My Early Memories of the Home

My early memories of home are from when I was 12 years old living in Mumbai, India. One afternoon, after school, my father sent our family car to bring me to his office. My father owned his own business and was always at work so this was a rare treat for me to spend the afternoon with him, especially on a mystery adventure. While riding in the car I noticed a briefcase placed on the seat between us, but did not think much of it since my father always went to work carrying it. Soon, the car came to a stop at what I could see was a construction site. My father motioned me to follow him and at that point, I asked him where we were going. “We are going to buy an apartment which will be our home.”, he replied.  

We went up a hoist and stopped at a partially finished apartment. This, my father explained, was going to be our future home. He said it would have a bedroom for me, one for my parents, a dining and living room.. He continued to tell me more, but the truth is my father lost me after mentioning the living room but I was so excited to have a new bedroom I that I did not care about the rest of the apartment. As I sat there decorating my bedroom in my head my father and the on-site salesperson went into a lengthy discussion at the end of which my father opened his briefcase.  To my surprise it was full of money. He handed all of the money in the briefcase over to the man and led me back to the car. I was fascinated with the amount of money that had changed hands, it seemed like he had given away his life savings. When I questioned him on the wisdom of giving away all that money for an apartment he told me, “Son, we bought a home. It, will provide us with shelter and comfort in good times and bad, above all it is ours, we will own it, and it will be the best investment I have made in my entire life.” 

 Years later those words resonated with me when I heard our CEO explain the benefits of owning a home. She said, “A home provides you with shelter, comfort and security. It is the best investment one can make.  At the end of the day, it has real utility and when you sell it and get your money back, it was a good financial investment.  If, you make a profit it was an excellent investment.” As a broker, in my conversations with my customers, I realize, we often do express enough points to express the practical and emotional aspects of owning a home. When I am asked by a client looking to buy a home how much it will appreciate in say 5 years I smile and remember my late fathers’ words, “We will own it, and it will be the best investment I have made in my entire life.”