March 18, 2019

This paid piece is sponsored by The Tony Ratchford Group.

By Tony Ratchford

The word “perfect” is absolute — no room for error and no room for excuses.

“I want the perfect house, and I want a perfect world.” An important question to ask is “If I don’t get all of what I want, does it interfere with my happiness?”

I suspect there never is anything “perfect.” Generally speaking, a goal is a moving target and seldom is it 100 percent obtainable. So what percentage of perfect is acceptable to you? Is it 90 percent, 80 percent or 70 percent? When looking for a home, what features do you absolutely need, and what is flexible? When selling a home, is 95 percent of asking price acceptable; if not, what is?

Looking at a bigger picture, what in life makes you happy? Do you live in the gap between perfect and what you have? Do you have a tendency to focus on the 10 percent that you don’t get rather than the 90 percent you have?

One has to wonder if this focus on “what we don’t have” is internalized, or is it the crazy world of media we live in? It seems like people complain about everything, and the rhetoric is getting higher. When we continue to hear negative words and comments, we eventually begin to think it may be real even when it is or isn’t. It sours our mood.

The truth is we have talked for hundreds of years about things that don’t work or could be better. Improving our lives with comfort and finding opportunities for more happiness are only natural. Forgetting about all that is good to focus on only the 10 percent that could use improvement is foolish.

The facts are clear: Economic numbers today compared to numbers over many decades, and perhaps a century, indicate we are living in the best America we have seen in a very long time. The financial world of real estate is driven by economics and even more by consumer confidence. When we focus on things that don’t work or what needs improvement, we forget or ignore what’s most important to us.

One has to wonder if we have we lost our gratitude. When we appreciate all that we have and are involved with our community, that’s when we feel the human element of connection. That is when we learn the importance of real things in our lives and, studies show, find a higher level of happiness.

On that note, the house you live in should be about your lifestyle and comfort; it is also about your neighbors and neighborhood. Matching home features with your lifestyle, living in the right location and keeping affordability in mind are vital in maximizing your joy of daily living.

The average person moves seven times as an adult, purchasing five times. The reason we move is because our desires and needs change as we walk through the stages of our lives. The Ratchford Group has a proven process to help make that path smoother and help maximize your opportunities and find greater joy with your home.

We invite you to call or text 605-359-4100.