My husband has been tracking how much money we’ve been spending in gasoline and his announcement last night shocked me.  In June, we spent $756.46.

In June, I drove well over 1,000 miles related to real estate.  Perhaps this weekend I’ll gather my receipts, backs of envelopes, and other pieces of paper where my mileage is recorded.  I got behind penciling this info in on my schedule because I was so busy driving buyers around.

In fairness, we also drove to my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in West Kentucky (about 250 miles), my high school reunion in Southern Indiana (about 425 miles), and my daughter’s pageant in Memphis (about 500 miles) so that added a lot to our gas bill.

But this kind of expense begs the question:  How will the real estate industry change when gasoline gets to the point that Realtors can’t afford to drive hundreds of miles every week?  Will we start asking for a $200 deposit before we go on a house search?  Will we start charging sellers a gasoline fee for filling brochure boxes and other errands?

Ron in Katy, Texas has sticker shock when he filled up his truck for just over $83 a few weeks ago.  (The photo up there is his.)  I die a little death every time my tank tops $60.  For this to stop, we’ll have to either drive less, switch to cars with better mileage, or walk.  Walking is not really an alternative when a house to show is 20 miles away.  My yard is big enough for a horse.