What constitutes “home” is a very personal thing … quite different for everyone. Home might be a place your grandparents lavished you with love …  or where you grew up under your parents’ watchful eyes … or where you first lived as a grown-up. For everyone, the idea of “home” is quite different … and rarely consciously expressed.

You walk into an open house and you can appreciate all the amenities … the coffered ceilings, granite counter-tops, wood floors, huge master suite, double shower. And they attract the rational you. But it’s the sun streaming through the French doors, or the view of a park, or an inherent sense of sophistication that makes it feel “just right.”

Home is either evocative of a place you felt comfortable and loved. Or  representative of how you want to see yourself. You know it when you see it … but you can’t always say why. And it’s that intangible something that makes you say ‘wow.”  It makes you fall in love enough to buy.

A Realtor^® can and should dress up a home, present it in its best light, market its best features. But in most cases it’s more about the Realtor^® taking the time to understand the buyer and match him or her up with the right property than it is about the property itself.

Bottom line … it’s often psychology that makes the sale … not the “sell.”

It’s only been a few days since our new President took office. Some say it’s the man. I think it’s just this particular moment in history. But there’s a feeling of hope across the country. It’s almost palpable.

Think about it. Thousands gathered to watch the inauguration without incident. Imagine. No shots fired. No banners waving. No rants or protests. Just a sense of community, of oneness, of the sun coming out — even on such a cold day for so many.

What with the bailouts, the Madoff scandal, high foreclosure and bankruptcy rates, the increase in unemployment, instability in the stock and housing markets … there is still a feeling that things will resolve.

Maybe that’s why suddenly business has picked up. The phone’s been ringing. People are looking to buy homes once more. I have to believe it’s just the beginning. As a real estate and mortgage broker sitting in my office in Jupiter Florida there’s a feeling that good things are headed this way.

Let’s all hope.