When I am out showing homes to buyers, you can start to get a feel of what's going on in each home that you visit. The feeling you get more than anything else these days is one word...DIVORCE!
As a seasoned real estate agent, I can pick this out from a mile away and so can most people. The first thing you notice is that the home only has about half of the furniture in it. It looks sparse like there should be more furniture in each room. In the closet, there is just one set of clothes and the kids' rooms sometimes look like they have not been lived in for a while. Every time I see this, it breaks my heart and I see it more and more every day. I can honestly tell you that for every 10 homes I show, eight of them are divorce situation. It seems as though the problem has really escalated in the last four years and I can understand why.
When things go south with the economy, jobs are affected. That's a ripple effect and people have a hard time paying their bills, staying in their homes, and yes, keeping their marriages. Financial strain is easily the number one killer of all marriages. People see foreclosures stats on TV all the time about the housing market, but I think we all need to keep in mind that there was a family that lived in that foreclosed home. Now, more and more of those families are divorced families.
I have a tremendous amount of empathy for people in this situation since I am the son of divorced parents at the early age of five. I had a tough time dealing with this growing up and spent my fair share of time in counseling as an adult. I can tell you from my own personal experience that the children of divorced parents suffer the most. I have been married now for over 11 years and while it is never easy, I try to do my best to keep our marriage strong. I still live with the pain from losing my childhood.
When I first got into the business, I heard a few Realtors talking about going after the divorce market because you got two sales out of it. They obviously never felt the pain. I hope I never have to sell another home of parents getting divorced, but I know it's not reality. I just wanted all of you to know how bad the problem is and it's getting worse.
Dan Polimino is an Owner/Broker with Keller Williams Realty DTC. He can be reached at dan@coloradodreamhouse.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost
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