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11/11/2020
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- Isai Diego
- Realtor®
- 562.653.6444
- 562.809.1331
- Email Me
Isai
Diego
Diego
DRE#02042532
With the coronavirus hanging above us, a global, economic shut down, and unemployment skyrocketing, it makes a lot of people wondering whether or not real estate is such a hot commodity still. While no one has a crystal ball showing what the future might hold, the reality is that the real estate market is still moving, almost unabated because of the virus.
Does that mean you should go out and head into every open house you can possibly find? Not quite, but one thing is for certain: real estate will be forever changed.
My name is Isai Diego, and I’ll be telling you how COVID-19 is affecting the real estate market, and what you can do about it.
We’re still not sure where this global pandemic will take us, and we won’t know what the effects are going to be in the long run, but it’s being guessed by top experts around the world that the Real Estate market, after this Safer-At-Home order, will be stronger than ever. If you’ve been on the fence for a long time, and you’re able to do so, despite the state order, buying today will be among the best decisions in your life.
Super Bowl, Shakira, food, ribs, and Kiwi acting a fool. This weekend was filled with excitement, confusion, and a terribly boring Super Bowl. What does the rest of the week hold for the residents of Long Beach?
I don't watch football too much. There was a time, long ago, where I had to watch every game, every team, and every highlight. Even then, I was completely out of the loop. No matter how many people I talked to, listened, or read about, I couldn't tell you which team Lebron James played for in the NFL. What I could tell you, however, is that football is a wonderful game. Where else can you see massive titans come together and twirl, jump, dodge, and come to a complete stop with seemingly no effort? To be be honest with you, I haven't seen a single game this season at all, despite being a devout Chargers fan. (I was so happy when they came to LA) The truth is, I lost interest in the game. Not only did I not know who was who, I didn't know where they came from, where they went, and how that affected the meta aspect of the NFL, which is where a lot of the excitement comes from the more devout fans. Needless to say, I did enjoy my large bout of ribs, beer, wings, and some sausage croissants that are so simple to make, it blows my mind I don't bake them more often. I wonder if Long Beach has a year-round Super Bowl finger food restaurant around?
Regardless of all the food I ate, I did enjoy a few good passes from Kansas City, as well as a few Hail Mary's from San Francisco. Even though I was a bit upset that the 49'ers didn't take the game, it was all wrapped up in an awesome bowl called the Half Time show. Growing up, I wasn't much a fan of either Jennifer Lopez or Shakira, but as I grew more mature, I started to love their music and their dancing. Seeing them on stage together, dancing and singing was an amazing trip down memory lane, reminding me much of my (awkward) middle-school years. Then I had to remind myself that as beautiful and energetic these women are, they are significantly older than I am, yet in better shape than I have been since high school; a memory trip I didn't really want to remind myself as I dipped yet another wing into ranch.
One dystopia I hope I'm never placed in is the interesting, tragic city of Anhedonia. Saturday evening for me was highlighted with an amazing production held in downtown Los Angeles, Cages. To be honest, the only thing I knew was that it was a love story, and that it was set in a world where no one feels emotions. Being an aspiring writer, this seriously intrigued me and once there, I became completely entrapped in this world. You're greeted and immersed into this world, long before the story begins, with it's amazing settings, props, drinks, and actors. As the story moves along, you're quick to see how the foyer's props play perfectly into the tragic story of Woolf, and his beautiful love interest. It's unlike anything I have ever seen, and if possible, I definitely want to go and experience it once more, if only to catch the smaller details I didn't notice before. I have yet to see such an intense, and immersive show as much as Cages, which if you can, definitely pick up a ticket at www.cagesdtla.com and check out what it's all about.
