I want a house with no imperfections.

I want the most money of anyone in the building for my condominium I am selling. 

I want a job where I get home early every day. 

I want a cottage on the best lake with the best west view for sunsets. 

I want all the things included.

I want YOU to be responsible if something goes wrong or isn’t quite right… In perpetuity. (Forever)

We are living in the age of “I want”s” in real estate. Demands on all sides are increasing. The zeitgeist is so very different than it has been before. 

When I bought a house in 1996 in Toronto in the east end… The neighbourhood was dicey at best. The house I bought had a huge crack in the foundation that needed fixing, it had hideous mustard yellow siding and the owner buried her cat in the front yard before she left. I was thrilled with it. I thought of all the ways I could change it and fix it and paint red peppers on the bad patches on the inside kitchen walls. 

Today’s buyer would be appalled at the lack of 100% perfection. 

The market is so different even than it was 5 years ago. I can imagine there are several reasons for this. 

Homes in the GTA are more expensive than they have ever been. People can’t afford to fix things with the whopping interest rates and prices being what they are… Also, people don’t know HOW to fix things… We stopped shop classes at 
schools in lieu of business classes. It strikes me as ironic that we created a school system for our next generation that caters to sitting in an office rather than working with our bodies. We were trying to do the right thing for our children but AI will now replace so many of the jobs that we streamlined them for. 

So we live among the buyers and sellers who say “I WANT” and even “I NEED”… It almost belies reason. Things often get litigious or start to amble towards litigation at the very least. The threat is always there now lurking at the corners of every deal.

Is there a fix? Is it reasonable to presume we need one?

Does this feeling of mine, mine, mine need to be quelled?

Is it possibly due to the presence online of every single transaction detail and the overwhelming presence of real estate porn?

We WANT the best house.

We WANT the most money.

We WANT everyone to know. 

We NEED everyone to know. 

I am guilty of it entirely as a real estate agent. I want everyone to know it was the best house we sold at the best price in the shortest time ever. I know part of that feeds my ego… And part of it assuages my clients. I am writing a new list.

Here is my new list of “I Want’s.”

I want all my clients to have a place to live that makes them happy.

I want all my buyers to have free time to live and work and play without fear of losing their home. 

I want people to still have to work at something to make it better for themselves.

I want all my sellers to move onto their next home in peace and with calm and some joy. 

I want imperfect to be the new perfection. 

You know how the old saying goes:

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

Well, here’s to you finding all the cracks then finding your own way of fixing them!!!!

May it bring you wonder.