House and Spouse: Make Sure There is a Spark!

Buying a house is not unlike finding a spouse.  Both are major financial commitments that require regular maintenance, whether it be a trip to Hawaii sans kids or an A/C clean and check.  Both can be a source of major headaches and wonderful memories.  Both can be a doorway to making new friends.  Both are decisions that, when you get right down to it, are made with a combination of tangible and intangible factors in mind. 

The good-on-paper man comes to mind:  Good job—check. Tolerable family—check. Possibility of making (pick your adjective) smart/cute/athletic/outgoing kids—check. Witty personality—check. Butterflies—not so much. 

Over my years in real estate I have come to realize that the good-on-paper house is as real as the good-on-paper man.  I can show a client 20 houses with the exact tangibles they asked for:  price, # of bedrooms, lakefront view, etc.  But rarely do they buy a house based only on those factors.  There is always something else and it varies from client to client. 

Sometimes it is just a feeling.  Sometimes it is an unexpected jetted tub, or a neighbor with the same breed of dog that just happened to be walking it as we drove up.  It is the hardest thing to plan for as a REALTOR, but also the most fascinating.

The internet is full of tangible real estate information.  I want with this blog to be different.  I want to go beyond the basic building blocks that form the houses and provide a peek into the lives of the people and neighborhoods of Northwest Tampa, uncovering the hidden treasures that transform a house into a place you truly want to call home.

If readers are thinking about buying in this area, maybe this information will provide them with the spark they need to make that decision.  We all know this area is good-on-paper but let’s show them what makes us unique.

I encourage readers to contact me and let me know what makes their street, block or neighborhood special.  Besides your house, why do you love where you live?