I am off for the week at the Paris Olympics with my family on a much anticipated and planned for adventure. Our daughter was a gymnast through college and we were lucky enough to secure women’s gymnastics individual and team final tickets in the official Olympics Ticket Lottery! Yes, all six of us would set our alarms for the 1 a.m. lottery start time in hopes of having luck and eventually our middle-of-the-night persistence paid off.

While thinking about my weekly client email, I came across this post by Leonard Steinberg of Compass that resonated with me as it’s a great reminder of the importance of patience, persistence, and diligence in real estate. 

"I'll Huff And I'll Puff And I'll Blow Your House Down!"

In the folk tale "The Three Little Pigs", the Big Bad Wolf threatens the three little pigs by saying, “I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the house down”. The wolf is able to blow down two of the pigs' houses, one made of straw and the other made of sticks, but is unable to destroy the third house, which is made of bricks. 

Naturally the house of bricks took longer to build, probably required more investment, entailed much more time, effort, engineering and thought, considered the long term, not just a quick fix.....I think you know where I'm going with this, right? Savers - who educate themselves, live beneath their means, save, invest their money in buying their home, stocks, etc. - are doing very well these days. Many made large sacrifices to do so by forgoing a fancy car, dinners out, IG-worthy vacations, worked a second job, etc. Many have not reaped any of the rewards of their labors for years and even decades.....should they be berated - as seems to be the case these days - or should they be applauded? Maybe instead of blaming them for the fruits of their labors we should look closer at what it took for them to get there and learn? Yes, some have had luck, unfair advantages and/or cheated the system, but data shows the vast majority of those who have built wealth did so the hard way: long-term savings, hard work and sacrifice.

The most expensive sweater I own is a purple cashmere sweater from Asprey that today would cost at least $1,500. It's over 15 years old. It looks brand new. The moral of Three Little Pigs is that sacrifice, patience and hard work and effort pay off in the end. Quality pays. The first two pigs were slackers who refused to put forth any effort seeking a quick-fix instead. As a result, they constructed their dwellings quickly and spent their time experimenting. The pig that did the research/homework, made the extra effort and built solid foundations, invested in his future, survived.....and thrived.

My team is covering for me this week and here to help if help is needed. Merci and GO Team USA!