We’ve probably all seen the slogans before:

• “We Turn Dreams into Reality”
• “Home Ownership – The American Dream”
• “Helping You Find the Home of Your Dreams”
• “Where Dreams Come Home”
• and on, and on, and on

The idea is that somewhere out there in the vast marketplace of homes is the one you’ve been dreaming about for years.  You know the one I’m talking about, don’t you?  After all, it’s your dream.

It’s Good To Dream

It’s good to dream about what would be you dream house.  It helps to focus the mind and it helps to narrow down the choices for the time you’re ready to go out there and actually try to find a house that might come close.  It’s also important to stay in reality.  Dreams, after all, sometimes border on fantasy and when the time comes to put your feet on the street to look for a home you may find that there really isn’t such a thing as a dream home.

What dreaming about the perfect house will do is create a good image of the things that you really can’t live without, things you would like but could let go and things that are really not that important.

Dreams help with picking out a nice neighborhood. Are there trees?  Parks?  Does it need to be kid-friendly? Or adult oriented?

Dreams help with what the house looks like.  Is it a Colonial? Split Level? Rambler? Do you like brick?  Is siding OK?

Dreams help focus on the functionality of the house, too.  How many bedrooms do you absolutely need? Baths? Basement? Yard?

All this stuff is important and if you could put everything together in one package and put a price on it you could comfortably afford on a month-to-month basis it would be the dream house.

When Dreams Meet The Real World

In real life, as we call it, the dream house rarely exists.  Don’t get me wrong.  I know people who have bought the house they love in a neighborhood they adore.  They live there until they pass it on to their children.  People grow into and with their dream homes.  They make improvements: add a deck, put on an addition, finish the basement. They get involved with their neighborhood and the schools.  It’s a wonderful thing.

More often than not, your home will be a bit less than the dream.  There are a few things that, if you had your way, would be different.  This usually happens when a home buyer comes face-to-face with the cost of the monthly mortgage payment.  Yes, it is a sad fact of life that, unless you happen to be wealthy (and there are a few folks like that in the world), you need to obtain a mortgage to pay for the house.

This is the part where you start to shed the parts of the dream that are really not that important.  Did you really, really need a fireplace? Or deck? Or walking distance to METRO?  Would it be OK if you needed to paint the place or if the house needed new carpet or even a new kitchen?  Can you see potential?

Taking The First Step

The good news is that as long as you keep the dream alive within your heart and your mind you will eventually see and live in your dream home.  I believe that people become disinheartened and disillusioned and lose track of their dream.  That’s not good.

The important thing is to take the first step without the demands that everything has to be perfect on the first go ’round.  Many a person bought a condo or town house or fixer-upper as their first home.  There is no rule or law that says you have to live in one home forever or even for a long time (although in a previous post I suggest a minimum of five years…or wait).

You can get from where you are to where you want to be if you remember three things:

1. Be aware the really important things.
2. Acknowledge the realities of the marketplace.
3. Act accordingly.

Next time — how do you pay for this, anyway?