By Terez Hartmann
Setting the Magic into Motion
“Stop!” she said, and then Susan, the sweet little girl (portrayed by Natalie Wood) in the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, jumped out of the car and ran with everything she had to the home that her heart had created. At that moment she knew, without a doubt, that magic was real!
As many times as I have seen the film, that particular scene has rocked my world time and time again, so it’s not surprising that I managed to send an intention out into the Universe that one day I too would pull up to a home and have THAT kind of reaction and feeling. Though I have truly had a special knowing about every home I have ever chosen to rent or own, there was something extra cool about the idea of having THAT kind of experience. In any case, I thought, it is a fun and frivolous thing to consider, but my world would not be shattered if it did not come to pass. After all, this was just glittery Hollywood magic…
Igniting the Home Fires
John and I have been blessed to experience some beautiful places and spaces, and have especially enjoyed our time living in Safety Harbor, FL. However, after much expansion of our life and career interests, we knew we had outgrown our current space and that, as soon as it was feasible for us, we would begin looking for our next home adventure. We made an attempt to upgrade in 2010 but, at that time, every door to new home ownership that we thought had opened seemed to close almost immediately after. Reluctantly, we recognized that this was not the time, but we knew that on some level the “home fires” would continue to burn and life would present the right place, timing, and circumstances when WE were truly ready.
Though the desire for a new home was still in my heart, I decided to shift gears and focus on other subjects that ignited my spirit. I knew we would make the move when the time was right and, in the meantime, I really allowed myself to fall deeper in love with our Safety Harbor home. For the first time ever, John and I painted our walls with bright, vibrant (non-resale-friendly—duh-duh-duh!) colors to truly make this space our own. We also took this opportunity to upgrade our finances and made a promise to ourselves to be debt free by the end of 2015. Though we were adamant about paying for everything with cash only, we never denied ourselves any experience or thing that called to us. When we look back on those years, they are filled with some of the most significant and magnificent opportunities and adventures of our life to date!
Just as planned, and with total ease and flow, we made our final payments in December of 2015 and were now (aside from our mortgage) completely debt free. Though it took a while for this to fully sink in (since this was a first for both of us since the age of 18!), when this realization did hit my psyche, I also recognized that we were now in a better position to purchase a new home than ever before! There was still (seemingly) a long journey ahead of us to truly be able to take the next step, but the door that led to our next home ownership adventure most definitely began to open. Plus, we had already started gathering data via our past experiences, keeping our eyes on listings, doing drive-bys of interesting places, and even watching several HGTV shows.
This belief and knowing that we were now financially ready to move forward, combined with a relaxed attitude of openness to timing and circumstances, really got our home fires burning and, with that, the wheels of fortune starting turning in ways that would later astonish and amaze us.
Bonuses, Upgrades, and Happy Surprises
After enjoying her time in Florida last year, my cousin, Kathleen, decided to stay with us again in late January and most of February of this year. During this visit, she really got to know our adorable Safety Harbor and found herself falling in love with our little slice of paradise (which was astounding to me, since at one time Kathleen the “Snowmeiser” would never have even considered living in Florida). When I suggested helping her look for a place of her own, she asked a question that just about knocked me into next week, “Would you consider renting YOUR place to me?” She then said that she absolutely loved our crazy colors and classic original details and that she would be glad to do whatever it would take to make purchasing our new home easy. OH MY GOD, WOW!
With Kathleen making us an offer we could not refuse, I went to work to get in touch with a realtor and mortgage broker. I contacted Anne Hensel, a fabulous realtor we had known for years, who also attended two of our retreats and understood the way we think and operate, (www.SouthBeaches.info), and she then referred us to a great mortgage broker (Ken Schiff of www.KennethSchiff.com) whose philosophy was about finding the path of least resistance and being open to knowing that there is always a way. We were most certainly already off to a great start.
After crunching the numbers, they determined that selling (rather than renting) our Safety Harbor home was the best way to go to help us easily qualify for the type and size home we truly needed. With that, Kathleen didn’t even blink an eye and agreed to purchase our pad as is, thereby eliminating any need for us to go through the long process of listing our house, while making her home search a total breeze and nonevent! Add to this that having her here would bring SO much joy to MY life and, for the first time in 30-something years, my entire family would actually be living in the same state! Talk about some out-of-this-world, phenomenal bonuses, upgrades, and happy surprises.
Contrast Ignites Clarity—and a Treasure Hunt!
So here we were, now with the perfect scenario that came into being because we had an open, relaxed attitude. So what did this silly chick do? I started to freak out and get uber-OCD about finding our house yesterday because, after all, now there are other people involved! So it was no surprise that I managed to introduce resistance to the process and found myself falling in love with homes that were either WAY over our budget or already had pending offers. I even tried to “make” myself like a place that just didn’t feel right, and—perish the thought—started really digging in to what I did NOT like, rather than the positive aspects. I was doing the very OPPOSITE of everything I know that works AND contradicting the very process that had allowed us to get this far in the first place. Yikes. It was definitely time for a quick attitude-vibe adjustment!
Fortunately, my freak-out experience only lasted a few days and, in truth, this was just a preliminary search since we had not received our official preapproval letter yet. When I came to my senses, I realized that absolutely nothing had gone wrong, the clock was actually NOT ticking in the way I thought, and the contrast I experienced simply helped me get clearer than ever about what John and I wanted in a home and how I wanted our house-finding journey to feel. So, with that I got my head out of my ___ and resolved to get back into a feel-good groove conducive to ALLOWING success!
