Invictus

My 8th grade English class did a unit on poetry. We each chose two poems to memorize and recite in front of the class. More than 30 years later I still remember word for word the poems I studied that year.  Invictus by William Ernest Henley was one of them. Invictus is a Latin word meaning undefeated and the poem is about resilience in the face of hardship. Henley wasn’t thinking about the New England real estate market when he wrote it, but his words exemplify the power of agency in our lives.  Buyer and seller agency are common topics in real estate, but there is another kind of agency vital to successful buying and selling: High agency.  High agency is defined as “not passively waiting for ideal conditions to arise; but taking control and actively shaping your circumstances.”

This is a challenging market and adopting a high agency mindset is critical to success.  You cannot control inventory, interest rates or the amount of competition you will face, but you can control how you show up. Statements like, “This market is crazy,” or “There is no inventory” contribute to a scarcity mindset.  Reframe your thinking.  If you have looked at homes over the past few weeks, there is inventory.  If you have made offers, there are homes that meet your needs. If not, can you pivot? Is looking in a different price range an option? Will you consider condos as well as single family homes? Sometimes you don’t need to pivot, you just need to be patient.

In almost every area of our lives we can click a button and the object of our desire appears on our doorstep, usually within a day or two. It is easy to confuse home buying with this point and click method of acquiring things. It feels like online shopping as we browse gorgeous listing photos and watch video tours on repeat, but homes are not an instant gratification commodity and we need to stop treating them like they are. Buying a home is a process that takes time. Begin with a proactive agent who understands what you want and will figure out how to help you get it, a great lender, and an experienced attorney. The right team, the right mindset and a lot of patience are the blueprint for success.

In case you’re wondering, the other poem I memorized was Hope by Emily Dickinson.  Who knew 8th grade English would leave such a lasting impression?