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WHAT DIFFERENCES MAKE
Thursday, April 8, 2021 - daily column #6722
A year from now, will life be different?
Will we have shortages of toilet paper, vaccines, or houses?
A year ago …
It seems less about time and more about distance, about how far we have come – from there to here.
We haven’t strayed far for most of you, but the journey has been long and educational. Still, with vaccines being produced and shipped by many millions, every bit of good news is mitigated by bad news. Variants. Conspiracy theories. Anti-vaxers. The blaming game. Politics. Medicine. Science. Pseudo-science. The economy of every country on a roller-coaster ride, stock market flatulence and day-trading mania. Where is it going? And when will it stop?
I was on a conference call with colleagues who lamented what I’ve heard from many jurisdictions about a feeding frenzy in the housing market – multiple buyers competing/bidding-up prices because the inventory of available properties is so low. I remember, a year ago, the buying frenzy was toilet paper – as if there was a risk of more people or more pooping. That turned out to be a false fear, as much as the fear you can’t buy a house is now fueled by a mix of low interest rates, low inventory, hungry realtors, and sellers fearing they cannot get what they want to buy, so they are hesitant to sell.
In most ordinary stabilized markets, people shop for their next home simultaneously to put their current on up for sale. Generally, without too many complications, they sell one and buy the other with coterminous closing dates. Easy. OK, not that easy, but simpler. Whereas today, someone selling a suitable property might have a feeding frenzy the day they come to market but then be frenetic themselves scrambling to find their next purchase in a frenzied market, speed-shopping to get their choice under contract before someone else does …
Reader feedback:
“You are here” hit me hard as I read your blog. Today is the release date of my novel, The Price of Secret. I never thought I’d be here, but here I am. ❤️ So surreal, JM, Seattle, WA … p.s.: I'm so excited and hope you will take a look on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or my publisher's website. You can find the links on my blog: jmaydaze.com If you're on twitter follow me at @JacquieRMay
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