I’m sure you’ve heard at least one person in your life talking about how wild the Real Estate market is right now. In the past few months, we’ve seen a huge rise in home values, a shortage of homes on the market, and an influx of buyers due to many variables such as out of state investors, people moving to states with lower cost of living to telework, and families needing more space for working from home/homeschooling.
If you’re friends with a realtor, related to one, or a part of the Real Estate industry in any way, you know firsthand what a wild ride this has been the past few months. People are overpaying for properties, getting into daily bidding wars, offering their organs and other crazy things in order to get the home of their dreams. You name it, it’s probably been done in the name of sealing the deal on the perfect home.
As a real estate broker and a mom of two, I can’t help but see some funny parallels between the Real Estate market and parenting right now. Here are just a few that come to mind.
- Nobody really knows what we are doing. – We are often taking a shot in the dark with ideas to getting offers accepted. Will this work? Will the seller like it? Who knows?! Let’s just give it our best shot. Honestly, the same is with parenthood. Will our children respond well to our parenting techniques? Will they like the food we prepare for them tonight? Will they have a complete meltdown when we give them exactly what they ask for? Who knows?! It’s all a huge gamble.
- People are spending a lot of unnecessary money right now. – The sad truth right now is that most buyers are having to cover an appraisal gap on homes they really want, which means that even if the house appraises for less than what they offer, they will cover the difference. I’m sure the same is for parenting right now – do we really need a trampoline AND a bounce house AND a blow-up swimming pool AND a slip n slide at the house just to keep our kids entertained? Well, when you’ve spent more time than usual at home this past year, then the answer is yes, and thus, a lot of unnecessary money is being spent right now.
- Everyone is arguing. – Agents can’t get other agents to pick up their phones. Amazing offers go without responses. Buyers are making killer offers that aren’t getting accepted and they want to know why. Same with parenting – our kids are always arguing about something. Sometimes it’s not even about anything important, they just fight constantly. All. The. Time. So. Much. Arguing.
- Lastly – and probably the worst of it all – shortages. – There’s a shortage of lumber, building materials, appliances, etc. Everything takes ages to get delivered. These things are all major setbacks when you’re building a home or trying to buy a new house. BUT NOW THEY’RE COMING FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF. A SHORTAGE OF CHIK-FIL-A SAUCE! How will we survive the week if we can’t bribe our kids with a trip to Chik-fil-a to spend unnecessary money to give them some food that will entertain them and keep them from arguing for 10 minutes?!
If they begin to have a shortage on wine, we are ALL in trouble – parents and realtors alike.
