Zone Out to Home In

On the heels of my recent music-inspired blog entry, someone in our office emailed me the following line from the song "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots: Out of student loans and tree-house homes we all would take the latter. While there's no arguing that a home loan is preferable over a student loan, it made me think of another line from the same song: Used to dream of outer space, but now they’re laughing at our face saying, “Wake up, you need to make money.” In other words, no amount of dreaming or wishing things were different is going to change the realities of life. Wow, that just sounded really depressing - sorry! Allow me to try and turn that frown upside down (and THAT sounded REALLY cheesy - sorry).

A recent study conducted by a psychologist at University of North Carolina Greensboro found that daydreamers showed better functioning skills and ability to focus when required by the context of the situation. Further, he found that those who daydream and let their minds wander in their daily lives were more open to different experiences - this openness to experiences has been shown to be the strongest personality predictor of creative success.

Daniel Coleman, author of the book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, has also linked daydreaming to positive self-reflection and the ability to foster new ideas without judgment.

So what's my point? A daydreamer isn't someone who has his head in the clouds and lives in La La Land; a daydreamer is someone who lives in reality but has no problem searching for alternatives no matter how unrealistic they may SEEM.

Without ever talking to anyone or doing any research, tons of folks who have student loan debt believe they won't be able to purchase a home until they either pay off that debt in its entirety or win the lottery - and many believe the lottery is more likely to happen. That's a mindset of someone who doesn't daydream - these same folks claim they're just being realistic.

However, a daydreamer - despite her student loans - is going to reach out to a mortgage professional to see what options are available to get into that home sooner than hitting the lottery (or having her fist grandkid). And she's going to learn - happily - that there are ways to address the student loans that open the door to purchasing her first home.

This same "daydreaming" mindset can be helpful in seeking out options available to someone who has gone through a bankruptcy, foreclosure, or short sale previously. The waiting periods can be MUCH shorter than they believe.

Daydreaming doesn't cost you anything - NOT daydreaming could cost you a great deal!

Comments

An Age-Old Concept Reaping Future Rewards

W hy are social media like Facebook and Instagram so darn popular among real estate and mortgage folks? Hint: the top reason might be an endless supply of memes, cat videos, and the chance to be snarky, but the other reason runs a VERY CLOSE second. Give up? Answer: They’re free – and they really help even the playing field by enabling a one-person shop look and market like an organization who employs an army of wordsmiths and graphic artists. This new century is glorious, right? With that in mind, let me re-introduce you to a centuries-old concept that is equally glorious – and can help IMPROVE the playing field for you, regardless of the size of your team: karma. On the subject of “free”, I’m not suggesting that you work for free, but when you freely give of yourself and your knowledge, you’ll see a greater payoff, I promise! Recently, an agent came to us with a question: she has a client who is looking to sell his condo. It...

An Intergalactic Lack of Knowledge

This past week, word had reached my ears that the federal money available for homebuyers in a certain grant program would run out by April 1 st of this year – despite the date, I’m fairly certain it’s not intended as some cosmic April Fool’s Day joke. At any rate, a real estate agent that I’ve worked with for many years felt it would be a good idea to make a big deal of this and put together some Facebook and Instagram posts letting potential homebuyers know that time is running out. No argument here. Anyone who’s sort of been sitting on the fence about buying a home could use a little nudge, and this might be just what they need. After I had created the posts and put them out there, I started to think about what will happen once this federal grant does run out. What will potential homebuyers do who need help coming up with a down payment? And you know what the next thing was that popped into my head when I asked myself that question...

KNOWING is Half the . . . Problem

If you’ve learned one thing from reading these columns, it’s this: I don’t read a ton of books by or about the French philosopher Descartes or spend large amounts of money traveling the world to view the Masters’ paintings in far-flung museums – my entertainment and sources of knowledge run to the more . . . mundane, if you will. Well, I’m not about to disappoint. In the movie Men in Black , the two main characters J & K (played by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively) have recently met and K is trying to recruit J to join the clandestine government agency that monitors aliens on planet Earth. Agent K has just shown J a lot of things that are hard to believe/explain and urges J to keep them secret. At this point, J interrupts him, and this piece of dialogue ensues: J: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it. K: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you...

Search This Blog