I’ll admit it: I don’t actually look forward to the Parade of Homes. But every year, I attend anyway. That probably sounds strange coming from a real estate agent, but here’s the thing: I walk through homes almost every single day as part of my job. When your work revolves around square footage, floor plans and finishes, spending your precious free time touring even more houses isn’t exactly how you dream of spending a weekend. Yet somehow, every year, I end up going anyway. Not because I’m fantasizing about owning a home with a six-car garage, a pickleball court, an indoor golf simulator and what looked suspiciously like enough guest quarters to accommodate the population of a small town. Truthfully, at this stage of my life, the thought of maintaining all of that sounds less like a dream and more like a second full-time job. I’ll happily admire it for an afternoon, then return to my own home where I already have too many toilets to clean.

This year’s homes were enlightening. There were breathtaking estates with infinity pools disappearing into mountain views, kitchens so large they required GPS coordinates to locate the refrigerator, spa bathrooms that rivaled five-star resorts and enough square footage to make your daily step count before you ever reached the laundry room. Some even featured detached casitas, home theaters, hidden pantries, climbing walls and garages large enough to shelter an entire car collection.

Then there were beautifully designed houses that took a completely different approach. They weren’t trying to impress with excess. They were thoughtful, functional, comfortable, and every inch had a purpose. These were homes built for families, empty nesters, first-time buyers and people who simply wanted quality minus the need for endurance-sport vacuuming. There were even homes that I would describe as refreshingly attainable. Brand-new construction with modern finishes, smart floor plans, energy-efficient features and price points that reminded visitors that not every new home requires winning the lottery.

This is precisely why I go. The Parade of Homes isn’t just an opportunity to admire beautiful architecture. It’s my chance to do a little undercover detective work. While everyone else is oohing and aahing over waterfall islands and designer light fixtures, I’m quietly evaluating the people who built the place. Could I confidently recommend this builder to one of my clients?

Fortunately, many of the builders are right there in their model homes, making themselves available for questions. That gives me the chance to corner them and ask about the things that really matter. Why did you choose these materials? What’s included versus what’s considered an upgrade? How much flexibility do buyers have to customize? If something isn’t right after closing, what does your warranty process actually look like? How involved are you once the contract is signed? Those conversations tell me far more than quartz countertops ever could.

A beautiful model home is easy to stage for a few weeks. Building a quality home and standing behind it long after the ribbon-cutting is something entirely different. I’m looking for builders who care as much about what’s behind the walls as they do about what’s hanging on them. Because when I recommend a builder to a client, I’m not recommending a model home, I’m recommending the experience they’ll have from the day they sign the contract until years after they’ve moved in.

In fact, that is not the only reason I attend either. I go to study the market as well. I’m watching what builders are doing before those ideas begin showing up in resale homes. I’m looking at floor plans buyers gravitate toward, cabinet colors that are replacing yesterday’s trends, countertop materials that are becoming standard, storage solutions, lighting, flooring, outdoor living spaces and the countless little details that influence what today’s buyers expect.

Just a few years ago, everything was finished in the tone of Agreeable Gray. Today, we are seeing warm woods making a comeback. Color has returned. Functional spaces matter more than formal ones. Pantries have become almost as important as kitchens. Home offices continue to evolve. Outdoor spaces are becoming true extensions of the home instead of patches of grass with a barbecue. Those trends eventually influence value.

When I’m helping someone prepare their home for sale, I can explain which improvements buyers are actually responding to right now and which expensive remodels may never return what they cost.

Likewise, when I’m helping buyers evaluate new construction, I know what features are standard, which upgrades truly add value, and which ones simply make for an impressive brochure.

The Parade also reminds me of something else. Luxury is incredibly personal. For one family, luxury means a resort-style backyard complete with a swimming pool and outdoor kitchen. For another, luxury is having a manageable mortgage payment, a quiet neighborhood and enough room for the grandkids to visit. One buyer dreams of a pickleball court. Another dreams of a pantry big enough to hold groceries for an entire week. Neither is wrong. The perfect home isn’t determined by the number of square feet, the price tag or how many chandeliers it contains. It’s determined by how well it fits the people who live there.

That’s something I wish more buyers remembered. It’s easy to walk through a Parade home and suddenly decide you need vaulted ceilings, a butler’s pantry, heated bathroom floors and an espresso bar with custom walnut cabinetry. Then you go home and wonder why your perfectly wonderful house suddenly feels inadequate. Don’t let beautiful homes convince you that your home isn’t beautiful. The real value of the Parade isn’t in making us envious. It shows us what’s possible, what’s changing and what buyers are beginning to appreciate.

For me, it’s continuing education without sitting through another eight-hour seminar — a much better use of my time.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.