What's Next?

It’s easy to get mired in daily headlines. While no one can argue that we’re not in the midst of a health crisis of historlc proportions, it’s also clear that it will be short lived and sooner rather than later we’ll be returning to some version of our old lives.

For homeowners, investors or those interested in the real estate market, it’s tempting to focus on what will be short term negative impact on the economy, as this graph shows.

But, responsible experts are quick to point out that this is an event driven crisis, not an economic one. As we talked about in our posting last week, homeowners are good shape. Many have mortgages that are paid in full. A good percentage of us have equity in our homes, possibly more than we realize.

It’s somewhat uncomfortable to talk about opportunity at a time like this. But, when businesses reopen and employees return to work, the pent up energy of the spring market will hit.

Homeowners who are able to market their property when the rebound begins will be in a strong position. There are things you can be doing now to prepare, as Hank talked about in his video series Morning Coffee that is available on our business FaceBook page and other social media outlets.

That doesn’t mean that business isn’t continuing now. We took buyers out on Saturday — keeping the appropriate distance, of course. We also had a walk through. One of the two closings we had on Friday was conducted in our client’s car outside the attorney’s office. Mari used Zoom to be there. When the paperwork was signed, the attorney came out of his office to retrieve it.  We’re scheduled for another closing this week.

So, it’s business as usual, just different.

As always, we’re happy to meet with you to discuss your options. We’ve become pretty good with Zoom over these last few weeks and we can have a productive discussion using technology. (FaceTime works, too.)

Please contact us at 508-568-8191 or [email protected]. Thanks.

Please don’t forget our local non-profits, especially those who provide food to the community. With schools being closed for another several weeks, food pantries are going to be hard pressed to meet demand.

As some of you know, we donate $200.00 from every closing to a non-profit nominated by our clients and selected via drawing. With our two closings last week, we’re sending $400 to the Sandwich Food Pantry. We’ll also be making a donation to the Matthew25 Fund, which supports the food pantry at Christ the King Church, where we’re parishioners. Please consider these and other worthy organizations — such as United Way of Cape and the Islands — that are being put to the test during the current crisis.

Stay positive and stay healthy…

Mari and Hank