Corona Virus - a chance to see what you're made of

[JD Martin]

It is not often in life that you truly get the chance to see what you're made of - as an investor, a consumer, a citizen, a human being. For whatever reason, it generally takes monumental events - often catastrophes - to get a true sense of who we are. The Corona virus - COVID-19 - is going to give all of us that chance. 

Investors - is your investing plan really well-reasoned and thought out? Do you really have the reserves necessary to run any kind of enterprise? Are you willing to step into the ring and risk real loss? Are you willing to do the hard work when necessary? 

Consumers - are we going to stop buying everything out of fear? Are we going to hoard supplies that others might truly need so that we don't suffer? Are we going to support our local businesses to the best of our ability despite the teetering economic news?

Citizens - are we going to listen to authorities and stay home despite the inconvenience? Are we going to be diligent about washing our hands and sanitizing as best as possible even if the risk to us personally is remote? Are we going to accept that life is going to be a little bit different for us for the time being as we work through this?

Human beings - are we going to have compassion for others? Are we going to accept inconvenience for ourselves so that those who might be vulnerable aren't needlessly exposed to danger? Are we going to be decent to our tenants who might be truly suffering job loss and economic shock, and who are scared? Are we going to check on our parents, our siblings, our neighbors? 

It's easy to be an investor in high times when money is flush. It's easy to be a "nice guy" when everyone is flush with money. It's easy to be a landlord when all your tenants have jobs. When you really separate the "men from the boys" (this is meant to be gender-neutral) is when TSHTF. When your good tenant was told by Hilton to stay home until they need you. When you are on your last roll of toilet paper. When you have a mortgage payment coming up and are short the rent. 

These are the times you're going to remember years from now. I was in the military, and one of the reasons military guys tend to be tight is because they go through really difficult times together. I was listening to the BP podcast today and @Brandon Turner said something that I think everyone should absorb twice - he said "I don't worry too much about it because I'm willing to crawl through mud to fix a plumbing pipe or dig ditches." If you have faith in your ability to do whatever it takes to keep things moving, the Corona Virus will be nothing more for the vast majority of people than an interesting time in your life years from now. 

Personally, I try to be thankful for everything. I'm not thankful that many people will get sick and die - that's ridiculous - but I am thankful that these times give me the opportunity to examine who I am as a man. How I take care of my family. How I treat my tenants. How I treat my employees. How I work for the good of the community. 

You don't get many chances in life to see what you are made of. Anyone who's alive today has been handed a golden opportunity to test that theory. 

[Jay Hinrichs]

Nice Post.

I know we have been trying real hard to raise the funds for our aheroshome.org  so we can give away the house to the Hero its been much tougher to raise charity money than i had thought. I was very naive in thinking that the real estate community would flood us with donations.  WE are almost there and we deeply appreciate those who have donated.

This situation is just so far removed from what most if not all people have ever experienced.. its hard to know the answers.

I mean we are sheltering in place .. And we have no rentals to speak we have some but they are paid for so we are not in the same situation as those who have taken on a lot of debt to buy these assets.. So what i can do for my few tenants would be vastly different than others who have very real concerns about their cash flow..

Our business is still running we are still funding deals we are getting payoffs and our underground contractors are just about done with the first phase of our Portland Oregon project..  And my wife put a fixer we own on the market today and got 10 calls in the first hour we are taking highest and best on Wednesday.. So there is still demand .

there will be a lot of babies born in 9 months.

And I believe unlike 30 days ago when many landlords simply had no clue as to the magnitude of the situation or could really define their risk profiles..  reality has set in and you will see these folks rally to save their good tenants and their investments.  

I will venture out for the first time in a week  wearing gloves  . in the meantime I walk the dog ( we have really cool walking trials in Summerlin) we can keep our social distance no problem and i have never washed my hands so many times.

I had to cancel 4 flights the last 6 weeks.. And hope to reposition back to Oregon in April if they dont close the borders..

At the end of the day I am a firm believer that people will do whats right..  And those wishing for a crash well they might want to tone that rhetoric down wishing for others to fail  not sure about that..  people fail at real estate everyday and in all markets deals are always there you partake if you can but wishing for it.. not so sure about that.