Special offer

Change is the key...

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring)

So, is there anything at all that hasn't changed?   Hmmm....it all seems new new new.    In my tiny island home, we are experiencing the other side of turning to an online world. 

With another closure underway (the provincial government says: no travel unless you have to...in an effort to flatten the curve of phase 2 covid outbreaks), we are seeing businesses decide to close for good.  

All tourism economy regions are hard hit.   Although in that first phase of the virus, around March 12th, retail stores that could do so did work to become online savvy, not all were able to do this. 

The flip side of marketing that they can be reached online is that this digital world puts everyone in a global marketplace.  That means someone here is in competition with something similar in Paris, in Seattle, in Melborne, in Singapore.  Does this mean that choice and price are now the keys to success? 

The one thing that is noted in real estate sales: the easing of restrictions in phase one of the pandemic unleashed a lot of city dwellers...they are still looking for rural apart places to move to.   The city mouse definitely wants to be a country mouse. This implies, though, that one can work from home...not the case for everyone.  Low inventory is the mantra, too, as most rural owners don't want to be sellers right now... and that can result in price escalation.   Hmmm.....

The government is encouraging people not to celebrate their seasonal traditions, many loved events here have been cancelled, and in spite of pleas to shop/think/support local, the reality is that online purchasing is the mainstay.

With the ability to stream our listings, we may now start to see people buying without a physical viewing.   Your thoughts?

Well, I know the chorus of this one: change, change, everywhere a change.  It's neither good nor not good...it's just different.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

Comments (7)

Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Li,

My thoughts are many.  When we had our commercial real estate practice we felt that it was overbuilt, and we were seeing the handwriting on the wall for retail, and office space.  This just put the nail in the coffin.  Brick and mortar will always exist but not in a mass way.  And human to human will thrive again in a kinder way (my hope)!  A

Dec 04, 2020 11:13 AM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hello Li - change continues to exist in all aspects of how we connect.  Stay safe and happy.  

Dec 04, 2020 12:09 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Li- change always happens. This year though, the change has come in like a roaring lion with little time to ease into what we must adapt to. The important thing is to be safe and stay safe. 

Dec 04, 2020 06:15 PM
Greg Brown, Sales Rep Toronto, Durham region
Sutton Group Heritage Reallty Inc., Brokerage - Whitby, ON
www.GregBrown.Realtor

WE have people from the city buyinf in rural areas and in cottage countries as their primary residence, yet they only go there for the weekend, they rent the rest of the time in the city closer to work. Some have managed to find an area in cottage country with good internet and during the pandemic are working for the cottage with a lake view.

Dec 05, 2020 06:02 AM
Rocky Dickerson
Realty One Group - Las Vegas, NV
Superior Service!

Great post Li Read  our markets are all much more connected now. I remember Phoenix crashing in the 70s years before anyone else. Now it seems we all breathe together.

Dec 05, 2020 01:02 PM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

We will see many changes that will destroy people's lives and livelihoods as a direct result of the gross abuse of government power. Many will thrive and many will not. 

Buying online ... I am doing much more of it than I ever have. 

Buying a home site unseen ... not something I would do. 

Dec 05, 2020 02:11 PM
Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

Li Read - Tourism has been hit exceptionally hard and once hit with the inability to recover it's nearly impossible to thrive, economically. I have a friend in the Travel Industry who is also suffering financially. The flood of cancellations is astronomical! It sure is a domino effect. I wish you all the best, Li! This sentence is something worth pondering: 

"Does this mean that choice and price are now the keys to success?"

Dec 19, 2020 07:16 AM