First and foremost, I decided (and remembered) that it WAS possible to find the ideal home at the ideal price in the ideal neighborhood in the ideal timing, so I let myself relax and truly be okay with when or how this played out.
Next, I stopped watching any shows that promoted settling for less and started feeding the vision (AKA “feeding my baby”) of having what I wanted by focusing on success stories, including revisiting the amazing process of finding our current home and even rereading “From Impossible-Ever-Now to Happily-Ever-After and NOW!” my own true love story featured in February’s issue of Transformation.*
Finally, I fully embraced the idea of being on a treasure hunt, and that my mission, should I choose to accept it, was to “collect treasures” as I viewed listings and homes. Instead of vacillating between pros and cons, I would now focus on pros and PROS!
Mission accepted, and off I went that Saturday, armed with note pad and pen, charged camera phone, and a keen eye willing to list and capture any and every beautiful thing I could find. I was ready and primed for a fabulous time, and this was EXACTLY what came to pass!
Though we had not found “IT” yet, my “treasure chest” was full of images and ideas for home layouts and elements, colors, décor, themes, and gardens. “Wow!” I thought. If the rest of the home-finding experience can feel like THIS, I’m more than fine with this taking whatever time it takes. I then recognized that rather than being the enemy, contrast did indeed turn out (once again) to be my BFF when it came to igniting clarity, along with helping me discover the massive bounty of treasures that were literally everywhere along the road to home.
*To read the February article, “From Impossible-Ever-Now to Happily-Ever-After” visit: https://www.transformationmag.com/2016/01/from-impossible-ever-now-to-happily-ever-after/
The REAL Magic of the Heart
It was now Tuesday, two days after our fun and fabulous happy home tour. After getting to see two lovely properties that afternoon and continuing my treasure-hunt practice of noting and capturing what I liked about each place, I was on my way to see house No. 3. I had already witnessed such beautiful things and possibilities that day—one of which was a real contender—but boy, was I extra excited about getting to see THIS place! While stopped at a red light, before even reaching the neighborhood, I felt inspired to take out my notepad and write the words, “My heart is soaring!” Whether I was just having an incredible time with my treasure hunt or sensing something coming, there was no doubt that I was firmly on the path of joy!
When I pulled into “Fawn Lake,” the tears started flowing and the electricity I was feeling could literally have powered a small city! After passing through several wooded areas and driving up to the home we intended to see, I found myself right smack in the middle of my very own real-life, magical Miracle on 34th Street scene. I had not even seen the inside yet but all I wanted to do was jump out of my jeep and run screaming “Wowowowowowowowow!” into the house!
I managed to keep my cool (since the sellers were on the premises) as Anne and I completed our indoor exploration, but the “wows” just kept coming. Though we did go ahead with one final tour of yet another amazing home, I knew my heart had already made its choice.
When I called my husband and told him, “I think I found our home” and then scheduled a walkthrough for him, he knew, without a doubt, that home No. 3 was also IT for him.
End result: Only 72 hours after we set out on our home tour with our official preapproval letter in hand, and seeing only for homes in one day, we were under contract for the home of our dreams AND, thanks to Anne’s brilliant negotiation skills, would be paying even less than the already great asking price! Once again, life demonstrated to us the power, wisdom, and very REAL magic of the heart: Home really IS where the HEART is.
The Bottom Line: Letting Home Happen
As I revisit this and any story about a beautiful vision coming to fruition, the timing, style, and resourcefulness of the Universe absolutely never ceases to amaze me. If you had asked me a couple of years ago if my cousin would EVER live in Florida, if we could sell our home without ever putting it on the market, or if we would be under contract for our ideal home in only three days after getting our preapproval letter, I would have really had to stretch to believe these things could happen. But by letting myself to be open to possibility and then applying the same process of ALLOWING success that has resulted in the manifestation of EVERY wonderful thing that has ever been of value to me, a beautiful, magical path was indeed laid at my feet.
Time and time again, I have heard Abraham (www.Abraham-Hicks.com) say, “It is just as easy to create a castle as it is a button,” and though my soul always felt this to be true, I guess you can say that this experience has really, fully driven that point home.
Here’s to LETTING home—or ANYTHING else that matters to YOU—happen!
Terez “Firewoman” Hartmann,“Your catalyst for all things Fab-YOU-lous,” is the author of Allowing Your Success!, a proud contributing author of Transform Your Life! book one and two, a professional Keynote Speaker/Workshop Facilitator, Singer-Songwriter/Recording Artist, “Allowing Adventures!” & “Savor Vacation” Facilitator, and true Renaissance Woman, and Visionary. She keeps her fire lit by embracing and promoting a lifestyle of “Allowing,” and by using creative expression to elevate and ignite the human spirit, a passion that she shares with her husband, soul-mate and creative partner of over 15 years, John Victor Hartmann. Together they share “Allowing TRUE LOVE” workshops and experiences designed to help others attract, allow, and maintain extraordinary relationships, and create custom jingles and voice-overs in their Safety Harbor-based studio, THE Creativity Express. Visit: www.TerezFirewoman.com
