Whenever you mention the words real estate, most of us will immediately think of buying or selling a home.   For me, those are the two words that bring a glowing smile to my face.  Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you how passionate I am when I talk about selling or buying real estate.

My husband once asked me why are we spending so much of our time visiting builders and looking at new models even though we are not in the market for a home.

Without even thinking, I said that it was fun and exciting.  It really makes me happy to see the new designs, the decoration and the decor.  I’m like a dog lover, who just loves dogs.  They know when a dog is happy and they can tell the ones who are neglected – they just have that deep connection.  I have that deep level of connection with the homes that I research before visiting them for the first time.

I guess he didn’t like my answer very much, because he became defensive and tried to convince me that I should never get overly excited about houses.

While he brought up some very interesting points, I tend to look at the picture from an emotional perspective.

He said that he doesn’t get overly excited about houses, because one doesn’t technically own their homes.

The big banks own your home, if you have a mortgage.

And even if you don’t have a mortgage, the city owns the land that your house is built on.  If you don’t believe me, try not paying your property taxes and see what happens, he says.

Then he doubled down and said that is why your home value is never included in calculating your net worth, so there must be a reason for that.

I remained silent and allowed him to dig a deeper hole for himself.

This real estate game is a racket, he said.  Buyers and sellers are always playing this mind game.  Buyers are always thinking that they should get the house they really want for less and the sellers are always thinking that their homes are worth way-more than what its really worth.

When he finally ran out of steam and realized that he was the only one doing all the talking, he wanted to hear what I had to say.

In a very calm voice, I said “a home is an investment in your happiness of your family”.  Don’t you want to be happy in your life?

Silence!

I guess he got the point.

Lesson number one.  Ladies, try not to do your home search if your husband is hungry.