The Ocala Real Estate Market
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
Will economic problems triggered by COVID-19 cause a resurgence of short sales and foreclosures? We expect that they will. However, sometimes difficult situations bring with them opportunities to create win win scenarios.
My father told the story of investing in acreage and selling out to his partner at a small gain. He then expressed shock to learning how his partner profited. Apparently, the man subdivided the land into quarter acre lots and sold each for more than he paid per acre. However, my father left out the most relevant details in the telling. Firstly, at the time he could not afford to hold, so his partner did him a favor by buying his share. Secondly, twenty years had passed before the land was subdivided. Assuming the risk benefited his partner tremendously, while helping my father in the process.
We are in the midst of catastrophic times. But never in the history of our nation have such times not been followed by a resurgence of our economy. Therefore, we expect that our nation will survive and bounce back stronger than ever.
Due to a shortage of tests, reactivating our economy will have risks.
The recovery will be difficult and will not happen overnight. In order to transition from our current situation, we will need to test. Epidemiologists recommend a broad testing regime to gather the necessary scientific data to plan the safe rebooting of our economy.
We must test to identify those infected, isolate and treat them. This involves contact tracing to determine who those who test positive could have infected. However, Johns Hopkins epidemiologists estimate that we need 100,000 investigators to do the contact tracing. Sadly, currently we only have two thousand. We must also test to gather data about those who have recovered from infection.
The degree to which they have built up an immunity to it must be studied. It must be pointed out that Washington State doctors reported the first infection in our country over three months ago. However, tests are still in short supply. To date, we have only tested one percent of our population. Therefore, the road before us is fraught with danger.
As a consequence, governments will reopen our economy slowly. Of course, the longer they take, the more damage will be done. I am certified in short sales and foreclosures. As one experienced in distressed property sales, I believe the number of such properties on the market will rise geometrically. The sooner we absorb them the better. This is prerequisite if we are to recover as a nation and return to a period of economic growth.
Investing in short sales and foreclosures can be a win win proposition.
Therefore, while we may face apocalyptic economic times, we will also have the opportunity to create win win situations. Many of our neighbors may face the loss of their homes and real estate investments. Others who are more fortunate may only face the loss of some equity in their properties. As a result, investors will have opportunities to purchase real estate at value prices. By acquiring short sales, they will help neighbors to avoid foreclosure and recover economically much more quickly. On the other hand, by purchasing foreclosures, they will help the real estate market as a whole to stabilize. Either way, investors will be benefiting their neighbors, while opening the door to great returns for themselves.
Therefore, heed the words of Winston Churchill, Warren Buffett and other giants in their fields. The key to success is recognizing an opportunity where others only see dark clouds. By investing in short sales and foreclosures, you will benefit yourself greatly while helping our economy to recover.
Lets work together to defeat the clouds of crisis and help our neighbors.
This too shall pass. – Andy K., Broker, Ocala Home Guide Realty, LLC