It’s hard to imagine anything more disruptive than this damn pandemic. In just a few weeks it’s turned the world upside down, forcing millions into immediate and severe financial distress and creating new challenges for home sellers and buyers. Do you want to have strangers walking around inside your house? Do you want to be walking around inside strangers’ houses? And why can’t you just continue to work from home and avoid the commute and wardrobe issues and let your personal appearance degenerate (unless your wife might leave you)?

However, it’s possible that some good will come out of this as it’s forcing all of us to rethink how we work and how we live our everyday life. Something about necessity being the mother of invention – nothing to do with Frank Zappa of course. Let’s look at some of the latest evidence of disruption afoot.

Mortgage Delinquencies Almost Double – In One Month

Earlier this week I posted on how foreclosure activity plummeted in April as a result of government policies temporarily suspending foreclosures. However, that doesn’t mean that mortgages aren’t in trouble. In fact, just yesterday Black Knight released a preliminary report that indicates that mortgage delinquencies increased by 1.6 MM in April, the largest amount ever. The delinquency rate rose from 3.39% to 6.45%.

Also this week the DePaul Institute For Housing Studies released a study that showed that there are 569,000 households in Cook County with at least one worker who is at risk of being laid off as a result of the pandemic and the consequent economic impact. Crain’s looked at this data and noted that it represents 28% of all Cook County households. They then concluded that all of these households were at risk of losing their homes. I think that’s a bit of a stretch. Some of these households might have paid off their homes or other income earners in the household might be able to cover the mortgage or they might be able to use savings for long enough to get to the other side. Nevertheless, we can all agree that the problem can get pretty big.

People May Escape High Cost Cities

For decades I have been mystified by people who live in high cost cities. New York and San Francisco are the first two that come to mind. The usual excuses include some nonsense about the quality of life or cultural opportunities – or the more rational excuse of employment opportunities. All I know is I could never see myself saving much money in those places.

Well, one of the benefits of a potentially lethal virus ravaging the country is that it forces you to think outside the box. With so many people working from home now employers have finally figured out that it is possible to have a distributed work force, which could save them on facility expenses and rapidly spreading illnesses, and workers now realize they can live in cheaper places and/ or avoid an agonizing commute and/ or avoid the next pandemic. You’ve probably heard about all the Silicon Valley companies that are embracing the work from home model and Redfin just conducted a survey that found that more than 50% of the workers in our most expensive cities would move out of those cities if they could work from home.

In fact, over the last few weeks there have been a number of stories about how realtors are experiencing a surge in interest in the New York suburbs. I’ve also previously reported on how the Chicago suburbs have not been hit as hard during this pandemic as the city has been. Nevertheless, I’m wondering if people looking for more affordable options will seek out Chicago as offering the urban lifestyle at a lower cost.

Are There Really Bidding Wars Out There?

This is the most mystifying trend out there. Redfin claims that nationwide more than 41% of the offers that they submitted were in competition with other offers. In fact, they claim that more than 30% of the Chicago offers had competition.

Now I think most people will conclude from this that 41%/ 30% of the properties had multiple bids but that’s not what the press release says. It specifically references offers. In other words, if two Redfin clients submitted an offer on the same property those would count as two offers, not one property. So the percentage of properties facing multiple bids would be slightly less than what they show.

Even assuming some modest correction to the percentage of properties I find it really hard to believe that this many properties would have multiple bids. So my first thought is that maybe there is something about the typical Redfin client that attracts them to underpriced properties?

I find that easier to believe than the notion that there are that many multiple bid situations – at least in Chicago. That’s because none of the data that I look at – in particular, market time and sale price/ original list price – suggests that demand is that strong. If you know otherwise please let me know in the comments section below.

#Foreclosures #ChicagoForeclosures #Coronavirus #ChicagoRealEstate

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

BY SANDRA GUY

We’re now only too aware that a cough and shortness of breath are COVID-19’s most dramatic symptoms, forcing some patients to be intubated and put on ventilators.

So recognition of “World No Tobacco Day” on May 31 — designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) — takes on tremendous import this year.

This year’s theme: Telling young people that marketers may try to entice them with fun flavors, hip slogans and social media hype — but the truth is that smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19, according to a WHO news release.

That’s because touching your fingers, or a contaminated cigarette or vaping cartridge, to your lips increases the chances of transmitting coronavirus.

Smokers also may be at increased risk of having reduced lung capacity, leaving them particularly vulnerable to a virus marked by breathing difficulty and its propensity to morph into pneumonia.

“It would be reasonable to think that any condition that potentially affects the lungs, be it chronic or acute effects from such behavior as smoking or vaping, regardless of the ingredients inhaled, could play a role in making someone more susceptible to complications from the disease,” said Dr. Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Association’s Chief Medical Officer, in a press release.

Public health experts also warn the vapor and smoke may contain virus particles, as can chewing-tobacco spit.

In March, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians called for a ban on sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes during the pandemic.

The World Health Organization wants everyone to take it a step farther by urging young people to beware the tobacco industry’s marketing campaigns, whether they be on social media, in pop culture or on school campuses that may start gradually reopening in the Fall or in 2021.

Experts say people who are addicted to vaping or smoking should consult their doctor to see if they should use a nicotine patch or other stop-smoking products such as nicotine gum.

