Steve & Lesley

BY IVY CLAY

I'm not just a realtor. I'm a matchmaker. 

Some friends of mine called me wanting to know if they could buy a house.  As usual, we worked through a lender and got them qualified for the loan first, to see what they could afford before we started physically looking at houses. 

I learn how to become a better realtor from every buyer I assist.  Every experience and family is different, and wonderful lessons come from each. 

Les & Steve taught me to be quiet and observe.  I'm a talker, so it's incredibly difficult to keep my mouth shut sometimes.  But I want to be a great Realtor, so I've learned there's times NOT to give my opinion.

We toured through a lot of nice houses... but none of those were "the one".  Until the day they toured a house that I seriously thought was ugly.  I didn't think they'd like it.  

Here's what I saw in this house.  The interior walls and ceilings were plastered with a weird large texture that was clearly a DIY project that would attract a lot of dust.  There were a lot of orange and green colors throughout the home, 1970 style morrocon tiles, dark kitchen cabinets, and a chandelier in the dining room that looked like it came out of a 16th century hacienda.  There was a large mural painted on the back block wall, and the entire house had character just literally popping out of it's ears. (If a house had ears, of course.)

What happened next was amazing to me.  

Les & Steve walked in and their eyes lit up.  They got sortof giddy and their tones were joyous as they talked with each other about the house.  They immediately went into where they could put their furniture and what they could do to the place to make it their own.  They were both genuinely happy because they both felt like this was "the one".

That's when I realized that buying a house is a lot like falling in love. 

Sometimes it's the unique character of a house that people fall in love with. 

Steve & Les are so happy in their weird house, that was previously owned by artists.  Knowing them, they may have even made it weirder by now.  And to me, that's a happily ever after story if I've ever heard one!  #matchmaker