2021 was another whirlwind year! As real estate agents, Ted and I frequently found ourselves rushing to close deals in a super hot market. At the same time, we made some big, exciting steps as a family, and we’re thrilled that 2022 is upon us.
While we’re looking at the new year with the utmost optimism, we’ve always found it useful to reflect on the previous 12 months. And since many of you have followed our articles so closely in 2021, we thought we’d share some of our favorite moments here!
Looking Back on 2021
Professionally, 2021 was a great year. Ted and I moved to Compass Realty, which offers us an incredibly deep toolkit for providing greater customer service to our clients—something that has always been important to both of us.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as the market has seen some significant shifts. Anecdotally, we’ve seen more and more people moving to Pittsburgh from all over the country—something that’s happening more frequently as the work-from-home economy continues to increase on a massive scale.
Between the influx of new neighbors, limited inventory, and greater demand overall, we’ve found ourselves becoming even more aggressive on behalf of our clients, and Compass helps us be that much bolder.
On a more personal level, we switched to homeschooling our kids in 2021. The transition has been surprisingly smooth, and that’s likely because we spent so much time preparing for the switch! The kids have loved it so far, and we love the flexibility it affords us. Because we’re not following the rigid school calendar, the kids are often ahead of schedule, and we’ve been able to fit in even more extracurriculars—like weekly swim lessons, flute lessons, and even sewing lessons.
That same flexibility has also allowed us to travel more, which is something we were aiming for at the beginning of 2021! Our van, of course, has been instrumental in our travels. While we still use it to transport furniture for home stagings, we’ve perfected the art of traveling as a family on the road, and we even figured out how to limit a month’s worth of clothing to essentially the storage space of a shoebox!
Overall, seeing the country has greatly shifted our perspectives for the better. Upon returning home, we found we appreciate Pittsburgh’s park network even more, as it’s vitally important to protect the nature preserves we have. Our travels have also shifted our perspective within the home. After a solid month of living in roughly 300 cubic feet, we returned home and felt like our Swissvale home was enormous. I immediately felt the need to declutter, and we’ve reevaluated our need for luxuries like excessive clothing and home decorations.
While this has been a milestone year for us, many of the landmark moments have been a long time coming. Our partnerships with Lilian and Ben, for example, were instrumental in allowing us the flexibility to travel the country, and the van purchase and modification were years in the making. So, while we’ve seen some big changes, 2021 has really been a year of reaching a number of goals we’d set long ago!
Hopes and Predictions for 2022
We can’t believe it, but 2022 will be our sixth year in the real estate business! As we look ahead for the year, we expect Pittsburgh to continue its status as a strong market, and we’ll continue seeing the same level of competition we saw in 2021. With that in mind, we’re thrilled to have the support of Compass Realty behind us, as it will empower us to continue providing excellent customer service to our clients.
At the same time, we’re planning to dig deeper into our own investing projects. We’ve even set an ambitious goal of renovating three properties in Pittsburgh this year! While ambitious, we’re confident our own experience in remodeling and flips will benefit us greatly.
On a more personal note, Ted and I want to continue improving our homeschooling skills. It has gone smoothly so far, but 2022 will be an opportunity to iron out some of the wrinkles and refine our skills even further.
And with our van life strategies perfected, we’re looking forward to traveling with the kids even more! We currently have our sights set on Yellowstone National Park, and we can’t wait to explore everything it has to offer.
Of course, we’ll continue to update our followers through this blog as well as on Facebook and Instagram, so be sure to follow us on our social media channels!
Happy New Year!
Julie & Ted Block