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In Morgantown, you know football season has arrived before you ever hear the first whistle at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The traffic changes. The streets fill with cars. Gold and blue appear on front porches. Neighbors start talking about who is coming to town for the game. Grills come out, coolers are filled and suddenly the backyard, driveway and front porch become gathering spaces. For a realtor, football season is also an interesting time to think about what makes a house feel like home.
Morgantown is a university town, and West Virginia University is part of the rhythm of our community. That means Mountaineer football can influence how people use their homes, particularly on game weekends.
One of the things I notice when showing homes is how differently people imagine using a space. A buyer may walk into a living room and see a comfortable place for their family. Another may immediately picture twenty friends watching a game together. That is why gathering spaces matter.
Large living rooms, finished basements, open kitchens, spacious decks and usable backyards can become especially valuable to people who enjoy entertaining. A house does not necessarily need to be enormous. Sometimes a well-designed porch, patio or kitchen creates the perfect place for people to gather. In Morgantown, a porch can be more than an architectural feature. On a fall Saturday, it can become part of the experience.
The great parking question
Football season also reminds us that parking is a real part of homeownership.
A property with a garage, carport, driveway or additional off-street parking may offer an advantage to someone who regularly hosts family and friends. In some Morgantown neighborhoods, where streets and lots were designed long before modern car ownership, parking can be an important consideration.
For buyers, it is worth thinking beyond how many cars your household owns today. How often do you have visitors? Do you entertain? Do you have children who will eventually drive? Is street parking readily available? How much can you charge per car on game day? Those questions become particularly noticeable when the Mountaineers play at home.
Location changes the experience
Real estate has always been about location, but in a college town, location can mean something a little different. For some buyers, being close to WVU, restaurants, entertainment and game-day activity is a major benefit. They may enjoy being able to walk to campus, take advantage of the PRT or experience the energy of a football weekend without getting in the car. For others, being farther from the action is exactly what they want. There is no universal definition of the perfect location. Some people want to hear the excitement of game day. Others would prefer to watch from a quiet backyard several miles away.
That is one of the reasons I tell buyers that choosing a neighborhood is just as important as choosing a house. You are not simply buying four walls. You are choosing how you want to experience your community.
A home that works all year
Of course, a home needs to work for more than seven or eight football Saturdays. That beautiful deck may be perfect for tailgating, but will your family use it for summer dinners? The finished basement might be a great place to watch the game, but can it also serve as a playroom, office or guest space? The extra parking may be useful for visitors, but does the property still function well for everyday life? The best homes are the ones that work in every season. Football simply gives us a fun reason to notice some of those features.
More than a real estate market
Perhaps the biggest connection between football and real estate is not actually about property values at all. It is about community. People choose to live in Morgantown for many reasons. Jobs, schools, family, the university, healthcare, outdoor recreation and the many opportunities our community provides all play a role.
But there are also the intangible things. It is the neighbor who puts a Mountaineer flag on the porch every Saturday. It is the smell of someone grilling down the street. It is hearing cheers from a nearby house when the game is on. It is the friends who come back to town every fall because Morgantown still feels like home. As a realtor, I spend a lot of time talking about houses. But I also spend a lot of time talking about what happens outside those houses.
Football season is a good reminder that a home is not simply where we sleep. It is where we gather, celebrate, welcome friends, build traditions and become part of a community. So as another Mountaineer football season begins, take a look around your own home. Maybe the front porch needs a couple of chairs. Maybe the backyard is ready for a new gathering spot. Maybe the garage needs to be reclaimed from everything that has accumulated inside it.
Or maybe you simply need to invite a few people over, fire up the grill and enjoy a fall Saturday in Morgantown. Because sometimes the best part of owning a home is not the house itself. It is everything that happens there.
Jenn Hagerty, a residential Realtor, is the 2026 president of the Morgantown Board of Realtors.