THE YEAR 2020:

This past New Year’s Eve I stayed home with my husband and daughter and quietly slipped into 2020, the most intriguing year of my life to date. I had a daunting feeling, an intuition of strange things coming…

March 11, 2020 started out as just another normal day. I was excited because we had tickets to Andre Rieu’s classical concert at Amelie Arena in Tampa. He was just kicking off his 2020 US tour. Then a friend sent me a photo of empty grocery shelves in Los Angeles. Up until that point I was paying little attention to Covid-19 news. But that day I decided to go grocery shopping before I drove to Tampa, because we were low on food. The cashier asked me if I was shopping for a big party. I told her I was buying for three. My motherly instincts told me to stock up on dry foods, and fill our fridge. She seemed confused.

While we were enjoying Andre Rieu’s first (and last) concert of his 2020 tour, President Trump announced the travel ban between US and Europe. The next day most sporting and art events started to get canceled. Grocery stores were packed and their shelves started running out of certain items. I took my husband freezer shopping. We bought the last small freezer in Best Buy and filled it up with frozen fruits, veggies and meat.

HOMESCHOOLING:

The following week my daughter and I embarked on a ten week long adventure of homeschooling.
This was arguably the most special time we have ever experienced together as mother and daughter. I work all the time and do not see my daughter nearly enough.

Something to know about me is I am a teacher at heart (and have had a few years of teaching experience on my resume). Teaching my own daughter daily was like hitting the jackpot.

The real estate market came to a screeching halt right around mid March, so instead of panicking, I gave 100% of my attention to Sophie and her schooling every day for at least 2-3 hours. We were so productive together, that she got through 5 months of school work in 10 weeks and graduated 2nd grade as a 7.5 year old. As a family we used to go on bike rides during our lunch breaks, and were eating healthy home made meals, and spending quality time together! I was working very part time during this time.

In May the market started picking up, so my mom watched Sophie in the afternoons and evenings and I worked into the night.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:

Normally I write 2-3 offers and get 2-4 listings and purchase contracts a month. Since May 1, in seven weeks I went on 37 appointments, wrote up 16 offers, and got 8 listing and purchase contracts. In other words I have to work twice as hard to get the same results as usual.
I have lived through many different markets as an agent in the last 15 years, but never seen a market like we have now.

  • Interest rates are record low. My clients are locking in mortgage rates at 3%.
  • Despite the news of a “second great depression”, it seems to me that everyone is trying to buy property right now.
  • Property inventories are at record low levels in Pinellas County.
  • Good properties if priced reasonably sell in 1-2 days with as many as 5-6 offers for the seller to choose from, and often at higher than asking price. (This is the reason I have to write up so many offers to get so many contracts.)
  • Properties often sell for more money than what they appraise for (which requires a cash buyer or a buyer that is willing to bring extra cash to closing on top of the appraised value).
  • I have about 15 buyers right now that are well qualified, pre-approved or have cash, but no properties for them to buy.
  • I have to think outside the box and do unusual actions to find properties for buyers and get properties sold.

REACH OUT TO ME:

I am happy to be helping so many people during these times. And really enjoy my job. Call me with any of your real estate needs and I will make sure to fit you into my schedule. I am about to hire a second admin assistant as well, so we’ll be able to better serve our clients.

Best, Niki