear a story first hand, it resonates in a different way than seeing it on TV.  Thanks for adding your perspective to this discussion. 

Hi Ann, It was a very interesting discussion.  It was much more harrowing than the media was able to portray on the television.  I was struck by the courage and perseverance that is possible within the human spirit.  All things are truly possible.  Even though they had lost just about everything, they were back on their feet and moving on because they had not lost the most important things...the treasures in their hearts.

Amy, Thanks for the comment.  You state the truth about the Spirit of Christmas and what it means to Celebrate being at home beautifully.  Have a Wonder-Filled Holiday.

Hi Al, Thank You for reading.

Brian, Yes...forgetting this truth has stripped away some of the intangible Value wihin the home purchasing process for so many home buyers. 

You're Welcome Kelly, thanks for stopping to read and comment.

AMEN Terry.  Thank you. 

Thank you Jason.  I appreciate your comment.  This truth sometimes gets lost in the discussions about interest rates and neighborhoods and home features. 

Absolutely Robert.  Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas to you too Bill, Thanks for stopping here.

Wow what a conversation. That sounds like a very special couple and a special night.  Wow we do need to remember all the blessings we have, even when it seems difficult, others have been through so much more and look at how they came through it all.

Thanks for sharing that very touching story.  Important this time of year, for sure! 

Great post as always.. Lola I love reading your post.... They are so insightful.... It's great sharing your experiences and it helps us to learn from them...

Thanks for sharing....

 

Lola, You are so right!  Thanks for sharing the story also. 

Home is where your heart is. My pastor's wife said it best... our homes are only as large or as small to whom we compare them to. So in someone else's eyes we could be living in a mansion. We need to appreciate what has been given us and cherish family and friends EVERY DAY of the year

Phyllis Pafumi

Lola, thank you for sharing. This is truly a special heartwarming story.

Brian Wilson, Zolve.com 

Having been through the major hurricanes in FL in my youth I can say it does make me not live there in the shadow of constant threat.  Those folks ended up "getting it" in a way that most buyers would do well to heed today.  It's about the life you are going to create in that home and what that life means to you...

Wow, what a womderful insight - "a place where the heart felt safe". Thanks for sharing an inspirational story, mg

Excellent post about the warmth and dearth of a home. Lola.  The cold winter days and early darkness somehow make our homes feel warmer and cozier this time of year. Thanks for the reminder that we make it so.

homes are where lives are built!  Lola,you struck a chord with so many here. My family is all passed on.  The cherished memories of my childhood home are not of brick or mortar or location, but the living of the life within and all its joys and laughter, sorrow and tears....

Ginger 

great post! going through a hurricane is indeed a traumatic experience- as is going through a tornado, earthquake or any other disaster -

What a beautiful story and reminder of what's important in life.  If we lose track of the fact that money is supposed to help us live our lives, rather than living our lives for money, it's all too easy to have no true home. 

 

Karen, Thanks for stopping by to read.  It was an extraordinary evening. When you talk with people who go through something like that, it's a perspective which you cannot get otherwise. 

Donna, Thank you. I appreciate the fact you stopped by to read and shared a comment.

Thanks for reading Sondra.

Brian, appreciate your visit.  Thanks.

Marlene, Thank You.

 

Phyllis, thanks for sharing your insights.  I would add that one is truly rich if your home is a place of love, warmth and acceptance.

Josette, Thanks for your comment. 

Hi Bonnie, Thanks for stopping by.  Home is about us...where our hearts are. :)

 

 

Ginger, your comment is so beautifully stated. Thanks for adding a touching perspective to this discussion.  Mansions without love are pretty lonesome places.  It's a blessing to have good memories.

Tricia...well stated.  Thanks for your comment.

Bill & Barbara Jo, Thanks for stopping by to read and comment.

Real estate can be and is very emotional and this is a fabulous post about what a true home is.  Home is a warm refuge, an anchor on earth, a place to regroup, heal and belong, shelter for the spirit and my home is what holds me steady.  Thank you for reminding me that home is where the heart is.

Wonderful post.  I always try and encourage my buyers to think about how they will live in the house.  It's not just a place to stay.

I really enjoyed your story and I really enjoy the conversations of our seasoned citizens.  The knowledge they impart upon us shows great simplicity.  I pray there will be a time when we can enjoy the simple life.  

I love these heartwarming thougths about the hearth and heart of a home!