10,843

One of my favorite parts of the day is getting my steps in. I like to walk into the office kitchen to put the tea machine on. Then to my desk. Then back to the kitchen as it brews. Boom. 175 steps right there. The goal is to get 9,000 steps. I get a hot streak going with the fire emoji. If I fail, a sad statement declares that the streak is lost. Now, if get 10,000 steps I get a gym shoe 10k award badge. Sometimes at the end of the day I walk back and forth from my bedroom to the kitchen to achieve these goals. Am I the only one?

One particular thing I do with steps drives my wife batty. Well, many particular things but this one has to do with parking. See, another tactic is to park far away when shopping. Far away isn’t really that far away. Maybe 50-100 steps. There are many advantages to this. First, at 57, I can’t often remember where I parked. Now I can always find my car in the distance. Plus, it’s better at the end of the day when you look at your steps on the step app and it says 9,000 steps versus 8800 steps.

For my fellow friends concerned about steps, we Floridians are pretty lazy when it comes to taking steps. It’s why a center like Downtown at the Gardens is doomed to fail. Downtown is on its third reimagine. At first, they thought it was because it wasn’t family oriented with events. So, they brought in a merry go round. It helped for a bit but back on the merry go round we go. Remodel three has lots of new luxury stores including an irresistible “newest thing” Swedish candy store called Go Yummy. I bought $32 dollars of maybe 32 varieties of Swedish candy. After 3 bites, I realized it was all a lot of sugar. And I would need a lot more steps to work off the Swedish candy. But what the remodel doesn’t have is easy parking. You must park and walk a while. There are maybe 6-7 parallel parking spots as a tease. Garage parking. Valet Parking. All too much effort for us Floridians.

There are 10,843 strip centers in the state of Florida. The reason strip centers do so well is because of the parking. I’m not sure if it’s the heat or because we have an older population, but people want to park and eat or park and shop. We don’t like to park in a garage or walk more than those 50 steps. Most of us save those steps for the treadmill.

When it comes to home shopping, the same concept applies. There are 13 areas of concern that people have when it comes to distance. If you aren’t interested – then step aside. For the rest of you, lets take the first step and step right into it!

1. Taking the dog out.

Not something you want to step into. Besides that, for some, being far away can be a condo killer. Pee pads have helped as it’s more common for dogs to go in the condo in recent years. Although isn’t a cat easier in a condo?

2. Distance to the airport

Now this one makes a lot of sense. Especially if you are traveling lots for work. The Palm Beaches are easy because we have easy airports to get in and out of. Live far away up north and the distance becomes an issue. Too close and the airline noise makes a home impossible to sell.

3. Golfcart proximity to the clubhouse

When you belong to a country club, much of your life revolves around activities at the club. Driving a golf cart in the rain for 15 minutes isn’t a selling feature.

4. Distance to the entrance or pool (too close)

I’ve seen this backfire on resale. We got through one deal early this year that was a close call because the person thought there could be too much noise. Being close has its advantages though, especially for those without a pool.

5. Stairs in the house

You’d think that people wouldn’t mind getting their steps in naturally. For families, it’s not a big deal and often new parents want to be upstairs next to their kids. There are options of putting up an automatic seat for the stairs but it’s not attractive when it comes to resale. For older folks, a primary bedroom upstairs will completely limit you in resale.

6. Elevators

This solves a lot of the problems of stairs. However, given the choice, people would rather have the first floor. In a world where everyone is in a rush, people don’t like the idea of not getting where they are going quickly. It’s an option and not too expensive. Also, not as difficult as it looks to install. Definitely helps resale value.

7. School Zone

A and B rated schools are always in demand. A shortage of private schools is additionally now dictating where to live. Being in the wrong school could result in a misstep.

8. Steps to the beach

This is a deal breaker for some who want to be steps from the beach. Some advertise steps to the beach but it’s more like a mile.

9. Distance to work

Not as bad as it used to be since more people are working out of their homes. Still, can be a deal killer when traffic picks up. As the population has grown and 95 can’t expand, it has become more of an issue. Rapid transit with the Brightline has reversed some of this and opened up a lot more options.

10. Close to The action

I see this in areas east of I95. Being close to the water or areas like downtown Delray Beach is a must for some.

11. Distance to hospitals

As traffic has picked up, hospital proximity has been more on people’s radar. I had one older client time the distance she thought she could survive a heart attack in the ambulance. And you couldn’t depend on the Stepson to take her. Talk about one step into the grave!

12. Distance to bring in the groceries

People like to enter the garage door and be close to the kitchen. Nobody wants to carry bags through the house.

13. Step Down.

It’s only one step but then every guest coming over has to be told, “watch your step”.

Not to step on anyone’s toes but step up if the house meets these requirements. If not, then step away.