What in a Home Matters to Dad?

My father doesn’t give house hunting husbands much attention.  As a matter of fact, he politely asks the house hunting husband to sit in the back seat of the car. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that my dad is an activist championing for an end to the tradition of where people sit in the car.  It’s actually a strategy. Sometimes this switcheroo in seat positions can cause discomfort, especially if the husband has long legs.  Protests can come from both spouses, but Dad politely explains that the wife is the decision maker, and the husband is just along for the ride.

Dad is usually right. Not right like 3 out 4 times but more like 999 out of 999 and a half times.  See, Dad cuts right to the chase.  Oftentimes the Realtor spends hours and hours on the phone with the Buyer. I too have done this before. Many husbands give detailed lists of what they want and don’t want. Amount of bedrooms, view, living square feet, pool, and strict price parameters. We go through searches and the husband responds with comprehensive thorough feedback. Days and weeks and months go by.  They fly to town and the appointment finally comes. I ultimately meet the couple.  The husband sits in the front. Wife in the back.

Everyone is comfortable until the first showing. The wife tells me that this is all wrong. By all wrong, I mean everything from the style to the price parameters I so obeyed and stayed within. The spouse then proceeds to look at the other seven listings and says all the parameters are wide of the mark.  The wife is now mad at me. The husband meekly agrees with the wife and throws the poor Realtor under the bus. Now, I’m scrambling to cancel all the appointments and set up new ones on the fly with a completely different set of instructions. All the work done in the past and the long exhaustive emails are a thing of the past. Homeowners are yelling at their Realtor as they spent all last night cleaning the house. If only they listened to my Dad.

Lesson learned, is to get both parties on the phone and take what the husband says with a grain of salt. Now for all you husbands out there who think you are special and that you have a real say so….  You don’t!

Husbands/Dads get 2 things.

1. A grill. A nice outdoor area to spend some time and grill a burger or steak. If you live in a condo, then a good microwave to heat up the takeout pizza.

2. A mancave. You want to take the burger from #1 and then watch the golf game in the mancave. The television should be substantial, cool, and away from everyone. The mancave can be a study or even the outdoor area by the grill. That is all you really want. Isn’t it?

So, to my Dad, Cary Lichtenstein , Happy Father’s Day to you.  Enjoy the U.S. Open. I’m going to watch the White Sox with a Chicago thin crust pizza from Pusateris Pizza

And, Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there. May your player or team win the game.  And if you are house hunting, no need to go until the final showing. You still need to show interest. Happily agree to the purchase. As they say, happy wife, happy life!

Happy Father’s Day from all of us at Echo Fine Properties

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Jeff Lichtenstein, originally from Chicago, got his start in the home furnishings textile business where he traveled over 35 weeks a year selling fabrics. After the family business was sold, Jeff moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. Today he is the owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury residential brokerage voted best brokerage of the year. Jeff manages a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Echo has 80 agents, an average of one million dollars per transaction and over 500 million in annual sales. Between traveling for work and annual family trips to national parks with his wife and 2 now adult children, Jeff has visited 49 states. He is also one of the few Chicago White Sox fans you’ll ever meet.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Author of business & leadership book How Making a Sandwich Can Change Your World –  The Amazing Success of the PB&J Strategy – Available to Buy Now!

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com including a complementary  valuation of your home.