We hear those four words a lot at this season, but what do they really mean? There are layers.
In popular culture, it’s the title of a 1995 movie starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downy, Jr. about a highly dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving. It got mixed reviews.
Going a bit deeper, it’s often about travel, to be with family and/or friends in a place where you grew up, but where you no longer live. And that can be a good thing. Or – depending on circumstances – not so much.
Deeper still, home is where the heart is. A cliché, I know. But most clichés, even the most threadbare, contain a kernel of truth. Where the heart is, is where we need to be.
And how does this relate to real estate? I’ve always got an angle …
A house is not a home.
These days, most realtors and most of our clients refer to a house as a home. Whether house, condo, farm, or trailer, it’s called a home. Buyers and sellers are called homeowners. Realtors talk about home sales, and helping buyers find their dream home.
I don’t. I talk about houses.
A house is a container for life. A house does not become a home until people live there and life unfolds. Living life adds value to a property – house, or condo – but the value is intangible, and specific to the people living there. This is why I always try to disconnect the ideas of house and home.
When buyers get too hung up on price, I try to counsel them to look at the intangible value that the house they are buying will accrue as they live there. It’s a financial investment to be sure, but it will also develop a great deal of value that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
Conversely, I counsel sellers to understand that buyers will not care about the intangible value that has built up over their years in the house. They don’t share your memories and attachments. They are looking at dollars and cents.
Home for the holidays
And this gets me back to the idea of home. You are at home where your heart is. So, I’m wishing all of you heartfelt joy wherever you find yourself. At your “home” address, or with family, or with friends. Here, there, or anywhere, may you find yourself "at home" this holiday season.