There’s always something to howl about.

Under all is the land: Celebrating property rights wherever you live

I think about this every now and then. Under all is the land- real estate not as business, but as a sort of philosophy, a big idea. Greg wrote an incredible piece about this in his usual big thinker style. I can’t take this on from the place Greg’s at, but I can see this from the street level- from where I’m working.

My transactions with first time buyers and with HUD owned homes are teaching me a few things. You may not deal in that market. It’s very gritty. Not everyone wants to get their hands that dirty, or do that much work for a couple hundred dollars, and believe me when I tell you that there are times I understand that completely. But le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas, so against the best advice of some of the best brains in the business, I’m working with the people who do not take home ownership for granted, they didn’t grow up assuming they will ever own a home. And in spite of all this collective intelligence pointing me elsewhere, I love working with people who are excited about owning property. Do you know what I mean when I say that?

Think about how incredible that statement is: Owning property. Land. Something that can’t get moved, can’t be taken away. I know eminent domain exists. Forget that for just a moment and think about the history of man. Property ownership equals freedom. The right to own property? That’s extraordinary! So while I understand I could make more money with less work if I worked at real estate differently, I get a huge kick out of helping people who see what I see when they buy a home.

These are people who may have grown up under circumstances that would not have precluded home ownership. They may have grown up in parts of the country that have become too exclusive for the average person and they have been shut out of a life they literally helped build. Perhaps they are not children of privilege but children of other circumstances. They might be newly minted citizens, thrilled with the possibilities the future holds. Maybe they are just people who spent their youth making stoopid decisions and have finally pulled their head out of their ass and want to move forward with their lives. Whatever their reasons, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that these are people for whom owning a home means more than an investment and getting their kids into the right schools. Home ownership means freedom to these people. Think about that.

I would guess that most of us don’t understand the mental and emotional changes that take place under these circumstances. If your parents, your aunts and uncles and cousins and neighbors and hardly anyone you knew owned property, the thought of owning property? This is huge! This is everything. This is moving forward. This is life itself- it’s freedom.

We don’t have it all right, this property ownership freedom idea. Our laws still mean that we are constricted about usage, and we can have that property taken away to suit someone else, but we have what we have and it’s a damn good start for many people.

Saturday night I couldn’t sleep. I poked about online and found the TED lectures. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, but I this particular lecture from Robert Neuwirth about Squatter Cities stuck with me. It’s about 20 minutes long, so you might not want to take the time, although you should. I’ll pull a few points for you: These squatter cities in India or Africa or South America- where millions (billions?) of people live, have become not about living in poverty, but about thriving- flourishing even- freely in a society that is of your own making. Carving out a life, owning property?, starting a business. Can you see it? We have squatter communities in Dayton, I’m sure your big city has them as well. These are communities that will, to some extent, be shaping the future of our world. Consider what property ownership means to these people.

I showed homes last night. My buyer has always assumed he would buy a home, so this was a fairly typical buyer in that respect, but the neighborhood we were in? Something has changed in this neighborhood. On this Memorial Day weekend, from what once was a battle ground with abandoned playgrounds, there was block after block filled with the lovely sound of laughter as families and young children and neighbors celebrated Memorial Day in a very American way by opening up their homes, firing up their grills, pulling their resources- probably meager to most of us- and having a barbecue. Happy to be owning property, even if it is property no one else really wanted. But most of all this neighborhood was going about the very serious business of celebrating their freedom, and yours too, and grateful for all those sacrifices that made this possible.

Under all is the land; but understanding that keeps us free. Happy Memorial Day!