Real Estate Community Recovering From COVID-19: Robert Nunez Shares Story of Hope
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A large part of Dallas-Fort Worth has been sheltering in place for more than a month. In that time, we’ve written extensively about how our city leaders are addressing the crisis, how Realtors are adapting to the quarantine economy, and how the market has transformed.
But what we don’t hear enough about are the personal accounts of how real estate professionals are coping with coronavirus, and how the road to COVID-19 recovery is full of hope.
Robert Nunez of Alterra Home Loans took some time to offer his story of hope and his road to recovery.
Classic Symptoms
For me, it started on March 19 with my body feeling tired and drained, I knew something was happening and I was not feeling myself. I rarely get sick. I started getting the chills and my body temperature was rising.
The first day I took Ibuprofen but noticed that my body did not feel any better. The next day, I started taking Tylenol and that really helped me with my low-grade fever under 100 degrees and chills. I was able to use Tylenol to help me get through my days and nights.
My worst night was on March 21. I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air. My body was very hot and I needed to get out of bed and into a cooler room. The following night, I decided to sleep in a separate room from my wife. We decide to do an in-home isolation for the next few days.
I felt fine during the day by taking Tylenol, but at night I would sweat a lot. My body was fighting the virus that I had. I was able to work every day from home during this time because the Tylenol kept my fever away. After the third night of fighting, we decided I needed to get tested to confirm if I had COVID-19.
On March 25, I did a televisit with my primary care provider at Village Health Partners. They were one of the first places to have drive-thru testing. They were able to test me that day. The following day the nurse called and said that I tested positive for COVID-19. My family and I were upset and scared about what might happen. The nurse recommended I continue in-home isolation from my family until I fully recovered.
We followed the CDC guidelines on “How to discontinue home isolation.” By the time I got the news, my body was recovering and going back to normal. But since there was not, and there is still not a lot of information on this virus, I was being very careful around my family.
After the 72-hour recovery period recommended by my doctor and the CDC, I was able to remove myself from home isolation but continue to wear a mask around my family and continue to sleep in separate rooms. After my follow-up appointment with my doctor on April 1, I resumed a regular lifestyle at home with my family. I try not to leave the house, but when I do, I wear a mask. Mostly because the CDC recommends it.
Fully Recovered
As of today, I am fully recovered and have taken a second test in hopes that I get a negative result. Once I test negative, I will help others by donating my blood and plasma with the COVID-19 antibodies.
(Update: Nunez has since received a negative test result and is working to donate plasma with UT Southwestern.)
As background, my family and I had traveled to Iceland and returned to the states on March 8 in NYC. On March 9 we flew home to Dallas. Later that day I flew to Las Vegas for corporate meetings. I returned to Dallas on March 12. That same day we found out that Iceland was a high-risk country affected by COVID-19. We voluntarily decided to start our in-home social distancing for 14 days.
Coping With Business Disruption
In my business, I have a team that mostly works remotely. During the time when I was sick and recovering my team and I saw an increase in purchase and refinance applications. My clients where executing contracts on homes they had made offers on. There were a lot of changes taking place in the mortgage industry. Rates were fluctuating daily and loan programs were tightening. My team and I increased our communications doing daily check-ins and video calls with our clients and real estate partners. Our focus was on keeping them informed of the rapid changes and the volatile market.
March ended up being a busier than normal month for intake and we expect those loans to close this month. That is in large part because of the refinance boom.
Family Support Was Crucial For Recovery
My wife was my biggest supporter during this time. She immediately recommended that I stop and force rest. She also made sure I stayed with the recovery process and not try to overextend myself.
She owns a 26-person marketing and PR agency and became Wonder Woman as she moved her team to work from home full-time, tend to clients who were in crisis, and help our girls (ages 13 and 6) get set up with homeschooling.
Meanwhile she took care of me by making and bringing me breakfast, lunch and dinner during my in-home isolation. She is my rock. It’s so important to have someone that you can call and can be there for you if you don’t feel well and need to stay home.
When I was fighting the virus I didn’t share with my business partners or team as there were so many unknowns, and there were times I felt fine — just tired. I stayed close with my team who made sure all of our clients’ needs were met. Some clients did notice that I was not my normal self during that time.
The other key part of this is my faith. I know that God is in control and He has a plan for all us and I am at peace because of Him. The only thing that I can control during this time is my faith, my mindset, and how I show up for others.
Doing Business Effectively From Home
My team and I have been working from home since March 12. Everyone has somewhat adjusted to the new normal.
I am used to working wherever I need to — on the road, my home office, or my regular office. The only adjustment at this time is working from home full time and balancing life with my wife and girls at home as well.
The first thing we did was decide who will work where in the house and set up our work spaces. Our kids are used to seeing us work from home and we have boundaries set established — when we are in our workspace they do not interrupt.
We made schedules for them — nothing too cumbersome, as this is an adjustment for them too. Our 13-year-old made her own schedule and our 6-year-old generally gets to choose her play and school times and activities. She even learned how to start and run her Zoom calls for school.
We want them to feel empowered as they navigate an emotionally challenging time.
Are you on the road to recovery from COVID-19? Share your story of hope with our readers by emailing [email protected].
