They Can Take Your Investments, But Not Your Memories

I just got back from a road trip with a client where we had 3 shoots in 2 days in 3 cities.  Oh, and one flat tire. It was a great trip and a fantastic shoot!  During the trip we covered a lot of miles and a lot of roads – over 600 miles to be exact. On almost every road, around every turn, we saw signs of the times: real estate “For Sale” signs.

The neighborhoods changed every few miles; small homes, big homes, estates and even condos but the single thread going through it all was those signs. All I could think of was how hard it was when I sold my house just over a year ago. I had a very small place where I used the basement as my studio.  It had a small back yard but a nice deck I had put on, and with all the problems you have with a house the best part was that it was mine.

All those for sale signs reminded me of why I created the Estate Legacy Products that I offer.  More and more people are selling the homes that their children grew up in. The memories are still alive and well in these places: the idea of the children running around the yard, perhaps a brother tormenting a sister with a frog or some other reptile, then that same scared sister putting a bandage on the scraped knee after the brother slipped and fell all live large in the memories of our parents and ourselves. Where are those memories going to be when that home is gone?

Often our parents have resigned themselves to letting the house go. We hear them saying that “it’s too big. It was different when you all were kids.” Or they say something like “Your dad doesn’t feel like keeping up with the yard work anymore. He would rather go play golf/fish/read/etc.” In their mind that’s very true but at the same time it would be nice if they had a way to take those memories with them.

With the economy the way it is today who can blame them?  Their home is all they may have left at this point. The investment they made 30, 40 or 50 years ago is still worth a lot more than they paid for it. Their financial portfolio, that probably isn’t doing as well. However if they sell the property they may be able to weather this financial storm. But what about all those memories?  How do they save the investment they made in you, your childhood, the education and most of all their family?

That is why I came up with the Estate Legacy Products. This is my way to help people find a way to preserve those memories and to document what was. Through my photography and special way of capturing the feel of your home I, along with one of my writers, document not just the house but the home and its history, its legacy. I can incorporate family photos and old pictures of the house and property with the new images I create. The writer will sit with members of the family and write a brief history to go with all the imagery and I combine that into a personal book that becomes more than a keepsake; it becomes a living physical representation of all your memories.

Give me a call and ask me about how I can help you preserve your family memories for generations.