Houses & Girls pt. 2 - Listening to Friends

When we look back on all the missed opportunities that we have had in our life, we also tend to remember the ones that stand out as our "greatest hits," if you will. The ones that our friends shake their heads at when they wonder how you let that special someone slip through your fingers, or why you dated that one that just didn't meet the standards that others held for you, which in my case is most of the women I seem to meet. Slight sidebar here, I have this one friend, who will remain nameless, even though she probably doesn't read my blog, which already goes to show you how unintelligent she is, that every time I even meet a new girl she breaks her down and says that I can do better. Since, she and I have become friends there has yet to be a girl that she felt was up to the extremely high standards she has for me. Now, on with the rest of this post
Just like with the girls that your friends love and hate, you will face all of the same judgmental eyes when you buy a house. Your friends/family/other random loved ones will look upon your investments just like they will look condescendingly upon your newest fling.
There was this one girl that I "dated" for a short period of time that all my friends looked down upon. She was amazing. One of my favorite girls I have ever dated. She was funny, sarcastic, intelligent. She loved sports, strike that, she loved sports teams that I HATED, which as you can guess, sparked some really fun debate. We agreed on things politically. We agreed on certain things when it came to family. We had a great back and forth, and we were masters of compromise (I agreed to let her attempt to sway our future children to root for her college teams, which I hate, I got the professional teams, and I got to pick out the names, which would have been Fenway, J.D. and Elliot). She was a great girl, but some of my friends looked down on our relationship and assumed that it wouldn't last for whatever reason, and because my friends didn't think it was a good idea, I ended up not following through with it, and I regret it. She was an amazing girl that I blew it with because some of my friends didn't warm up to her as quickly as I did. I should have listened to the one that said I should keep her around.
Conversely, there have been girls that I couldn't stand to be around. The sound of there voices were like a railroad spike driving into my temple, but my friends would see something there that they thought was special and look down on me when I would end it, even though I haven't looked back on many of them since I left them.
Remember when buying houses it is always best to listen to me, your head, and your heart, in that order. Other people just tend to gum up the works with their opinions. Trust your instincts, trust your thoughts, trust your Realtor, i.e., me. Your friends are great people, which is why they are your friends, but just like you can't pick who they end up with, they can't pick where you live.

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Women and Houses, Pt. 1-Regret

Ahhh, the moments in life that we will remember forever. Everyone of us has that person, the one that stands out in your mind as someone you wish that you had spoken too more, or maybe less, depending on the situation. I'm willing to bet that right now you are wondering what this has to do with buying or selling houses. Read on, and you will find out, my friends.

For me, the girl that I still think of on occasion is a girl named Rachel (Last name omitted). I met her when I was 21 and had decided to go back to school at George Mason. That semester I had decided that I wanted to display my acting talents and signed up for an acting class, which was probably my favorite class all semester. In fact, I think it might have been the only one I would have passed if I had shown up for the final.

On one of the first days of class, after the teacher had introduced us to the art of meditation before getting into character, (which is still one of my favorite ways to fall asleep when I'm feeling a bit restless at night) I noticed this wonderfully, amazingly, beautiful girl sitting across the room. Since I am actually a shy guy, which I understand is a hard thing to wrap your minds around, it took me a few weeks to get the courage to actually speak to her, and to be completely honest with all of my readers, it was she that asked me to walk her to her car, which is where I got to know the real her and not the fictionalized version I had created in my mind.

Rachel was, if memory serves correctly, 5'4" or so, with blond hair, an amazing bright smile and blue eyes. She was a dancer for GMU and had the toned body of one. She was from Massachusetts, near Lowell, I think, but I may be confused because I remember asking if she knew where Lowell was because one of my heroes, Jack Kerouac was from there, and she knew, a) who he was, and b) where it was. She was a Red Sox fan, which for all of you who have ever met me know, the Red Sox are slightly more important that breathing to me. (In fact, right now, I have my phone encased in a Red Sox skin, my key chain has a Sox lanyard hanging from it, and my belt buckle is, you guessed it, the Red Sox symbol.) All in all, she was the ideal woman based on that one single conversation and even more amazing than the version I had so cleverly made up.

"Wow, Matt,that is amazing. You met the perfect girl, you went out, fell in love got married, named your child Fenway, and lived happily ever after...right?"

No, unfortunately, I seem to have an issue when it comes to follow through with close to perfection. I never ended that semester of college, and I never saw Rachel again. I called her once, but I never heard back from her. Now, the actual version of Rachel has a fictionalized new life after school. I'm sure that she ended up back in Massachusetts, probably married to Dustin Pedroia or something, dancing with some amazing dance company.

"Matt, we all usually bow to your intellect, but we don't understand what this has to do with buying or selling a house. This sounds like you are just pining after a girl that you missed out on being with years ago."

Ahhh, good question. Many times when I take out clients, they see a house that is absolutely perfect for them, and for some reason, they don't jump at the chance to be with it. Then weeks, months, years later they regret the fact that they didn't purchase that perfect home when they could have, or when the market was amazing, or when it just didn't make 100% perfect sense. Why didn't I ask Rachel out that day when I walked her to the car? Why didn't I buy that condo in Springfield when it was less than $100,000? Why wasn't I able to pull the trigger so many times?

It's all about regret. Next time you look at a house, ask yourself if you would be ok with not purchasing it...next year. Call me with any questions comments and concerns. You know where I'm at...my desk, waiting for you to say let's buy a house.

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And I'm Back...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize for my absence over the past two months. It's those darn holidays and they always get me wrapped up in family outings and get togethers. And I don't know why but for some reason, I get really busy right around this time showing houses and what not. But I'm back so have no fear, the real estate universe has continued to spin.
Let me see, it's been a while since I have been here, do I have everything I need in order to dispense my knowledge upon the world? My ipod rocking Wreckless Eric...check, my frosty cold can of root beer...check, my pack of blackjack gum...check...my earphones up just loud enough that I cannot hear another living thing within a mile of me...check. So as I take a deep breath and realize how much better gum is than a pack of cigarettes, I shall begin. The only problem is I have no idea what to write about today.
I could tell you about how you need to not be read the newspapers or watching the news who are reporting doom and gloom with housing prices in our area. Prices are insane right now, yes, I just said insane. If you dont' mind a little bit of work, and I use that term loosely, I can get you a single family home for under $2ooK. If you are a buyer, I'm telling you, now is the time.
I could tell you about foreclosures. But that kind of goes hand in hand with the previous paragraph, so re read that.
Basically, anything that I have thought about talking about has led me to one conclusion. Now is a great time to buy. What is it your looking for? Single Family? Townhouse? Condo? It's all out there, buy one, or two. Right now is the most amazing time to purchase a home in the last ten years. Call me, I can help.

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Old Town Manassas' Semi-Annual Gallery Walk

Ladies and Gentlemen and all of you people out there that believe they know a thing or two about art, this Friday from 6-9 in Old Town Manassas is the semi-annual Gallery Walk.
So, stop on by 9366 Main St. to have a little meet and greet with our exclusive artist, the excellent water-colorist, Katherine Nace. While you're here you can enjoy some great food, and a beer or a glass of wine, while we listen to some classical music in an attempt to bring a little more class to this little historic city known as Manassas. We hope to see you all here.

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