It’s a simple procedure. You take one elastic hook and pull it behind an ear. You then take the other elastic hook and pull it behind your other ear. Then you adjust the cloth portion over your mouth and nose. VOILA! You’re done! You’ve put on a mask to help protect yourself and others from the coronavirus. See?! I told you it was simple. Easy peasy! And yet Donald Trump, the President of the United States, the leader of our country and the free world won’t do it.

We’ve been fighting the outbreak of coronavirus in the United States for almost three months. The numbers are daunting. Over 1.6 million confirmed cases with ninety-five thousand dead. We’re told the best way to keep from becoming one of those statistics is to practice social distancing and when out in public WEAR A MASK! Although all fifty states are now at least partially open, we’re still told to practice those two things. Not just in a few states….not in ten or twenty states….all fifty states want you to do those two simple things. Every. Single. ONE!!!! And when states that are run by Trump lackeys tell you to wear a mask, you should take it seriously.

Yesterday, Don took a road trip to the state of Michigan. He decided to visit a Ford Motor plant, in Ypsilanti, where they are making ventilators….yanno those machines that help people breathe. The workers in that plant are making machinery that helps keep people with coronavirus alive. The workers in that plant are risking their lives so others can live. They are some of the American heroes during this pandemic.

Ford asks one thing and only one thing when politicians come to see what’s happening at the plant…WEAR A MASK!

When informed that Don was coming to pay a visit, he was informed of the policy. Being the privileged little putz that he is, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. One little thing and it was too much for him. Did I say privileged?

He says wearing a mask shows weakness. I think what really shows weakness is ignoring a deadly virus for a couple of months and having thousands die because of it. We’ve seen members of his family wearing a mask. Melania, Ivanka and Jared have all be shown wearing masks. Does he consider them weak?

If it’s good enough for them, why not him? If it’s good enough for all Americans, why not for the person who serves us?

His behavior sure wasn’t good enough for the Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel. She told CNN:

“He’s conveying the worst possible message. And I hope that the voters of Michigan will remember this when November comes, that he didn’t care enough about their safety, he didn’t care about their welfare, he didn’t respect them enough just to engage in the very simple task, the painless task, the easy task of wearing a mask when he was provided one. And so I hope that we’ll have a new president soon enough who does respect people more than this president does.”

Not only doesn’t he care about their safety, he’s setting an example to his supporters. They see him without a mask and think if it’s okay for him, it’s okay for us. That’s why you see these public confrontations at places like Costco and Walmart. You can blame all of them on Donald J. Trump. Every single one.

Don did say he wore a mask during the no press cameras tour. A photo even surfaced of him in the navy blue face mask.When asked about why he didn’t wear it in the rest of the plant he said, “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.” 

It’s just another Trump lie. This week alone we’ve heard about Obamagate, hydroxychloroquine, voter fraud, the unmasking of Mike Flynn and now this. Four more to go with the tens of thousands other lies over the last three-plus years. Nothing new!

Attorney General Nisser said it best, “Today’s events were extremely disappointing and yet totally predictable.” 

That perfectly describes yesterday and the last three-plus years.

Related Post: I hope Donald Trump isn’t lying about hydroxychloroquine

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What does the new normal mean for your future?

Empower, embrace are strong words from author and former Nevada Attorney General George J. Chanos in his new book Millennial Samurai that offers a roadmap for facing the challenges that lie ahead.

COVID-19 has changed the world in ways we couldn’t have imagined as little as a few months ago.

How can we prepare this new world?

Chanos believes that the best way to prepare for the post COVID-19 future is for today’s leaders to educate and inspire tomorrow’s leaders. 

To these ends he is donating one million digital copies of new book “Millennial Samurai” here.

The book was inspired by a major heart attack that Chanos suffered in November of 2012. His brush with death left him resolved to prepare his daughter and nephew for the future.

In the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the timing for his book couldn’t be better. His desire to prepare his family for a future, that he knew would be nothing like his own past, resulted in eighteen months of research and the 2019 publication of “Millennial Samurai: A Mindset for the 21st Century.”

“Millennial Samurai” offers hope and help for millennials and others to build their minds, their confidence and their readiness for the future.

“To survive and thrive in the 21st Century, you will need to pivot and adapt to a rapidly and radically changing environment,” says Chanos about his new book that focuses on a movement to empower people to embrace change.

Chanos explains in his book that America is at a tipping point with radical changes already under way. He says, “in a time when we should be planning and preparing for the future, we are instead divided by race, age, sex, religion, economics and identity politics – and we are paralyzed by political dysfunction.”

“Millennial Samurai” is Chanos’s way of being part of the solution to these problems. His goal is to guide the millennial generation, and beyond, to ready themselves for the future as we rise out of the COVID-19 pandemic and encounter what he describes as a “tsunami of technological change on the horizon.”

About Chanos

George J. Chanos grew up in Wauwatosa Wisconsin and attended Wauwatosa West High School. Chanos served as Nevada’s 31st Attorney General from 2005-2007, where he administered Nevada’s Department of Justice and acted as the state’s chief legal officer. 

Prior to serving as Attorney General, Chanos had a legal career representing individual and corporate clients on all matters relating to growth and management of their businesses.

Today, Chanos resides in Las Vegas as an author, speaker and business consultant. He has served on numerous boards, both civic and corporate. For the last ten years he has served as Chairman of Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop Inc., with over 100 stores in 19 states, where he advises and mentors his Millennial partners. 

Other books by Chanos

“Seize Your Destiny: Choices That Lead to a Happy, Successful and Meaningful Life” (pub. 2016).

In addition to free digital copies of “Millennial Samurai.” hard copies are available on Amazon.

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