Home Values During the Pandemic + Sanity Check

The last time I posted was only 6 weeks ago, but it feels like a lifetime. The perception of time seems to be skewed during this pandemic, and I find yesterday feeling like a week ago often…and it’s weird.

I hope this finds you healthy, with your wits still about you as we move into the next phase of this new world.

I get asked a lot these days about how the real estate market is holding up, and most are pretty surprised to hear the Nashville market is still strong.

Showings this past week are up over the same time last year, so that tells us we have bounced back from the March/April dip when the Safer at Home orders first went into effect.

Mortgage rates are very low, and for every point more one pays, the extra interest paid can make a significant difference over time. I hear a lot of buyers who want to wait, thinking properties will be discounted from the pandemic – I hate to tell them, it isn’t really happening. I’m still seeing multiple offers on properties etc.. and not a lot of price drops, except on properties that were already too aggressively priced.

Inventory is still low since Sellers are not putting their occupied homes up for sale unless absolutely necessary. Vacant homes are easier and safer to show.

Here’s how we do it during these times. We make sure clients have their own masks, and ask that they do not touch any knobs or handles. We will open anything they need to see with a sanitary wipe/glove.

The last few months have been life-changing, and some are weathering it better than others. How’s your sanity during these times? As Metro moves to open up more next week, are you anxious, or excited? Probably a bit of both?!

Me? I don’t sleep well these days. (Not that many women my age are sleeping great), but my pandemic sleep is harder to come by. Work hasn’t slowed down much, and I’m working from home a lot less. Going to the office and closing my door is easier functionally/cell service-wise, but as more and more people come in, I get more anxious. I could Zoom, email, text, and talk on the phone for a while longer truth be told, but I’m being very cautious and wiping/washing/cleaning constantly. I worry about my parents, and other vulnerable loved ones constantly.

Cooking, as always, is an outlet, and we’ve been experimenting, as well as trotting out the old favorites. I took a week to cure/smoke pastrami from scratch, tried my hand at Mississippi Delta-style hot tamales and everything else in between.

In one week of lockdown we celebrated both Mother’s Day and our 25th wedding anniversary, so we got fancy and made deviled quail eggs to serve as a carrier for osetra caviar, and oysters with chorizo oil, bacon and pickled shallots made us feel like we were at a fine dining restaurant…in our backyard.

We’ll keep cooking away the stress, and look forward to the honey harvest in hopes we get some, despite the cold and rainy spring hampering their time out of the hives.

Stay safe out there, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Until next time,

Collyn

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