Fortes Seller’s Minute: A Little More Morabeza

Words I Like: Success has no perfect timeline.

Over the last few weeks, the World Cup pulled me in more than I expected.

The games were fun no matter who you were rooting for, but Cape Verde’s run hit different for me.

I was born here in the United States, but my parents were born in Cape Verde and came here in the 70s, so watching this small island nation step onto the world stage, compete, and earn respect was hard to put into words.

At one point, I seriously thought about flying to Houston to watch them play Saudi Arabia, then real life kicked in. The only way to make it work was a red-eye flight back, which sounded exciting for about five minutes before it started sounding like a bad decision wearing a soccer jersey.

Still, watching from home became its own gift. I got to share it with my family. My wife is Italian, my kids are learning more about their Cape Verdean side, and for a few weeks, soccer became more than a game in our house. It became a way to talk about culture, pride, family, and where we come from.

One word kept coming back to me. Morabeza.

In Cape Verde, Morabeza carries the feeling of warmth, kindness, hospitality, and in a simple way, “no stress.”

Of course, life has stress. Work has stress. Family has stress. Bills, schedules, decisions, and responsibilities all add up. But Morabeza reminds me that not everything needs to be carried so heavily.

Some things can be handled with patience. Some things can be taken one step at a time. Some things are not as big as they feel in the moment. Cape Verde’s team reminded me of that.

They were not supposed to be the story. They were not supposed to stand toe to toe with some of the biggest soccer nations in the world. But they showed up, competed, believed, and made people pay attention.

That is what stayed with me.

Sometimes you do the work quietly for years. You repeat the small things. You get better. You wait for a moment you cannot even see yet.

Then one day, the world catches up to the work you have already been doing.

I saw that in Cape Verde. I saw it in Vozinha making huge saves at 40 years old. I saw it in Pico Lopes, whose unlikely path to the national team started with a LinkedIn message that could have easily been ignored forever.

It was a reminder that the big moment usually does not come out of nowhere. It comes from years of unseen work.

More than anything, I am grateful I got to witness it. Grateful for the pride it gave so many Cape Verdeans. Grateful my kids got to see a piece of their culture celebrated on the world stage. Grateful that people from all over the world were rooting for a country made up of 10 small islands off the west coast of Africa.

That alone felt like a win.

And maybe that is the real gift of sports. Every now and then, it gives us more than a game. It gives us a story that reminds us who we are, where we come from, and what is still possible.

So today, I am carrying a little more Morabeza with me. A little less stress. A little more gratitude. A little more belief.

And if this season of life has you thinking about home, whether that means buying, selling, making a move, or simply understanding your options, I am always here as a resource.

No pressure. No stress. Just a conversation when the time feels right. Reply HOME if that conversation would be helpful.

I run a controlled capacity model. At any given time, I work with 6 to 8 active listings. No more. Each month, I meet with 10 to 15 homeowners, and only a small group move forward as others go under contract.

I’m not trying to be the busiest agent. I’m focused on getting it right.

✅Pricing ✅Positioning ✅Negotiation ✅Execution.

Because of that, I only open a limited number of strategy conversations each week.

If you’ve been thinking about making a move, this is the time to have that conversation.

Reply “HOME” for a quick, personalized plan.

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