In 2026, I’m having a lot of fun hosting open houses.
There are far worse things to do in this world than sit in a cleaned and staged home for a couple of hours. Today, for example:
The day started out with Larissa and I going out to breakfast. Then I put signs in the back of the car, log 2500 steps putting a dozen signs out around the neighborhood, then settle into the home just before the rains return. I have my iPad, a travel mug of freshly brewed coffee, some chocolates (intended for visitors, but why can’t I enjoy a few myself too :)) and some David Bowie playing softly on my lightweight travel speaker.
It’s quieter today than usual, given the rain and holiday (mid-Winter break) week. But at some point a pair of 60-something women visit. They had been walking around the neighborhood, saw my sign out, and decided to pop in because they have some friends who are thinking about purchasing a home in the neighborhood. They are very nice, very polite, very friendly and have a good sense of humor. It’s nice to hear them joking with each other as they tour the house, exclaim “Oh we could use this at our house” and laugh about something or another. They have an adorable small dog they are carting around with them, and one of them shares with me that she (the woman not the dog) loves to garden, that her yard and garden are the most important things in the world to her and she won’t give them up until old age forces her to in the distant future. They are here and gone for 15 minutes, but in that time I’ve conversed with two nice people who I would have not met in a million years if I hadn’t held this open house in a neighborhood a mile or two away from my own home.
I pull out my iPad, work on some follow up items from yesterday, and now am blogging about my experience, all the while listening to the magic that is David Bowie and the soft rain hitting the windows while I’m dry and warm inside.
I love being a real estate agent. I love that I’m essentially working for Larissa and I, and that my “bosses” are our clients, and ultimately I am spared the Micromanagers From Hell that proliferate 21st Century Corporate America (and that keep the work from being real). And one of my favorite parts of being a real estate agent are holding these open houses.
I plan to host two or three per week every week, if not for Larissa Wilson or me then a peer who could use an extra pair of hands.
Leave a Reply