It’s been a really wacky 2021 thus far in real estate, a sort of perfect storm if you don’t mind overused expressions stemming from George Clooney films. We need inventory more than any other time in my 17 years in the business. Of course thanks to Covid, many people decided not to sell because they a) didn’t want strangers in their home and b) suffered a precarious financial situation with the economic shutdown. The vaccine is out (in case you haven’t heard) and people are getting back to work, but as of the writing of this we still don’t have much of a recovery in terms of inventory. California and other states continue to hemorrhage both jobs and residents, an enormous of them coming to Texas, many of those coming with huge bags of cash after selling their 2 bedroom shanty in Malibu for $1.5 million.
“But John, you muscular yet painfully sensitive litterateur,” I hear you ask, “builders are putting up houses by the thousands. Isn’t that going to help with the shortage of inventory?” Well, fake person, there aren’t enough builders, newly-plotted subdivisions, or labor crews to keep up with the mass migration to the DFW area. New construction inventory is backed up almost 2 years, and with the cost of labor and materials, “affordable housing” is a very difficult prospect.
As I write this (Tuesday, 4/27), I’m feeling a bit under the weather after getting my second Pfizer shot yesterday, butI definitely felt worse after the first. Meanwhile, my 80-year old mom got both of hers and felt just fine. I swear older generations are just tougher. My vaccine status isn’t something I air in public because the vax/anti-vax camps are so polarized. I chose to get vaccinated for my own reasons, but I completely understand those who are choosing not to get theirs. It’s a scientifically-backed vaccine, created by the finest medical labs on Earth, but it is still an experimental treatment with many noted side effects. My point is, give a touch of grace to the other side because neither is 100% right in this.
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