I don’t know about you, but I kind of feel like I’m living in a pre-apocalyptic novel. “Staving off the catastrophe” is how author Steve Masover describes the genre. “The heroes in these tales are women and men who are doing what they can to turn the apocalyptic tide.”
In today’s pandemic, these are the folks performing small acts of kindness, of adhering to the mandate to socially isolate, who feel responsible for their neighbors’, colleagues’ and family’s health. Thankfully, we’ve seen lots of examples of these heroes.
Sadly, there are the others – those businesses who feel entitled to remain open, even though the product or service they sell isn’t considered “essential.” The young person who thinks that because he or she isn’t in the high-risk category refuses to self-isolate, possibly exposing others to the virus.
Here in Las Vegas, life has come to a standstill. Jobs are being shed like my old English sheepdog’s coat in summer. Casinos and resorts are dark, with tens of thousands of people laid off. Mom and pop store owners (at least those with morals and a sense of social responsibility) are boarded up.
Many of the latter will not reopen if this doesn’t end soon. Commercial rents are high and, with no money coming in, paying the rent is all but impossible for our small business owners.
We’d love to hear what’s happening in your market. But, for now, let’s take a look at the real estate happenings across the country in March, 2020.
Check those scheduled auto newsletters, ads, posts and tweets
One of the best pieces of business advice we’ve seen this week is from Jolene Jernigan at TheAmericanGenius.com.
“We’ve all read a tweet or Facebook post that was so ill-timed it made us do a double take. Don’t be that person. Don’t be that company,” she says.
“This is a reminder to all social media and marketing teams: go check your scheduled posts immediately.”
As an example, she recalls the Live Nation tweet that “… asked concert goers to post pictures from a Radiohead concert they attended in Toronto that night. The stage had collapsed before the show, killing at least one and injuring many others.”
Look for “A way-too-cheerful ad or call to action,” she suggests. Remove anything that might be “insensitive or terribly offensive,” during the pandemic.
More on job losses
Since employment is an essential part of the nation’s economy and critical to real estate, we looked closely at the jobs situation. It ain’t pretty.
The analysts at Goldman Sachs say that about 2.25 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the past week, according to Ben Lane at HousingWire.com.
They’ve even gone so far as to predict an unemployment rate of 9 percent “later this year.”
Those of us that are lucky enough to keep our jobs are primarily working from home these days – Read our tips on how to make the most out of your time indoors.
How are clients feeling right now?
But, what about people who have been actively searching for homes, home sellers and those in the middle of a transaction? How are they feeling?
On Facebook, we found the following:
- “I’m in the process of buying a home and just pulled out due to corona and my broker told me 90% of his other clients are also backing out.”
- “I put an offer Thursday March 12th, then Friday and Saturday San Diego was impacted by the Corona Virus. By Monday I pulled out.”
- And, from an agent: “All my clients pulled out for now because who wants to buy a home right now, and possibly be out a job in the next couple weeks.
- From another agent: “ I at this point am still going out with Buyers and have showings at my listings.”
As you can see, it’s a mixed bag, depending on the market. Again, let us know about yours on Facebook.
Offers of mortgage relief are rolling in
Reach out to past clients and let them know that there may be mortgage relief for them. “. . .the biggest sources of mortgage financing are already saying that they are pausing foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days, and that certain borrowers can forgo their mortgage payments for 12 months,” according to Lane.
Fannie, Freddie and HUD are suspending foreclosures and evictions and you can learn more about that here.
Among the big lenders, Bank of America is extending a deferred mortgage payment program, with payments being added to the end of the loan.
Homeowners may also find some form of relief from Quicken Loans, TD Bank, Ally Bank and Wells Fargo, according to Natalie Campsi at Bankrate.com.
Urge your clients to call their lenders immediately upon being laid off or fired. Remind them that these are offers of forbearance, not forgiveness and the amount deferred will eventually have to be paid.
The paperwork required by some include bank or profit and loss statements and proof of hardship.
Uh-oh – digital house hunting takes a hit
There’s no doubt that COVID-19 is changing the industry in a lot of ways. One of the stats that digital real estate marketers love to promote is from NAR, concerning buyers. It goes something like this:
Most home-buyers use the internet to begin their house hunting
The folks at Google, however, report that their Google Trend data is down for real estate-related searches. In fact, they dropped 23 percent from March 6 to March 13.
Guess people have other things on their mind?
Social media is the place to keep your brand alive during this mess. Engage, engage, engage. Then, consider a direct mail campaign. Check back soon for our review of direct mail marketing companies.
Stay healthy!