Finding Your “Most Important Things”
Even after relocating more than 12 times over the past 30 years, I can still see our first move in the distance and marvel at how far we’ve come. Since 2007, we have resided in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the culmination of all our experiences contributed to a successful move. While most of our relocations were corporate, this move was for us, so we needed to figure out where in the world we wanted to live.
We had been living in New Jersey at the time, and our daughter was soon to enter high school. If we were going to move to a new place, now had to be the time. In addition, our youngest child had been diagnosed with a learning disability, severe enough that we needed a school which would be able to teach him not only what he needed to learn, but how to teach himself. One school kept coming up on our list: The Fletcher School in Charlotte. The Fletcher School is widely recognized in the learning disability community, and after visiting the campus, we were lucky they had an opening.
My daughter’s school district was equally important in our relocation decision, and Charlotte had a number of great high schools. On top of this, I had just survived a life-changing car accident and being around family was important. Fortunately, we had several relatives in North Carolina. Essentially, we could live anywhere in the country as long as there was a major airport for my husband’s business travel, and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport fit the bill. Good schools, especially for our son, a major airport, and family steered our direction toward Charlotte.
Because a company wasn’t picking up the tab for our move and my husband traveled for business during the week, the kids and I got some used boxes, bubble wrap and brown paper from the moving company we contracted, and went to work. Most of our things were still in storage from when we lived in England, things we hadn’t seen for years. It was going to be once we were settled. Now it was time to find the right house. We had no idea of which area we wanted to live, but knew our son needed to be near his new school. We decided to live in a Charlotte apartment first, giving us proper time to explore.
Looking back, it was our Charlotte home search that helped convince me to become a Realtor®. I was that person that people in my industry talk about behind closed doors. My husband and I looked at over 30 homes. For one reason or another, none of the houses were quite right such as not convenient to our kids’ schools, too far from the airport, too much work required, etc. When we finally found a house we liked, we ended up in a bidding war. We had done that before, and were not interested in doing it again. In the end, we didn’t get the house which sold for a ridiculous price. We parted ways with Our Realtor®.
The truth is our first Realtor® was probably not a good match. We found a new Realtor® who was attentive and client-centered. He sat down with us, talked about why all the other homes weren’t right, and helped us figure out what was right for our family. Before we knew it, we found our dream home close to both of the kids’ schools and the airport, plus it had most of the attributes we wanted. We closed on the house shortly thereafter and moved in, very excited as it was the first time in years that we had all our things in one house and out of storage.
Determining where you want to live can be difficult, but it helps to figure out your “most important things.” The things that matters most in your life. We had the luxury of choosing where we wanted to live in the country. So, for us, our most important things were extended family and our son’s school. (Our daughter’s school was equally important, but fortunately, we had more flexibility with her.) Even if your move is local, when you start searching for a home and new location, start with your most important things. Maybe you have a certain type of neighborhood in mind. Perhaps you want to live close to work, schools or have access to amenities? Do you want a home with a huge yard or a townhome with minimal upkeep? When you’re able to make a choice driven by necessities and your heart’s desire, you’ll find the place where you need to be.
A global relocation resource, Hali Jaffe loves helping people and provides experienced advice to ease the burdens of a personal or corporate move. You can contact her at hali@REALocationwithHali.com.