Today, we talk with Peggy Slappey Properties about how she navigated the 2008 housing crisis and how this is different from 2008’s downturn. Peggy offers the community and our listeners hope in this episode of The Gwinnett Podcast! Also, on this episode we premiere “listener mail!” Call 770-765-5192 to leave us a voicemail for our show’s listeners.
There’s No Place Like Home.
Put on the booties, a mask, and some latex gloves and we’re ready. No, it’s not some sort of bio-science experiment that you’re gearing up for, it’s just time to look at a house you might want to buy! That’s what the experience is like for most buyers today, and in the Covid-19 era, this is business as usual.
“We entered this Covid-19 crisis with an under supply of housing, not an oversupply as we did 2008. This recession is NOT a housing crisis.” Peggy Slappey explains.
Peggy should know a thing or two about the housing market, after all it’s this May that Peggy Slappey Properties celebrates 38 years in the business. “Right now, for the safety of our buyers, we are asking them to follow us in their vehicles rather than riding with us. We are providing gloves, booties, masks, and keeping our social distance. We are still showing homes and we’re still selling homes.”
There are certain things in your life that even a pandemic can’t stop and it’s just time to move. It’s time to sell. It’s a new job. It’s a change in area. It’s a school system that you want to be in. Various reasons, that just can’t be put on hold. And when you are searching for a home, as great as the virtual tours are these days, you still have to see it, smell it, feel it out for yourselves. Going to look at a home may require a few extra steps, but it’s simply irreplaceable when it comes to buying your next home. “I’ve referred to this a little bit like a snow storm. “We get on the coats and boots and go out in the slush, but we’re a little bit slower than we were. This is not a one day snowstorm, it’s 30 to 60 days,” Peggy reminds us.
Peggy Slappey also knows what it’s like to lead a team through more than just a snowstorm as she navigated the great economic tsunami of 2008’s housing crisis. “When it began and I began to hear about what would become the housing crisis back then I thought, we’ve got this, and then it became evident that this was bigger, wider and deeper than any of us ever imagined.”
Everyone in the real-estate industry was hit hard by that crisis and had to downsize. Everyone lost, including Peggy and her team. “We lost equity, we lost in development. There were developments that could not be continued, houses that could not be finished. Fortunately, thank God, we were able to help with many of the bank situations, in selling and helping to put homeowners in the homes that were vacant at the time. We powered through it but it was painful. We loved people. We cared for people. We understood their hurt and pain and we went through it with them. It was some dark days. I always had hope because every recession has the other side where we’re going to come out of it. It took a little longer on that one. I don’t think this is going to be anything like that.”
While it is certainly true that this pandemic has been different from anything that we’ve really faced. There is always the other side after an economic slowdown and a future to look forward to.
Knowing what it is like from her time on the front lines of the housing market collapse Peggy added, “We’re all struggling that we can’t go out and socialize, but those in the restaurant business, the entertainment world and hotel workers are losing. Their income is cut dramatically, if not totally off. What gets me through today and always has, is my faith. Lots of prayers and God helping us through and keeping myself fed with positive information and keeping believing and keeping up hope because it is not forever. It is temporary and it will come back.”
So, if you’re looking to sell or buy a home during this rare season in our history, know that both the selling inventory and interest rates are lower than average making it a rare season in the housing market for sure! It seems to be both a great time to sell or buy a home, so if you’re thinking about it. There is no time like the present.
To listen to the full Podcast with Peggy, make sure you check out
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