Winning the Numbers Game

About a year ago, my 11-year-old son was riding around the neighborhood when he saw the one thing he HAD to have at a garage sale. (Visualize the golden light beam coming down from heaven illuminating this extraordinary object.)

He came screaming home–in a tearing hurry–with extreme urgency (you get the picture) to retrieve the $15 he had left from his allowance. (There was probably some birthday money in there too. I’m not sure he has ever earned $15.) He ran back to the garage sale.

With visions of the amazing tricks he would do bouncing around in his head, Mason came slowly (very slowly) riding down the street on his brand new (used) mini bicycle.

No matter how fast a person pedaled, the speed remained a constant one mile per hour on this thing. The crank shaft was so small that there was no way to increase the speed. Mason was enthralled–for at least an hour.

And then the mini bike began to lose value. It sat in the garage gathering dust. Every once in a great while it would get pulled out for a brief moment of glory, only to quickly be shoved back into oblivion.

And then one day, a friend who had visions of tricks dancing in his head begged Mason to sell him the bike. Mason agreed and sold the bike for $5. Then he took that money and used it to buy a game for his PSP. (Much cooler than the mini bike.)

That leads to the question, “Did Mason lose $10 or did he get the game he really wanted?” The truth is that no matter what the numbers say, Mason ended up with the thing that made him happy, that he still plays with, that he really wanted.

As a real estate agent, I get asked the question all the time, “How is the market?” The answer is that it’s great. People are selling. People are buying. The market is strong. A lot of times what people are really asking is, “Can I sell my house for what I paid for it?” Or they are asking, “Can I get what someone told me it was worth two years ago?”

But those are not the most productive questions. The question you need to ask yourself instead is, “Can I get what I really want?” In the end, it’s not a question about dollars and cents. It’s a matter of desires, dreams and goals.

Sure, the numbers play a part and you want to make the numbers work. You don’t want to do something that loses you money. You want to be deliberate. You want to get the best possible price for your property. As a real estate agent, I can help you do that. But you can’t decide what that number will be. That is up to the “market.”

Sure, you might sell your house today for less than you would have a couple years back. But you can also buy a home in the area you’ve dreamed of for years for a lot less. And the interest rates are better too. So don’t let a number stand between you and the thing that will really make you happy.