My I have a dream moment
A post by David Ames made me think about how much we all rely on the Internet as we move through the day. Recently my wife and I bought bikes and so we needed a bike rack to haul the bikes around with the car (Riding in city traffic is not her thing...nor mine). First of all we needed a trailer hitch for the car, and I found a video with step by step instructions on how to install it. But we passed and let the hitch guys do it. Then she studied the three different types of racks and read every customer review on the level of satisfaction. I studied our physical waning abilities and suggested the platform type verses the roof top or the rear hanging style. Regardless of what we decided, we felt we knew it all when we made the decision and purchased the rack of choice.
Many people have heard that Zillow.com has offered an automatic evaluation of every home and they seem as willing to accept that as just as valid as the opinion of an appraiser or realtor. And why not? Realtors don’t agree, so they also have a margin of error, just like Zillow.com has. And a homeowner can read on Trulia.com 5 mistakes a home seller makes or 9 things for home buyers to be aware of, ad infinitum. Trulia has a thing for numbers.
For years I have been collecting first editions of works by fiction writers whom I like. As Marjie and I look forward to retirement, it has occurred to me that my heirs will not be at all interested in the significant weight of 1400 hard bound books in the age of tablet readers, nor I'm I interested in moving them myself. Our interest is in a smaller home and a more simplified life.
Although I’ve reread a few of them over the years, I’m not likely to really need too many of them in the future. Boxing and moving them is going to take some effort I’d like to avoid. Luckily, a past client happens to have a business, The Book Monger, and he does market books online. In the past I often thought that I would find a process online to sell my books myself, but it requires a certain professionalism that I don’t possess. I surely would rate all of my books in perfect condition and would eventually get some back from unhappy purchasers. Besides, I’d rather be bike riding in the sun with Marjie than slumped over a computer marketing books. So, tomorrow, I meet with Richard to discuss disposal of my collection.
The lesson for sellers of real estate is simply this: Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should. The success stories on Zillow and other places are the anomaly, not the rule. We all have dreams, but a good grasp of reality will get us further in life than chancing our futures with the dreamed successes of others.
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