Reality bites of parting with real estate

Reality bites of parting with real estate

Buying a home may not only be the biggest financial transaction most people will undertake in their lives, but also the most emotional one, especially if you have wrapped up your dreams or hopes in it.

This point was driven home when I was packing boxes with books, souvenirs, and everyday things I collected over the years which I’d lovingly set up in what was my dream project — my little writer’s hideout on my coffee plantation somewhere in the southern reaches of India, knowing well that I’d never open those boxes again. My broker/real estate agent had been rather merciless when driving the bargain, showing me the demerits of owning a tract of land that remained neglected the last three years. “Your coffee bushes are now trees,” he argued dispassionately, “and very soon this place will attract wildlife. You’d do good to move on.”

Which was true, of course — but what about my little hideout that held so many memories within? It had to go with the plantation, obviously.

Sure, I had become a victim of circumstances. The entire exercise of selling what I loved so much was largely due to my inability to travel (thanks to Covid), shortage of labour