Hi Everyone...

I was thinking about some of the strange things I have noticed about people and their houses over the years. I started to chuckle thinking about that one moment. The moment when you walk into a house and you want to say something but remember that it is better to keep your comments to yourself. You know what moment...we have all been there.

I understand that everyone’s taste and style is different. People decorate their house to express themselves. Some people create a lifestyle by adding a pool, an entertaining area or maybe a home theater. Some people enjoy painting...could be that a bright colored kitchen reminds them of a trip to the Caribbean. Maybe stenciling is something that helps people relax. Everyone is different and we all make changes based on personal preferences.

I wanted to share one of my strange encounters with you. The one house I am thinking of was a townhouse I ended up purchasing in NH. I was looking at this property in a hot market. There were a lot of bidding wars going on for desirable properties. I guess owners were thinking that it does not matter how the house looks, someone will buy it.

Before I share this moment with you would you care to guess what caused me to keep my mouth shut when I walked into this property.

Was it the brightly painted walls? No, it was recently painted in neutral colors.

Was the property damaged or really dated? No, it was in really good shape.

How about the exterior...was the property next to the highway? No, it was in a great location.

Here we go...it was lava lamps. There were lava lamps everywhere. All different colors, shapes and sizes. What really was strange is that they were all plugged in. Everyplace there could be a lava lamp there was one. They were sitting on the floor, on tables, the kitchen counters, the bedrooms...everywhere. They were all doing that lava lamp dance where balls of goo would heat up, rise to the surface only to cool down and settle back to the bottom.

As part of the offer in the section that lists what is expected to stay with the house I had my agent add “One Lava Lamp” and a smiley face.

As I said above it was a hot market and the place was in great shape. I do remember that besides my offer there were other offers for the owner to consider. I wonder if the owner decided to accept my offer because he had a sense of humor over my request for a lava lamp.

Lesson learned: Have a sense of humor and look beyond the owners “stuff” during the showing.

Pete