The world loves to show us a lesson, and then sit back and wait to see if we’re paying attention. With a little time, perspective, and analysis, sometimes those lessons can sink through even the thickest skulls (like mine).
Recently, I was lucky enough to go on a great road trip out west with some of my family. We made a lot of amazing stops, and now that I’ve had some time to process, I realize that our fantastic trip was ripe with lessons.
Life isn’t divided into ‘work time’ and ‘vacation time.’ It’s all part of one life! So as I reflected on our stop at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, I realized that this amazing natural wonder had taught me a lot about the Grand Rapids real estate market.
1. It was here long before us, and will be here long after.
Carlsbad Cavern is a 31 square mile subterranean limestone cave system, formed over 200 million years ago. The formations have developed and grown over that time, and created something truly beautiful.
Grand Rapids is a living, breathing, vibrant city full of great people. It started small and has grown wonderfully, built on a culture of hard work and honesty. People have been buying and selling houses here for a long, long time.
The city will outlive us, and continue to shine. As we work in the Grand Rapids real estate market, we remember that we are stewards. It is our job to help others, and to keep the market full of quality homes enjoyed by great people.
As we help people live well in nice houses, we give honor to those who have come before us, and lay the groundwork for the future.
2. Hot and Cold Fluctuations are Normal (and Healthy!)
I visited the Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the middle of June. It was pushing 100 degrees, and the desert scrub around us earned my respect for surviving the punishing heat.
However, inside the caverns, it was a cool 60-ish degrees (which my Michigan-raised body was much more comfortable with). This is because the cave formation keeps the temperature consistent throughout the day, despite the burning sun outside.
This combination of hot and cold allowed the hundreds of thousands of bats within the caverns to stay cool and safe during the day, but feed well at night. Without that combination, they would not survive.
This was a remarkable lesson for the Grand Rapids real estate market. Sometimes, the fluctuations can be incredibly frustrating. Buyers market, sellers market, inventory up, inventory down, prices rise, prices fall. It can make your head spin trying to keep track of it all.
However, the ups and downs are healthy! Hot markets are needed to keep prices strong and create action. Cooler markets help keep costs from getting out of control, and make sure everyone can get a nice place to live. Without both of them, Grand Rapids wouldn’t be the great city it is today.
3. Working together, we can all do more.
There is an amazing ecosystem in Carlsbad Caverns. It is not just a ‘dead cave…’ there is a fascinating array of plant and animal life. And all of it works together. Far from the light, and far from the sun, they make themselves a home.
The plants provide food for the insects, who help break down animal material into fertilizer. The animals provide airflow, and carry nutrients with them into the caves. In a place where you wouldn’t expect many things to survive, the life in the caves finds ways to thrive through natural cooperation.
The Grand Rapids real estate market is very similar. Buyers and sellers work together to provide a great place to call home at a fair price. Realtors and appraisers drive the market, mortgage lenders provided much needed capital, and inspectors make sure our homes are safe.
By understanding one another, and working to maximize each other’s effectiveness, we can achieve things we never could alone. And it takes all of us, working together, to keep the market strong.
4. Sometimes, watching and waiting is the best thing to do.
Every evening, while the bats are staying at Carlsbad Caverns, hundreds of thousands of them fly out after dusk to find food. Waiting for them to emerge is almost a surreal experience. To keep the bats feeling safe, all electronic devices must be turned off, no photographs are allowed, and talking is highly discouraged.
So you must live in the moment. Listen to the wind, watch the sun set, and keep a close eye out for the first bats to emerge. It is glorious.
Today, we are very connected to one another through the internet, TV, social media, and more. Things move very quickly in our world, and there is a strong desire to ‘make something happen.’
But in the Grand Rapids real estate market, patience is often a virtue. By understanding our neighborhoods, and watching them develop, we understand where we might want to raise a family. By seeing what houses are being bought and sold before listing our own, we can get a better idea of true value. And by looking at the larger picture, we can appreciate that this is a great place to live.
Visiting some of nature’s most amazing places can be illuminating. By appreciating those lessons, we bring more than pictures back home. We bring a greater understanding of our lives, our city, and our place within it. And that is worth the trip.