Dear Real Estate (A Valentine’s Day Love Letter)

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Dear Real Estate,

Remember when we first got together? People didn’t think we’d last. Maybe they didn’t always say it, but they thought it.

“You could do so much better. Why would you be a real estate agent?”

“What’s your back-up plan?”

“You should get a real job…”

I’m sure they were well-intentioned. But I ignored them.

There were times, though, when even I wondered if you were worth the chase. You do tend to play hard to get. Not even sure you know you’re that way. But maybe you do. Maybe you just wanted to see how much I really cared.

I’ve come to love and appreciate that about you. If you were too easy, our relationship wouldn’t be so rewarding…and my love and respect wouldn’t be so deep.

Who knows, maybe I’d have scrammed when times got tough.

We jumped right into marriage

I’m glad we jumped right into marriage. If we’d just dated—if I’d kept my options open—we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. Commitment was a good thing.

For better or for worse…

We’ve certainly had our share of worse, right Real Estate? You remember 2005-2010, don’t you? Those were some tough years. You were sluggish. Money was tight. Things just didn’t seem right.

But we stuck it out. And we’re better and stronger because of those years. And I’m sure we’ll go through times like that again. We’ll be OK.

To me, you were never a one night stand

Not just anybody can see the depth of your beauty. Takes a special type. It’s weird how some people look at you like the “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type. You’re not… necessarily. But if that’s how someone treats you, you’re cool with it. The truth is, you’ll love anyone.

And you do. You have millions of lovers. Some new, some old. Some will come and go, some will be with you forever.

Used to bug me. Thought we had something special. But I’ve come to terms with it. I know many will be nothing but a quick fling. They won’t truly love you and will be out the door quickly. Nothing wrong with that. Things happen. Sometimes relationships don’t work.

I’m totally fine sharing you with others. I just hope they love and respect you as much as I do.

They say you’re moody

I get a little defensive when people say you’re in one of your moods. Sure, you have your ups and downs. Who doesn’t?

But it’s not you… it’s them. You’re never going to be perfect to everyone at every moment. Someone’s always gonna have something to say about you. But I dig that you ignore what everyone’s saying and how you just keep on being you.

Don’t get me wrong, I know we’ve had a few spats over the years. But now that I get that you’re not the boss of me, any more than I can tell you what to do or when, we almost never disagree.

But sometimes I wish you wouldn’t go around looking so sexy. Every time I hear people saying how hot Real Estate is right now, I can’t help but to question their motives in my own protective little way.

It’s not about the number of transactions

When I was younger, I never really got what people meant when they’d say that love grows deeper over time. But now I realize it does. It evolves.

I’m not sure about you, but for me, early on it was all about having as many transactions a month as possible. Heck, I was always hoping for multiple transactions in a day!

But the honeymoon is over. It’s not about the quantity for me anymore. It’s about the quality of the transactions. And don’t take that as me saying I’m “settling” for quality… I just yearn for quality more than quantity is all.

(But hey, don’t get me wrong… I’ll take as many quality transactions as I can get! Just sayin’…)

It’s not you, it’s…

There’s a lot of reasons people get angry at each other and break up. With you, I think it’s typically over money issues. Or, about not having enough transactions. They kinda go hand in hand.

You do stress people out.

Dragging you to counselling isn’t gonna work, though. It’s on them to make the relationship work. You couldn’t be more flexible, understanding, or accepting.

Maybe it’d be best if they just spent some quiet alone-time with you.

Real Estate, it’s not you when things are aggravating. It’s not you that causes the stress, the worry, the wasted time, and ups and downs. It’s people that cause these things…

It’s other agents. It’s buyers and sellers. It’s appraisers, attorneys, inspectors, and lenders.

It’s the economy.

It’s how they all interact and affect each other.

But deep down it’s not you, Real Estate.

Over the years, I’ve learned to help people understand you better. Calm them and help them see you for what you are. Help them love you as much as I do and deal with you as you are, not as they want you to be. And ideally, I help them all deal with each other with love and respect and an understanding that we all have a relationship with you, and we all need to get along.

To marry you is to marry your family

To marry you is to marry your whole family… and each and every one of their quirky ways.

Speaking of which, if another one of your relatives says, “You still doin’ Real Estate?” one more time… Don’t they know it’s more than that with us!?

But I’ve learned that it’s important to love them all, even if they are difficult to like at times. But I certainly have my favorites to sit next to at the holidays.

But at times, it seems we’re always around other people…

Alone time, just me and you

Whether it’s clients, inspectors, appraisers, attorneys, or other agents–the family of people it takes for us to get anything done–the busy-ness can get in the way of remembering what it is I love about you.

It’s funny though, isn’t it? When we’re alone, I just can’t wait to be around everyone, anyone…to be busy again. And then the noise, the motion and commotion of it all, gets in the way of seeing you for everything you are and could be.

So, sometimes it’s just plain good to sit down and be alone with you, and let you know I am constantly thinking about you and working on “us”. It’s good for you to know, but more importantly it’s good for me to remember.

And as we ride off into the sunset, I recognize your free spirit, and that’s a good thing.

Because ultimately, your love is meant to be shared with the world. We’re nothing without others.