Who is How to Get Home for?
Why is buying a home so difficult? How can something so important be so confusing, exploitative, and inhumane? Who can help me navigate the financial, emotional, political, and design dimensions of finding the right home?
How to Get Home is a newsletter and podcast exploring a more humane real estate process.
Obviously, if you’re in the market to buy a home, HTGH is for you. I’ll explain and break down the process in accessible and clear ways.
If you feel like a gentrifier and are looking for a better way to rent or own, HTGH is for you. I’ve worked hard to understand what changes in habits, policy, and norms can bring deeper belonging to our neighborhoods, even in the face of tidal shifts at the system level.
If you recently bought or settled in a home and are trying to understand how to be a good neighbor, HTGH is for you. I’ll explore topics like getting connected to your local school or block captain, what to do about NIMBYism, and even dive into retrofitting your home to be more sustainable and climate-change-resilient.
If you have encountered the sordid and selfish colonialism of the real estate world, HTGH is for you. I’m probably preaching to the choir by repeating stories and statistics about the role of real estate in perpetuating and calcifying injustice, but let me be clear: even though I work in this industry, I am every bit as interested in finding a better way of building and sharing “home” as I hope you are. But even as I express critique against the world of real estate, I will also try to explore creative alternatives and solutions.
Why should I listen to you?
I (Wes Willison) recently received a M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary, and I had hoped to work in the church and other meaning-making communities. But I’ve come to realize that few moments of life are as pivotal and important as the choice of a home. Once I realized that the pastoral and personal interactions that I’ve sought are occurring around real estate, I pivoted out of church work. I currently work as a Realtor in the Philadelphia region, helping my clients navigate a real estate market that has never been more confusing, exploitative, and inhumane.
Everyone should be able to buy a home that helps them feel that they belong! Your home purchase process should (and can!) align with your values and ethics. I’m here to help guide you towards that moment when you walk into your house, set down your stuff, fall into your favorite chair, your pet jumps into your lap, and you think to yourself “this is where I belong.”
This newsletter will NOT be a “sales” newsletter with listings, open house announcements, and other real estate pitches. But, of course, I am always open for business! 😉
Similarly, this will NOT be a finalized, perfected vision of how to dismantle the patriarchy, racism, colonization, and American Christian capitalist supremacy in one fell swoop by means of real estate. While I care deeply about how place, design, and real estate can be a force for change in these struggles, I’m still working this stuff out, and I ask for your patience as I do so rather publicly. I’m leaning towards publicity with this conversation at the risk of torpedoing my reputation in innumerable ways, but I strongly believe these ideas and feelings will be strengthened by our mutual engagement. Please do chime in where you see me falling short, and I’ll try to own my shit and grow from my mistakes.
What does the logo (家) mean?
In Mandarin, “家” (“jia,” jee-ah) means home or family. I have Chinese ancestry, and this character is deeply meaningful to me. Much like the significance of the Greek word οἶκος (“oikos,” oy-kos), 家 (jia) signifies the connection of place and community, where we can find belonging.
What does “How to Get Home” mean?
Rather than include the article “a” (How to Get A Home), which is of course the bulk of the work that I do as a Realtor, I’m interested in drawing and exploring the connections between the home purchase process and the deeper significance of the word “belonging,” or what we sometimes colloquially call “feeling at home.” If those connections resonate with you as well, let me know. This newsletter and podcast is for you! So the title is a double-entendre, much like how “home” can mean multiple things at once. I also like that the SEO for this title will always be second to Google Maps giving you instructions to literally get back to your house. That’s pretty funny.
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If you’re interested in sharing your ideas on this platform, let me know! I’d love to join you in exploring how we can build a more inclusive and humane real estate process.
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