Luckily, the weekend wasn't just a football game and shows. I decided I needed some fresh air and a mimosa during the weekend which landed me on 4th Street, a bit east of Redondo. Unfortunately, it was early in the morning, so I couldn't go to Que Sera for a beer, but I did have the fortunate luck to find parking right across the street from the amazing P.R.I.M.E. by Shenandoah. Naturally, I got myself a peach mimosa while my friend acquired themselves a regular one. Wanting to share, we got an appetizer and two different entrees, only to be reminded to never order a salad again. As much as I did enjoy the arugula packed Gem Salad with tomatoes and other greens, I would have rather doubled up on their Granny's Fried Chicken which was some of the juiciest, tastiest fried chicken I have had in all of Long Beach. Perfectly crispy, and perfectly spiced, as much as I love to cook, I don't think I can ever replicate their chicken and Corn Fritters. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the location was dog friendly, or else I would have brought the brat my baby girl, Kiwi. At first, I didn't know how to feel about the disposable cups, utensils, and paper, but I realized that it was this small feature that makes PRIME so unique compare to the many awesome restaurants in Long Beach. I'll definitely be visiting this place again with Kiwi to see how she likes it, but one thing I did notice is that there wasn't a dog menu for her to look at. Maybe I'll double up on the fried chicken next time and justify it by saying that I'm sharing with a 15 lbs. dog.
As much as I enjoyed the weekend, I think the highlight would have to be the accidental appearance at one of my favorite pizza bars in Long Beach: The 4th Horseman. A patron since it was Public Beer and Wine, even the simplest pizza they serve, The Slasher, is an incredible experience, and with their ever rotating beer menu, I'm never disappointed with their service, selection, and amazingly horrible horror movie selection. Of course, they do put on some great films, such at Friday the 13th, but their mix of classic and modern horror films never fails to entertain. I still haven't decided which is my favorite pizza that they have on their menu, but I think that The Angel of Death would be up there on the list, always asking for it when they sell it by the slice. While not dog friendly, I would love to see this location eventually get a patio option, much like Hamburger Mary's or Lola's on Retro Row. I can only wait, and hope.
WWIII and the memes that took center stage of this year are already strange ones. With Iran acting up (not that it's unjustified), and the coronavirus picking up steam, we should be looking forward into what the future might hold instead of seeing what might hold us back. Sure, we might get infected and the world will end right? I mean, it happened each time with SARS, bird flu, swine Flu, ebola, measels, etc. etc. and each time, the world came out, not just okay, but forgetting about it by the next big meme. In reality, these outbreaks don't scare me much, if at all. The way I've always seen it is: if I get infected, then I get to lay in bed for days on end and read and play video games. If I'm not, then I'm not. I think we, as a species, like to freak out with pandemics such as these because we're afraid of the unknown, especially with something like the coronavirus. We don't know much about it, and we get up in arms about it, but we shouldn't really worry.
Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. There are many strange things that are happening too! If you're looking to buy your very first and own home, then now is the time. A lot of people wanted to wait until the prices dropped and I'm not sure why they would do that, but you might EVER get another shot at getting an interest rate that's sub 4% ever again. That's right, LESS THAN 4%. During the last weekend, I had two lenders call me for two different loans we're in the middle of escrow calling me. They locked in the rates because, what would you know, they're at 3.5% and 3.65%. These two are the first two in years that I lock in at such a low interest rate. As I mentioned in my video, "The Cost of Waiting," this is something you always want to take advantage of.
A lower interest rate doesn't so much mean that your payment will be less, but the fact that your payment will be more principle heavy. If you're clever with these interest rates, you'll be able to pay off your home sooner than you think, and if you're extra clever, you might even be able to get someone else to pay your loan for you. That's right! Get someone ELSE to pay for your home. No more paying rent to someone else. Wouldn't it be better to just be a landlord yourself instead? That's why I'd like to announce the House Hacking Workshop of 2020. April 25th, I'll be teaching you the tips and tricks to get started on becoming a landlord and learning how to invest in real estate for yourself as I do. Of course, there are a lot of things to take into consideration here, especially in the Long Beach real estate market. I'll have more details about that workshop soon!
