03/27/2026
Grief is born from circumstances often overlooked.
Read Longmont Grief Collective member Sarah Jo Gates - Navigate Realty's recent reflections on one of these overlooked spaces and consider Following her page. 🏡💙
----- Doorways of Grief -----
"Mom grew up here, and now we're just selling it to an entirely different family."
"We raised our babies in this home.”
"So many holidays hosted here, and now we won't have the room to do that anymore."
"I thought I'd die in this house, but my kids are forcing me to leave."
"My wife wanted spaced to garden. But she's gone and I can't stand to look out at all the empty boxes and beds."
"We won't ever be able to afford a house."
"I can't safely go up and down the stairs nowadays."
"Moving into this house feels like letting go of my old life."
"My parents don't understand that it's nothing like when they were my age."
"I never imagined living alone. What happened?"
"Our kids deserve their own bedrooms, but this is all we can afford right now."
“We have to sell our house because of the divorce. Staying together is impossible, but separating has been expensive.”
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Residential real estate transactions involve PEOPLE.
Unique people with their own stories, pains, narratives, fears, limitations, hopes, dreams and goals. Even when there is much joy, there’s more often than not an element of grief tagging along, too.
Grief over a path passed over.
Grief involving loss of loved ones.
Grief around finances, wanting more.
Grief for a previous life, previous plans.
Grief about being away from friends.
Grief of aging parents and reality.
Grief of the memories left behind.
Grief for broken relationships.
Grief over the change.
Giving grief space in the conversation can ease the entire process for individuals and family alike - and it's not only warranted when there's been what society deems to be a "traditional loss", like death.
Loss takes so many forms, and so can grief!
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What does making space for grief look like when buying or selling a home?
Sometimes it’s as simple as preserving memories before moving out, like taking a final picture in the front yard together.
Other times a seller may physically remove that door frame to take with them; the one that has all of their children’s height measurements notched in it. It becomes a non-negotiable.
Once in a while an item will be buried in the front yard, or letters written to each room, or tiny notes etched into the closets to bring happiness to the next owners.
But always, it’s a slight hesitation before you close or open the doorway.
Where has it shown up in your story?
It’s when a real estate agent doesn’t prioritize those elements that a home sale or purchase becomes sterille, detached, out of touch. Creating that security has become intergral to my process as a real estate agent over the years, because grief deserves a voice in your life's journey.
