In September 2020 I hit ‘publish’ on my previous blog post, nowhere remotely close to thinking it would be last post so for so long. I closed my laptop, went about my life, and literally two years later, here I am at my computer writing to you again.
We’ve all changed since 2020, hopefully for the better. Maybe you’re even in a different physical location than you were in 2020. One thing is certain, I am a completely different person today than I was two years ago.
I’m better. I’m stronger. I’m healthier. I’m so much happier. Oh, and I have another dog now too. DNA results on Bruce Wayne are still pending.
Anyway, I’m sure you’re wondering where I’ve been and what the hell I’ve been up to for the past couple of years, right? I’m so glad you asked, I’d love to tell you.
The pandemic brought a lot changes to the real estate market. Even if I wanted to write a blog post, I wouldn’t’ve had the time. You’ve heard on the news and in your social circles that the housing market soared. Record low interest rates + Record high demand = Houses selling for upwards of $50,000 or higher above asking price. It was out of control.
Lots of people commented that I must be loving this market. While it was great in some regards, (highest sales volume ever personally) it was also the most stressed I have ever been in my life. Constantly having to deliver bad news because my buyer’s offer, often we were 1 of 15 or 1 of 20 offers, wasn’t chosen.
On the listing side, it was fantastic for my seller clients. However, it was tough having to deliver bad news to the agents whose buyer’s offers weren’t accepted. I would go to bed mentally drained just from the phone calls I would make telling agents I’d keep their buyers in mind if anything changes.
Seeing a shift in the real estate market, caused me to stop and reflect on my own personal business. Do I still want to be doing this 5-10 years from now? If no, what do I want to be doing? If yes, what can I do now to make sure I’m still relevant?
Before I got my real estate license, I worked in retail as a Design Studio Specialist, assisting people with décor and layout of their spaces. That transitioned into a job for a local builder helping buyers choose their interior selections for their new home: Cabinets, counters, hardwood, tile, plumbing, etc. When I transitioned into real estate full time, I couldn’t help but get my hands on the furniture, décor, and layout of my client’s houses. I wanted my listings to stand out. Early on, I would stuff plastic bins with my personal bedding, pillows, and accessories to use for staging my listings. Brandon would constantly be asking me: “Where is our coffee table?” and “Where are our dining room chairs?” and “Where did our lamp go?”
Eventually my staging furniture and my personal furniture was getting so mixed up, I decided to buy a trailer to store everything. Best decision ever.
I bought the trailer right before we started “Garage Proj”, the renovation of our detached garage. We changed our single car, sideways-facing red garage into a front-facing white garage with two black overhead doors. The footprint was essentially the same on the outside. Inside, we opened it up by replacing the center support columns with a large header, pouring a new concrete floor and changing the location of the stairs.
It’s probably no surprise to you that in the beginning of 2022 Brandon and I started another major house project. In the same way the pandemic caused a lot of people want to move to a different house, it made Brandon and I want to put an addition on ours. Ever since we bought our house, we’ve constantly discussed the idea of an addition. The details changed over time, but ultimately, we were just waiting for the right opportunity. And for lumber prices to go down. I’ll be going into greater details of how and why in a future post so stay tuned.
