A Year Into The Pandemic, What Have We Learned About North Texas Real Estate?

Share News:

These have been the longest 12 months of all our lives. Has it really been 12 months since COVID-19 and Shelter-in-Place started messing with us? Are we sure it hasn’t been 12 years? Let’s look back at how the past 12 months have been with Tarrant County Tuesday. What did we learn?

Small Dip Then Boom

For some home shoppers, the immediate aftereffects of the COVID-19 virus were actually beneficial. If you remember, 12 months ago no one knew if the quarantine would be a few days, few weeks, few months. The initial panic was to load up on toilet paper, the next panic was about jobs and finances. Many thought jobs were going to cease and the economy was going to completely implode.

I saw it, my clients saw it, and I’ve heard many others did as well. There was a short, maybe two- to three-week window of opportunity where buyers were able to actually get a home under contract without going over the asking price and without having to compete with multiple offers.

From a seller’s viewpoint, taking the bird in hand — even it was a lower offer on their home — seemed like the wise thing to do. Again, none of us knew if real estate was even going to continue. However, once the real estate industry was deemed “essential” and the initial panic and fear that the dollar was going to become worthless subsided, prices started to increase, above-asking offers were more commonplace and multiple offers once again became vogue.

Kudos to those few who were able to buy right when the pandemic hit. The lesson here is to keep your powder dry – be as nimble as possible if you are in a temporary living situation because there might be another opportunity to pounce on a property.

Pools Are Popular

Swimming pools are like motorboats — the best two days of owning one are the first day and the last day. While that might not be the viewpoint of everyone, a pool on a property is one feature that can immediately get that home a thumbs down should the prospective buyer not want one.

As the pandemic and quarantine continued through the hot summer months, homes with pools became quite popular. Talking to pool companies, many were telling customers they were busier than ever and were telling people who wanted a pool built that it was going to be twice as long to build with lack of labor, materials and demand — the same thing that new home builders are going through currently.

Emphasis on Home Office and Outdoor Spaces

Pretty quickly we learned that spending countless hours at the computer while sitting at the dining table wasn’t a good thing. Surely this pandemic has been a boon for chiropractors and massage therapists. Formal home offices haven’t been in demand for quite some time — if ever — when considering a home, but as Zoom calls and laptop work increased, so did the need for a quiet place to act as an office.

It didn’t have to be a large space, but buyers started valuing properties that had areas there could be utilized by someone trying to work from home — or pretend they are going to school from home.

Immediately we started to see listings that mentioned a home office or area to work. And who says Realtors aren’t paying attention?

Likewise, outdoor spaces became more and more popular. Even if a home didn’t have a pool, but a nice lawn or shaded area for outdoor activities, those listings got more attention. Large covered patios for gatherings, outdoor sport courts and certainly shade trees, anything that could be utilized for “normal” events while hopefully being as safe as possible had increased value to both buyers and sellers.

Drivable Vacation Destinations

In North Texas we are blessed with many local lakes. Those areas were, and still are, some of the most sought after real estate properties around. Travel out of the United States is still cumbersome and unpredictable. Likewise, flying to vacation destinations became less and less important.

What we learned is that people still need a vacation. We all need to get away and “unplug” from time-to-time. Texas beach properties, river, and lake homes suddenly caught the attention of those who usually would take a more exotic vacation.

In North Texas, if you own a lake property you are the envy of many. While Texas beaches might not be the same as in other states, drivability and convenience certainly has caused closer vacation destinations to become very much in demand.

What Did You Learn in The Past 12 Months?

Certainly, there are more things that we have learned over the past 12 months when it comes to real estate. Feel free to share some tidbits that you and your family learned in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!

Seth Fowler is a licensed real estate agent with Williams Trew Real Estate in Fort Worth. Statements and opinions are his own.

Leave a Comment