Love and Money... and Houses

Ginny and I just came back from my 30th HBS reunion and it was wonderful connecting with old friends and attending classes and presentations from some of Harvard's top professors and fellow classmates. One of my favorite presentations was given by a classmate, Rachel Greenwald, on "Love and Money". Rachel is a celebrity matchmaker and New York Times bestselling author. After listening to Rachel's talk, I realized how similar our businesses truly are. Finding your life partner and buying a home are both major life decisions and can be extremely daunting and sometimes stressful.

When Rachel interviews a new client, the first thing she asks is for the client to describe their ideal mate. Invariably they list a series of attributes and characteristics for what they are looking for. She described some of the kinds of things on a typical list... you can imagine. A few weeks later, Rachel asks her clients to describe the person in the world who makes them the happiest. The second set of attributes and characteristics are completely different. That's when Rachel pulls out the first list and points out the discrepancy. What you think you want and what will make you happy are not always the same thing.

When we meet a new buyer, we have a similar conversation and ask our clients to describe their ideal home. We also get a list of attributes and characteristics. Like Rachel, we try to help our clients make good life decisions, and what our clients think they want and what will make them happy are not always the same thing. As an example, we recently helped a family with four kids relocate to Washington DC from Southern California. They described their ideal home, and they told us they wanted a big home with tons of land and privacy. As we got to know the family better, we helped them realize that a smaller home, on less land and less privacy, but more ideally situated, closer to work, parks, schools, restaurants and trails, would make for a much happier home at this stage of life. We found them an off-market opportunity in a phenomenal close-in neighborhood and they are thrilled!

So, in short, making good decisions starts with the Spice Girls. Know what you want, what you really, really want!