I recently had an interesting discussion with a neighbor who is a real estate agent. Our economy in Northeast Ohio is not exactly booming and I asked her how this was affecting the local real estate market.
My neighbor told me a story that concerns me because I think that it is probably all too common.
My realtor friend was showing homes to a young couple who was expecting their second child and wanted to purchase a home in a price range that would allow the mother to stay home with the children. As they looked through the homes within this price range, the couple found things wrong with every home. Nearing the end of an exhausting day, they found a home which seemed to meet their expecatations , until they entered the master bathroom. To their dismay, there was only a single sink and the bathroom was apparently too small to add a second sink. They ended the day of househunting discouraged, but the realtor promised to check for new homes that might have hit the MLS and expand the area in include some other nearby desirable communities.
When they met the next morning, the couple announced that their price range had increased almost 50%. When the realtor asked about this sudden windfall, the couple announced that they realized that they just couldn’t “live without” a bathroom with double sinks, so they decided that the wife would return to work.
I don’t want to judge this families decision, but I will just ask a question ”How much is a double sink worth?” You can sacrifice many “can’t live without’s” in this question: a new car every few years, certain clothing manufacturers.
This family may have sacrificed treasures that will “last” …memories and time for nurturing during the formative years of their precious children’s lives.
