Coronavirus and Commercial Real Estate

There are no crystal plans, and almost no precedents, to give us guidance about what to expect in the weeks and months ahead.  We still have clients looking, clients buying, and there are also some clients pulling out.  Uncertainty is always tough for people, and now it's through the roof.  One buyer felt that his business had already been so impacted that, although he still wanted and needed the new building, he was afraid to commit.  The losses in the market have multiplied that problem.

On the other hand, everything I am reading about crisis management says that good leaders plan ahead for what will, and what might, take place.  If you consider both the best and the worst cases, you usually end up right in the middle.  People who take action sooner than others, whether it's pulling back or charging ahead, are most often the ones who garner the greatest profit.  It's that vision that keeps some buyers marching forward, and they will attract followers, if they move confidently.

That doesn't mean that it is a good idea to stockpile hand sanitizer, as one greedy entrepreneur did last week, but it does mean that, if you play the odds after careful weighing of the pros and cons of doing so, you still may come down on the side of thinking about life after COVID-19.  Governmental aid is going to remain at probably an all-time high, and interest rates should stay at an all-time low.  Doing the bold thing with the right circumstances, and a little luck, can have a great payoff.  The big advantage of betting on real estate is that it's tangible. What you have at the end of the day can't go away, even if it might not be as liquid as most stocks.  Between the market, and what we can foresee will be great pent-up demand for goods and services when the immediate crisis has passed, it may be that staying in the game is the right action to take.

Every day brings changes, so advice is particularly transitory these days.  However, if you do decide that you'd like to take the plunge, we're here to guide and advise you.