There's No Place Like Home!

(The following is a reprint of my monthly message in the Champaign County Association of REALTORS Knothole)

Last weekend was Homecoming at the University of Illinois and on college campuses all over America.  Now if you would have asked me when I was in high school or even in my early years in college if I would consider the University of Illinois or Champaign Urbana “home” in 30 years   I probably would have laughed you out of the building. 

But Champaign County is my home and I’m proud of it.  A lot of my friends don’t understand how I can possibly stand living in such a “small town” after growing up in the Chicago suburbs.  And yet I can’t imagine a place more vibrant, more fun than this town. 

Christian Morganstern said, “Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.”  For me at least, if there is anywhere in the world where I’m understood its good old CU.  We are a community rich in diversity, comfortable in the pursuit of knowledge and a magnet for people from all over the world who come here to shape their lives.   

But that’s my vision of what home is.  Home is so much more than that for the rest of the world.  And as Realtors we shape those places for many in our community.  When you begin to think about the influence a home has on families it becomes difficult to comprehend just what an impact we have in people’s lives. 

We are “homes” greatest advocates.  We work hard to find the perfect fit for our clients.  Whether it’s the number of bedrooms, the bathrooms, the ideal kitchen, basements or just the feel you get the first time you walk through the doors, our members work diligently every day to discover the house that’s “just right.”  And from that first impression, lives are created, shaped and grown.  

These are the places we all feel comfortable going back to.  Millions will brave the elements in the next few weeks to recapture the magic and the spirit of their youth.  And while every home does not inspire “Norman Rockwell” moments, most will be filled with the comfort and safety that comes from the memories shared with families.   

That’s what we do for a living you know.  We find houses for our clients and these houses become the homes their children and grandchildren come back to year after year.  So this holiday season when you are gathered in your home or the home of another friend or family member, remember it is because of the work you do every day that these moments happen.

“Home is an invention on which no one has yet improved.”   Ann Douglas