Fortunately, we have a government and an economy that is strong enough to help businesses and individuals for a period of time. However, the only goes to those that qualify for the help. While many of these programs are forgivable, meaning that they require no repayment, many are passing because they don’t think they need it or because some other reason tells them they shouldn’t access it.
Another big question mark that everyone has right now is the difference between mortgage forbearance and mortgage deferral. While forbearance means that it all comes due as soon as the forbearance period has passed, deferral technically means that the life of the loan is extended out the same amount of time as the deferral and there is no lump sum payment due at the end of the deferral period. Keep in mind that different mortgage lenders have different definitions and interpretations for these distinctions and so it behooves each person who is interested in qualifying for one of these programs to call their lender to get clarity on what that means to their specific lender.
We also discussed the general sentiment amongst buyers and sellers at this time. While many buyers and sellers are still moving forward, there’s no doubt that our economy has been wounded. While 10M in the US applied for unemployment in the past few weeks, we must recognize the trouble that this signifies trouble for both the employee and the employer. It behooves real estate agents to bulletproof their transactions by ensuring that those with whom they are working are employed and that there is a high probability that they will stay that way.
Tony shared that the silver lining in all of this is the return to humanity in our business. He sees this as being a real shock to the iBuyer movement because people will realize that they appreciate and need the human side of the business. He recommended reaching out to all of your clients to check in and see how you might serve them in their time of need.
Tony’s answer to the Signature Question of how he continues to think bigger and expand his own possibilities is to get outside himself and be concerned about the needs of others. He finds that as he does this, he immediately finds space and opportunity to grow.