Some see sand in their shoes, sand under their nails, sand stuck on their towel. Others see a sandcastle in their near future.
Every time I hear someone say they are "waiting" for the real estate market to bounce back so they can sell their home and go traveling in an RV..." I feel so terribly sorry for them. It's the Hugo excuse all over again.
Waiting on a dream or making Hugo excuses?
We had the Hugo joke in the Virgin Islands back in the 80's, the 90's and even after the millennium. Hurricane Hugo nearly devastated St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. It became the excuse du jour for anything and everything. It became the joke du jour when years later, people were still hiding behind the hurricane Hugo excuse. It was a convenient explanation for not doing something. "Well, since hurricane Hugo hit..." was heard all over the island for weeks, months, years, decades!
After what's happened in real estate the past few years, is it realistic to pin all one's hope and dreams on such a frivolous idea? You might as well wait to win the lottery too while you're waiting on that real estate to "bounce" back. From what I can tell, real estate was artificially inflated so that everyone could go in debt up to their eyeballs in the hopes of making quick easy cash overnight. A few did. Many did not and will not. It was a hoax.
I am not sure at what point folks thought the sticks and bricks that provide them shelter was supposed to also magically provide a mega nest egg overnight, fulfilling their every dream. But why give up on the dream? Forget Hugo and find another way!
Or is this "bad real estate market" just another excuse not to follow their dreams. It's the house... it's the market... It's Hugo...
It's so much safer to stick with what you know than to plunge into the unknown or walk out on a limb to take the adventure. Why risk building the sandcastle of your dreams when the waves are only going to wash it away?
Because it's FUN. Creative playing at any age begets inventive thinking. Imaginative speculation very often leads to ingenious ideas.
You could spend a few weekends of blood, sweat and tears making your house a showcase, the prettiest one on the block so it does indeed sell for the most it can get. Or maybe you really don't want to travel, you just want to putter around the manse, the one that is now the most appealing in the neighborhood. Perhaps you already have your dream and just haven't realized that.
Perchance your actions will start a trend and the neighbors will upgrade their appearance with the end result the entire neighborhood looks so much better that everyone's values hold their own or even creep up a little.
Are you cursing the sand in your shoes or are you happily building the sandcastle of your dreams?
Some old-timers here in Charleston,SC are still using the Hugo excuse as to why they don't want to plant any trees in their yards. "They'll get blown down, just like when Hugo hit."
ReplyDeleteSheesh...
And by now, those trees would be way over their heads, providing oxygen and shade. What a shame. We always need MORE trees. That is why some cities are hot and miserable, not enough trees.
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