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| Carson Mansion Photo Converted by Peggy Molloy |
I have begun to study Real Estate for a salesperson license in the state of California.
No sooner had I signed up & begun the coursework, but the state was locked down for the first time, due to the Covid19 Pandemic.
Due to the Pandemic, the state exam offices have been shut, then re-opening to backlogs of exams to be scheduled. Long story short, I insist on making lemonade out of lemons, & since the exams must be taken in person, I consider this time to wait as an opportunity to excel, to study harder & longer, to enhance my knowledge of the Real Estate industry in general.
Looking around, it appears to me there is an avalanche about to happen. People have been months without work, thus becoming delinquent on their mortgages & rents. This domino effect will end up in the laps of the bankers & real estate investors. Now what?
Let's pretend I am an urban dweller with fantasies of a small, real dirt garden, & a fixer-upper with low overhead except for the building materials, & a personality from a previous era. What would I do? In fact I have stumbled upon a website with wonderful information if a person is resourceful & has an interest in history. My suggestion is to visit: https://circaoldhouses.com/
Circa Old Houses is a fabulous find to dig through from mansions to modest homes, all over the country. You can choose your state, your era, your budget, sign up for newsletters, & in general have a lot of fun creating a new future for yourself & your beloveds.
I want to complain about regulations for builders & contractors. It is a privilege to own property & have building skills & budgets, however, when such persons of good faith are confronted with government entities, city, county, state, federal, it is a nightmare of forms, many being redundant.
Yes, we have a serious homeless problem, but yes, the population of California (for example) has doubled in the last 30 years. The zoning laws & regulations were created in a different social topography. I cannot fathom how many percentage points of increase there has been in rules & regulations for the average builder/contractor in the last 30 years, in California! Next series of creative, perhaps silly ideas.
Let's convert old fashioned outdoor movie theaters into tiny house communities. They are set up with equal spaces, electricity is running to each space & most have a common building that could be used for group meals, laundry & washing rooms, cyber communication stations, etc.
Let's convert empty malls & office buildings into temporary housing for people to have immediate shelter & safety. Many have empty restaurant facilities for serving food & bathroom facilities for personal grooming. Not ideal, but better than having people living on the sidewalks.
I do not have a crystal ball. I do want to be optimistic about facing the future because I know we have so many talented, smart, young people in our midst who will help us understand. Between the preppers settling into Victorians with large pantries & boomers reducing their square footage because the family has basically moved away, jobs are lost, or beloveds are seriously ill, take heart that many others are also facing these new trials. New answers will be created for old problems.
Once I pass the California Real Estate exam, I will gladly entertain more serious property buying & selling, but in the meantime, I am watching with eyes wide open, fingers crossed, hoping for the best.
Blessings everyone & stay safe.
