Napa’s Loan Ranger Chris Salese: A boatload of space

A boatload of space

Dreamstime

It’s incredibly sad to continue to watch the destruction that COVID-19 has caused and how it continues to impact the world. As a result, for almost all of us, sheltering in place has forced us to think and do many things outside of our comfort zone. No matter how difficult it is to do, we need to keep teaching ourselves new ways and embrace new challenges each day to maintain our sanity to power through these times. Adaptability,

CHRIS patience and perseverance are

SALESE all critical. Last weekend, I ventured out for only the third time onto my newly purchased used aluminum fishing boat.

I’ve never owned a boat, and I just started fishing, if you can even call it that, since the number I’ve caught is literally less than four.

Somehow, I was able to convince three of my kids to come with me. Unfortunately, after a shockingly embarrassing sequence of events where we got stuck right off the side of the dock in the mud while on the boat, not once but twice, I was yelled at to call it a day and immediately go back home. Hey, I tried.

When the shelter-in-place order first went into effect, it was a shock. But the initial shock has kind of worn off and the reality of what’s in front of us has settled in for the long haul.

In the real estate and lending worlds, we are seeing things we never thought we would see in our lifetime. For example, the amazing amount of technology that a seller must embrace to virtually market their home for sale because of the restraints on holding a traditional open house.

In addition, the long list of health and safety protocols that Realtors need to follow just to show you a home in person, should you choose to do such, is extraordinary.

And of course, interest rates. I mean, what more can I say? I am speechless and when new record lows are set, multiple times, in the same year, this is an unbelievable phenomenon. There are plenty of other illustrations, although I don’t have enough space in this column to write about them.

That said, speaking of space, let’s not forget about buyers and borrowers.

Due to the shelter-in-place, the quest for a larger living space has never been greater. The desire to have a place in your home where you can have some personal space to “family-distance” from other members in your household is in high demand.

On top of this, buyers and borrowers are navigating around all sorts of obstacles these days to purchase a home because of an extremely competitive market. Therefore, buyers are given very little space to negotiate favorable time frames for contingency periods and closing dates.

Like my recent boating experience, it’s great to try new things. However, trying this new way of purchasing a home in today’s market does require more mental and physical space than in the past.

Chris Salese can be reached at chris@ delsurmortgage.com or 707-363-4439. He is a licensed California mortgage lender (LO NMLS #254469 — CA-DBO #254469 Corp NMLS #1850 Equal Housing Opportunity.