Family Matters

Grandkids bring in the grandparents.

More now than at any other point in my career, I’m representing parents who are moving closer to the kids and grandkids.

20 minutes. Or so. That’s the threshold that most of my clients use (in part thanks to my advice); they want to be 20 minutes or less from kids/grandkids. Under 20 minutes is the perfect time that allows for a “hey, mom, can you get your sweet, perfect, adorable granddaughter from school; he’s sick!” or “dad! I need to work late. Can you get your favorite, sweet, loves-to-hang-out-with-you, and is the reason you’re here, grandson?”

20 minutes isn’t Everybody Loves Raymond close, either.

See, Perfect!

That said, I am also seeing an awful lot of multi-generational households, and this is an amazing development – grandkids benefit so much from being around grandparents, and the benefits go the other way as well.

Case in point is a couple from a few weeks ago. They visited the throttle area, recommended to me by a colleague in another market, and wanted to figure out if the Charlottesville area was right for them. Their kids and grandkids live in Richmond.

Charlottesville has a lot to offer – arts, culture, hiking, biking, restaurants, parks. But if family isn’t close by, it’s not enough.

After spending more time with our son, daughter-in-law and little grandson, we’re beginning to think that maybe the best thing for all of us would be to live closer to them.  They both work full-time and have to stretch every waking minute they have.  If we lived closer, we could help them in a more substantial way and be available on a reliable basis.

The greatest piece of advice you gave was to picture our day;  after our morning coffee, what would we do with the rest of our day?  We will hopefully find things to keep us busy wherever we end up, but it would be frustrating to know that we lived a bit too far away to regularly enjoy and be of help to our family.

And, when I asked permission to use their words, she insisted I include this part

It was a pleasure to spend some hours with you last week. You are friendly, knowledgeable and wonderful at what you do. We greatly appreciate all help you gave us.

You’re buying the house for every day, not just one.

You’re buying your Monday mornings

You’re buying Left Turns, too.

Left Turns, Nest Summit, A Big Mistake and a Question | Note from Jim