September has always felt more like the beginning of the year to me than January ever has. Although I suppose that makes sense when I consider how much of my life has been organized around going back to school.
From elementary school through my final year of architecture school, the end of summer meant returning to something new. New teachers, new classes, new people and work I did not yet know how to do. I remember wondering who would be there at school, what the year would be like and whether I would be good at it. There was excitement, but also that slightly unsettled feeling that came from knowing my life was about to change in ways I could not yet see.
Now my kiddos go back to school at roughly the same time, so the cycle has continued without much interruption. I am on the parent side of it now, managing the forms, schedules and an unreasonable number of school emails and WhatsApp messages, but I still recognize the anticipation. They want to know which friends will be in their classes and whether they will like their teachers. I am not going back to school with them, but I can certainly feel that something is beginning for me too.
This happens every year for me. The goals I set in January, including a few I have managed to avoid looking at too closely, suddenly feel relevant again. There is a quarter and a half left, which is just enough time to accomplish quite a lot and not nearly enough time to continue assuming I will get to it later. The year has already become whatever it has become, but it is not yet finished.
And this year, I noticed the same feeling on the first Tuesday Tour after Labor Day. August had been slow on new listings, even as buyers kept competing for everything that was available, and for several weeks nearly every conversation between agents included some version of the same question: Do you think the inventory is actually coming?
That first Tuesday Tour after Labor Day, everyone seemed different. The agents I ran into were jovial and genuinely happy to see one another. People were comparing notes, talking about listings they had coming and speculating about what the fall might bring. Honestly, it reminded me of the first days of school, when everyone is back in the building, pleased to see familiar faces and quietly trying to figure out what they are walking into.
By Thursday and Friday, the listings began to appear. The inventory we had all been hoping for had finally arrived, and the market has picked up speed almost immediately.
And this is why September still gets my attention and brings with it that uneasy anticipation every year. It carries the newness of a beginning, although by then I have a fairly good idea of what kind of year I am actually having.
