Home is More Than a House

I am chuckling as I start this blog. I consider my home to be my sanctuary. That word evokes two images for me — Quasimodo crying “Sanctuary!” while seeking refuge in the cathedral and Igor (pronounced “Eye-Gor”) from Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. (If you know, you know.) One story is about seeking refuge; the other is Mel Brooks’ and Gene Wilders’ hilarious take on Frankenstein that simply makes me laugh. That is just my sense of humor. No, I don’t think of home as a place of punishment or horror. Quite the opposite. I think of home as the one place where we can lay down our armor, take a deep cleansing breath and allow ourselves to feel simply at peace. A sanctuary.

This is why my intial buyer-client consultation includes one simple question: “What does home mean to you?” I need to listen to their definition. Before I can help someone find a house, I first need to understand what they need in their sanctuary. Thus, I listen carefully to the priorities they share, because they reveal far more than the number of bedrooms or square footage. They tell me how my clients want to live. That allows me to focus on properties that truly reflect what they’ve shared with me.

Perhaps that’s why I ask every buyer the same question. Listening is where every successful home search begins.