4 Ways That Help Us Survive the Coronavirus Crisis

Earlier this week our shelter-in-place mandate got extended into the end of April (at least!).

Here are the 4 ways that can help us survive the Coronavirus Crisis!

Zoom Meetings

With social distancing in full-force, real estate investors and enthusiasts are trying to find new ways to stay connected without actually having to get near each other.

Many of the real estate professional groups have taken their meetings online! With Zoom, you can have an effective presentation without physically bringing people together. It’s a great way to stay updated with the market during these shifting times. Of course, the main downside is that networking before or after the presentation is completely absent.

I’ve debated on continuing my meetup groups online for the same reason. Without the ability to network with other investors in the area, an online meetup is just like any other podcast or Youtube video that I create.

I suppose the main benefit is if someone happens to have a question and they want to ask the speaker there directly. I’m not sure if that justifies the work into creating a live meetup group. Let me know, is an online meetup something that you’d like me to host in the near future?

CARE Act

I wrote a lengthy post last week about the different ways you can get some extra money from the government. I wanted to add some more findings here.

Due to the astonishing amount of people who have been unemployed or furloughed due to the Coronavirus, the government has decided to increase unemployment benefits by $600 a week! That’s a huge sum of money and could help you stay afloat during this crisis.

If you have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 situation and haven’t applied for unemployment benefits yet, do it. It’ll take around 12 mins and will help you significantly.

SBA Loans

Everyone has been harping about the amazing PPP loans for small businesses. Basically, you can get a loan for up to 2.5 times your monthly expenses or $10,000 (no questions asked) that can potentially be forgiven if used on the approved expenses. Because of the popularity of this loan, only 25% of your loan may be forgiven if it’s not used for payroll expenses. It’s also on a first come first serve basis, so apply for it if you need it.

Mortgage Forbearance Sucks!

I’ve been told to call my bank to get a mortgage forbearance for my primary residence. Unfortunately, it’s not as great as it may seem. You only get to defer your payments during the forbearance period but are expected to pay the whole balance off immediately once it’s over. If you can’t then you can either go on a payment plan to become current with your loan or do a loan modification, which could affect your interest rate and term date.

While your credit score won’t drop for making late payments, it may still drop when you have a mortgage forbearance on your credit. The payment plan will also show up on your credit, which may decrease it as well.

I go through this in more detail in my Youtube video.

Can You Keep Up With The News?

There are so many new policies and benefits that come up every single day. Hopefully, I’ve helped shed some light on some of the programs that are out there that can help you get through this crisis. Let me know if there are any topics that you’d like me to explore further.