A House Becomes Home Again!

On our way to school every morning, we passed a quiet, white cottage.  It is a rundown home that backs up to a busy parking lot.  And, on its front lawn, the “For Sale” sign swung gently in the wind for months.

One day, I was lucky enough to get called to show this home.  It had intrigued me for months and, finally, I would see it.  While my buyers were ultimately not interested, I would remember this home as warm, inviting and a place where someone had obviously made cozy memories.  The kitchen, old and antiquated, had finely preserved, cheerful wallpaper.  The living room, with its polished bannister leading to attic bedrooms, boasted of a huge stone hearth as its showpiece.  Bedrooms, small and freshly painted, gave a warm, welcoming feel.  The one bathroom was simple and functional with a full tub and gleaming shower.   Custom light switch covers were ornate and an antique chandelier hung in a small dining room.

Home.  This estate sale, now empty and alone, had a spark of a vibrant past, an undeniable warmth where someone had lived and loved.  Someone’s life had happened here and the legacy left behind was felt in every nook, every detail, every antiquated decor choice.  The buyer who could see that, feel that warmth, appreciate that coziness…would be the buyer who would give this home new life.

A few months later, the sign came down.  Finally, there were lights inside.  On the front door, a heart-shaped wreath now hung in its place.  The glow of a wall mount flat screen above the fireplace spilled out into the dusk.  Someone had felt what I felt, had decided to start new.  After a few weeks, bright flowers and new bushes landscaped the little front yard.  The front door got a new paint job, bold and eye-catching.   Life had returned to the little cottage in the country and someone with new vision, new hope, new dreams had chosen this previously overlooked home with its once vibrant past to the place where life would happen.

Home stories like this are the reason I love real estate.  Every time a sale happens, a house gets new life and becomes a home again.  There can be no greater honor than to work together with buyers and sellers to make home happen!