Speaking of house hacking, here in the City of Long Beach, there was a law that had passed not too long ago about rent control. Landlords couldn't raise the rent more than 10% in a year over year basis, plus inflation. What does this mean? that means that if your rent was $1000 a month, then your landlord couldn't raise it more than $100 the next year. In theory, a rent increase of more than even five percent is unsustainable, so it was easy for most landlords to forgive a 10% cap, but for others, it's not so easy. Rents in certain areas grow faster than others because of the high demand. Whether it's school locations, shops, services, and so on, rent does on occasion increase much faster than nearby areas because of such things. The prime example for you would be Belmont Shore, Marina Pacifica, or Ocean and Pine. Rent there has more than doubled in the past couple years, but if you look into other areas, rent has stayed pretty much the same.
That's when the State stepped in, limiting rent control to 5% plus CPI (consumer price index). In Long beach, the total is 8.33%. If your rent was $1000, then your landlord can't increase your rent by more than $83.30. In reality, it's not that much, but for landlords, it's extremely limiting, destroying any hopes into increasing market demands. One of two things will happen: landlords will sell to faceless outside investors, or buildings are going to stay becoming dilapidated. sue, but it's not as easy as one might think. Regardless, Long Beach is a more than capable city, and despite these new restrictions, I suspect that Long Beach will still be a prosperous city, despite what Sacramento wants us to do.
It was a cold morning, and quite honestly, I didn't really want to get up for the day. I was warm and comfortable, but I did have a pretty big obligation that day: the Home Buyers Seminar. I wasn't really in the mood to teach, but I got up knowing that dozens of families were going to have a serious amount of questions of a sometimes complex topic. As I got up and started navigating my phone for a bit, I chose to listen to music for once, instead of a podcast or the news. On my way out, I quickly glanced a comment somewhere that read, "More alive than Kobe Bryant." Dismissing this troll, I ignored it and headed out to the office. Once there, my parents were already setting up the seminar but that's when my dad dropped the news on me: Kobe Bryant is dead.
To be honest, I felt my heart sink, and I really felt like I wanted to cry. When I was a kid, I didn't really have many friends, and I had just moved to a new city, only to have less than no friends. I always loved watching Kobe Bryant and the dream team play, however, making me wonder if I would one day become a basketball star like him. (Spoiler alert: I did not) Regardless, his love for the game, his skill, his focus; these are the things I admired about him. It were the things that I lacked, but he had so much of it, that despite being either fifty feet away, or a two THOUSAND miles away, he projected that energy through my TV screen and into me, making me feel as if I was the one making each shot for the city of Los Angeles. Each jump was my jump. Each shot was my shot. Each yell was my yell. I moved, and ducked, and tossed along with him. All of those emotions were long forgotten, however, as I grew older and became more concerned with that pretty girl from fifth period. When my pops let those words out of his mouth, all of those emotions, feelings, shocks, and jumps came back in one big rush, and the realization that I had forgotten all that, and that I can never feel like that ever again created a great sadness inside of me.
Of course, this was, to me at least, the biggest shock of January. I didn't care about the coronavirus, or the threat of WWIII. I only care about Kobe, his family, and the families of the other victims in that horrendous crash. The world might never know exactly what happened in that helicopter crash, and much like the death of another one of my favorite celebrities, I would much rather not know exactly what happened. I would much rather believe that he died, comforting Gigi the whole way down with her in his arms saying that everything will be alright, only to open their eyes into a great hall where they can play ball together in peace for the rest of time.
I didn't really want to end this on such a sad note, but regardless, life moves on, and our pain of loss today will become memories of joy we can remember later. I guess one thing that tragedies like this always remind me of is to cherish each and every day, no matter how awful, because tomorrow, even the next hour, isn't promised.
Catch me on the next post and podcast! We'll talk about what to expect in February, how to move forward with your investments, and tips and tricks for the upcoming weather we see in beautiful Long Beach, California!