This week has felt a little different. Between Father's Day and my husband's birthday landing in the same stretch, I have found myself less focused on the market and more focused on the people who matter most. That kind of week has a way of putting things in perspective.
Father's Day always brings me back to my dad. Not in a sentimental, greeting card kind of way, but in the quiet, honest way you start to understand a person more clearly as you get older. My dad has never been the loudest voice in the room. He leads by showing up, by working consistently, and by being the kind of steady presence that everyone around him quietly depends on. The rock in the background. The one you do not fully appreciate until you realize how much of your own foundation was built on what he modeled.
The lessons I absorbed from watching him are ones I carry into my work every day, even when I am not thinking about it directly. Showing up reliably. Doing what you say you will do. Caring about the people you serve, not just the transaction in front of you. I did not learn that in a classroom. I learned it by watching someone live it.
A City That Comes Alive
On top of all of that, Los Angeles has had its own kind of energy this week. World Cup season has a way of doing something to this city that is hard to describe if you have not felt it. People are gathering. Watch parties are filling up parks and restaurants. Strangers are cheering together over something bigger than the usual routine. There is a warmth and a spontaneity to it that reminds me of what makes living here genuinely special.
It is easy to take for granted how alive this city can feel when something brings people together. The Westside has been buzzing with it. The marina, the parks, the neighborhood bars and patios, all of it has had a little more energy lately. That feeling of community, of people choosing to be present with each other, is something I genuinely love about Los Angeles. And it is one of the things that makes helping people find their home here feel like meaningful work.
What This Time of Year Reminds Me About Home
A home is the place where a birthday gets celebrated and remembered. Where a kid watches a parent show up day after day and absorbs something they will not be able to name for another twenty years. Where a family gathers to watch a World Cup match and ends up staying at the table for two more hours just talking. The walls are just the container. The memories are the point.
That is what I think about when someone asks me why buying a home in Los Angeles still makes sense, even when the market is complicated, even when rates are not where anyone wants them to be, and even when the process feels like a lot. Because a home is not just a financial decision. It is where your life actually happens.
If you are thinking about what that looks like for you, whether you are buying, selling, or simply wondering if now is the right time, I am always happy to have that conversation. Not just the numbers one. The real one.
Wishing all the dads out there a wonderful week. I hope you felt celebrated by the people who love you most.
Keri
