EEK! We find ourselves in the middle of what feels like an apocalypse (i.e., the Coronavirus or COVID-19). It has changed our daily lives, morphed our collective community into something simultaneously closer and farther away because of social distancing. It’s left us all not wanting to do anything other than curl up with our dogs and watch re-runs of I Love Lucy. Being the educator I am, information is power! Soooo…
Make no mistake, COVID-19 will change the landscape of most of what we know.
The economy, our employment, the marketplace, and even homeownership will be impacted by the global pandemic. To what extent still remains to be seen.
The goal of this series is to provide some tips about how to navigate the changing home-buying landscape. So stay tuned, because you were considering a home purchase before COVID-19, here are some tips to help…
TIP 1: Establish income stability, and give yourself a break.
COVID-19 may have put your home purchasing plans on hold because you find yourself unemployed. If you had significant savings, you may find yourself dipping into that simply to survive.
If this is you, the biggest encouragement I want to give to you is this…
Focusing on re-establishing your income security is exactly what you need to be doing right now. So don’t beat yourself up for doing exactly what you need to be doing.
This is a time where we all need a bit more compassion for each other—yes—but mostly for ourselves. Losing a job, being furloughed or laid off means that you are in survival mode. Don’t fret, it’s normal! Breathe!!
According to Maslow, changes in job security, or your ability to pay the bills means you might have stepped back into a more basic mode of living from love and belonging, or esteem or even self-actualization, back into safety and physiological needs. What does this mean? Focus on safety and security first and then get back to house buying. Don’t worry, The Bowtie Realtor will still be here to help out when you are ready.
Your primary goal during this time — and I’m serious when I encourage you to do this — is to take a deep breath and look for creative ways to focus on income security. Do whatever you need to do to get your security needs met.
Take a yoga class, go for a walk, garden in your yard, talk to a friend on FaceTime or FaceBook that you haven’t seen in a while, paint, color, sew… do something for you.
And everyday remind yourself that though the world is changing hour-by-hour, you are ok, and you are safe.
If you are still stressing out, I made a video to give you the good news (actually it’s FANTASTIC news about the Desert Cities home buying scene). I promise you, it will help you exhale about the whole COVID-19 and potentially not having an income situation.
We will come back to home-buying next week, but I wanted to take a quick moment to give you some compassionate encouragement this week!
