Do You Remember Your Best Day in Real Estate?

I remember mine.  It actually happened years before I became a realtor.  My wife and I were house-hunting at the time (this was in 1996, when no one looked at homes on the internet) and every house we were dragged to was disappointing.  Then one day, my wife happened to be driving to visit her brother, and she saw a new sign on the lawn of a very nice home.  She mentioned it to me, but scoffed it off and said "It's probably too expensive anyway."

We called our realtor and got the information.  It was too expensive for us, but not by too much.  If we stretched, we could maybe swing it.  We did, and we did.  We bought the home for $260,000.  The home has gone up in value ever since.  A few years ago we could have sold it for 700something.  Now it's 'only' worth about $550,000.  We don't care.  We love the home and the neighborhood. 

I think back to our home buying experience.  The stress during those 30 days in escrow was tremendous.  Yet in the end, buying this home was a great decision.   You could say it was a great financial decision, but I prefer to think of it as a great family decision.  We're raising three boys here.  We're living our lives here.

There's been a lot of bad news in real estate the past few years.  After several good years, last year my personal production was abyssmal.  But guess what?  I'm still a cockeyed optimist.  You know why?  Because I believe in myself and I believe in the dream.

My best day in real estate?  The day I bought the home we're still living in.  What was yours?