If the parents aren’t home and you need information, do not go to the teenager—ask the younger children.
As a real estate agent who has visited dozens, even hundreds of homes a year, I’ve gained quite a few insights into the way people live. The most humorous insights are those regarding teenagers. As a parent of teenagers myself, dealing with their idiosyncrasies and habits, I’m comforted by what I have observed about this exceptional age-group. Here are some of my reflections.
Observation #1: Sleeping Beauties
Whenever I bring clients into a home with teenagers, it is guaranteed that at least one teenager will still be in bed--doesn’t matter what time of the day. If the sun is out, a teenager is sleeping, whether it’s a school day or summer vacation. You do not need to send your teenager to therapy if he/she sleeps until 11 am; 12 pm or even to 4:30 pm on a regular basis. It is something they all do. Perhaps studying for tests makes them tired—perhaps it’s the hormones. I’m starting to think they are really bats.
Observation #2: “No Information”
If the parents aren’t home and you need information, do not go to the teenager—ask the younger children. 10 and 11 year olds will be more forthcoming in giving a lot of information, and you will be surprised how much they know about the house. The teenager, if awake, will always have one answer for every question: “I don’t know.” “But you live in this house!" "Yes." Yet the only answer to any question regarding the place that you live in for years is ‘I don’t know!’” This leads me to a scientific theory that the brain of the human develops at a rapid pace until the teenage years, when it regresses or goes into hibernation; it then progresses again when one either goes to the army, gets a job, or gets married.
Observation #3: Décor
Girls’ rooms are quite conventional, designed with colorful walls, pictures of friends and icons of pop culture. The beds are always neat. Teenage boys rooms are similar in some ways (minus the “neat” part), but I have noticed that many teenage boys love to collect empty bottles of Absolut vodka, foreign beers and other brands of alcohol-- stacked on the shelves like trophies. I have never understood this. Why save empty bottles of alcohol? Why not save bags of milk and bottles of mineral water too? Is alcohol consumption something to be proud of? Maybe these trophies have something to do with the sleeping or the lack of knowledge.
Observation # 4: Boys like the dark
If your real estate agent presents a house with a basement that has been converted into a bedroom, do not write the property off. There is nothing teenage boys like better than a dark, stifling room. The darker, the better! If you can barely breathe upon entering, that is a real plus. Small window, no window at all--not to worry! He will probably cover any window with a dark sheet anyway. (Remember, bats!) Do this test: consider a house with many rooms and offer your teenager first pick. He will no doubt pick the room that is most similar to a cave.
So, let’s just laugh about it. Soon they will grow and marry and go shopping for an apartment that isn’t a cave, but an apartment that you probably can’t afford to buy for them.
Baruch Finkelstein is an owner/broker of Remax Center in Jerusalem. The office is in the shopping center of Ramot and Baruch has agents that service all of Jerusalem.
cell: 972-545-251-219
office: 972-2-586-9980
baruch.finkelstein@remax.co.il