Last Friday morning I heard one of my dogs barking and I looked outside to see a medium-size brown dog in front of my house. I opened the door and he came running up to greet me, very excited. I grabbed a lead, and slipped it around his neck. He didn’t have tags or a collar, but he looked well cared for. I knew someone had to be missing this adorable dog.

I walked him around the neighborhood to see if anyone recognized him. We have a large dog population here, and their humans walk them regularly. No one had seen him before. I took him to the local vet to see if he had a chip, but he did not. We kept him out front on a long chain during the day just in case someone was driving around looking for him. We placed flyers around the neighborhood, put him on Craig’s List, filed a “found dog” report with the Sonoma County Animal Control, and put an ad in the newspaper with no results. I quickly named him Brownie, so we had something to call him. I know – no imagination.

We have two old dogs, and thought that adding this spunky 2 year old to our household might not be a good thing, so I took him to a friend’s home for a sleep over with her dog. She had been looking for a companion for her dog, and it sounded perfect. As soon as I drove away from her house I knew I had made a big mistake. I cried for hours and didn’t sleep much that night. I called the next day and asked if Brownie could come home. My husband picked up our dog friend. We found out that he’s an Australian Cattle Dog, and my husband named him Joey. He hops like a Kangaroo when we approach him, and Joey is Australian slang for little Kangaroo. Note, my husband picked him up and named him.

Are you thinking what does any of this have to do with Real Estate? Have you ever looked at a home and knew in your heart that it was the right one for you, but were afraid to make a commitment? Did you drive away, have the feeling that you were making a big mistake, and just keep driving only to find out that it went into escrow the next day and realize that you should have followed your heart and made an offer on it the day before?

In this current Real Estate market there are amazing “deals” to be found, especially in the upper-tier market. Don’t be afraid to make the commitment to purchase the home that tugs at your heartstrings. If you don’t, you might find that you’ve just passed by an opportunity to purchase a home that you’ll say “we should have” for years.

Posted By: Beth Urban-Purtell