A Powder Keg - When Will it Blow? - Issue 370

I’ve been holding off writing this post. Not for any particular reason other than I don’t want to acknowledge the conditions that have led to this post.

Following me so far?

Late last summer, my wife and I started a renovation project on our home that quickly turned into a long term project that was finally finished in March. The start of that project was the opportunity for me to attempt to break a 40 year habit.

That habit was a subscription to the newspaper, in particular to the Globe and Mail. There’s long been a ritual of starting the day with a coffee and physically turning the pages, reading the articles and feeling that this was essential to staying on top of what was happening in the world and what would impact my business.

Now, the Globe is not what I would call sensationalist or bombastic like some other publications. However, like all news organizations, it’s the negative news that helps sell the product.

This was a tough habit to break.

As it turns out, I didn’t miss much. I could still skim the headlines online and at the end of the day, I wasn’t missing anything that was going to impact my business.

The most positive impact was that I wasn’t filling my head with negative news. It’s funny how when I look at the few headlines and content I do read online the theme of the article will in the vast majority of time take on a negative connotation.

Whatever happened to trying to find the opportunity or positive outcome?

This leads us to the point of this post.

There is a lot of fear, anxiety and negative emotion in the atmosphere these days. I believe the pendulum has swung pretty far off centre.

Think back to mid-pandemic.

We were pounding pots on the porch in support of our front line people. We were checking in on our neighbours, offering to do pickups for them, and we were looking out for each other. Fast forward to today and life has become much more of a dog-eat-dog world. The focus has turned away from helping one and turned back to a self-centred, me first at all cost mentality.

The real estate market is not exempt from this.

Buyers are frustrated with the lack of inventory, the blind bidding games, the high interest rates, and the lack of affordable options.

Sellers are frustrated that buyers are sitting on the sidelines, they’ve missed the peak of the market, and that their mortgage that is due is about to blow their budgets.

Agents are grumpy and frustrated with all of the above, and everyone is afraid it seems because this is one of the strangest markets that has ever been seen in the past 30 years.

We have all got reasons to be frustrated, even angry, about things that have impacted our lives. What got me on this harangue was realizing just how little of these things we can really control and have an impact on.

Interest rates? House prices? Lunatics invading other countries? Glitchy traffic lights? Not much I can do to impact any of these items. What I can control is my reaction - or lack of reaction - to things that evoke a negative response.

I’m not looking at the world through rose coloured glasses. I’m pragmatic about things.

What I realized may have been missing is grace.

We recognized the incredibly tough job first responders had during the covid years and how much they sacrificed in order to keep us safe & healthy - remember all the signs & the pounding pots?

We recognized the difficulties others had during covid as well - being isolated and stressed, away from their loved ones, and having their every-day routine flipped upside down.

You’d think we’d have learned from all of that to have a little grace.

With the tough housing market, rising interest rates, and stress surrounding mortgages and inventory, things can look bleak. Remember to extend grace - to those around you and to yourself.

It is crucial to hold onto the things we can control and how we react to the conditions happening around us.

If you sort through all the negative news, you may just find more opportunity than you first realized.

And as always, if you need help sorting through the noise and making sense of the market, we are always here to help.

Enjoy the weekend, and thank you for subscribing.

Paul Fitzpatrick

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