The Times Are Changing — Here’s The Reality

We all hope and believe we will get through this emergency and beat COVID-19. However, here’s the reality: the world is forever changed from what started in Wuhan in December 2019 and was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11th.

Scrolling through the headlines of newspapers and magazines around the world, we can find hints of how some elements of our social and working life are going to look like: increased digitization of the healthcare system, spread of smart and remote working, boost of digital infrastructures in our cities and “home-ification” of some of our habits.

Think about it: I didn't get to talk to the Peloton driver, but I’ve just chatted with a UPS driver who told me he delivered 10 treadmills over the last week in the neighborhood – will brick and mortar gyms be a thing of the past? Time will tell.

What should we do?

As a real estate entrepreneur, it is not the time to make cheesy ads, seek for improbable ways to take advantage of this situation and door knock asking, “Hey do you wanna sell your house?”...

I am here to add value, and solve problems. Very few of us have experienced a pandemic before.

So, for this update I want to share some good habits that I believe can help all of us during our time at home:

Limit our news intake

Now more than ever, we must focus on reliable sources and question unreliable ones. Let’s not overwhelm ourselves with a 24/7 storm of news that leads to fear and anxiety. For couples, try rotating days where only one of you is plugged in, and you can let the other know the news for the day. Use this time to read a book instead or master a skill. Try to get better every day.

Keep a routine

This is not a vacation. Let’s set our wake-up times and follow a schedule for our days with time for work, proper nutrition building our immune systems, sport and unstructured playful moments with our families.

You might want to check out the variety of home workouts my wife Heidi has put together helping people stay active during these times.

Be safe when we get outside

We know there are social distancing rules in place, but we also need some fresh air from time to time. Places like Castle Island attract too many people these days so I put together a list of less frequently visited places in South Boston area during these times.

Focus on our online presence

This emergency has highlighted once again how important it is to be online, no matter the industry we are in.

We need to get comfortable with face to face videos on platforms like Zoom, invest in our digital marketing, polish our activities on the cloud whether it’s Google Drive or Dropbox and keep things organized using a project management tool like Trello or Asana. A more simplified to do list app I love is Google Tasks.

Check out how we can help our community

With everything going on around us it is now more important than ever for us to support local businesses. All local small businesses, especially restaurants, bars and cafes have been impacted by the pandemic. Many of our local restaurants, bars and cafes are offering takeout. A prime example is Lulu Green on W Broadway. They are tirelessly working to give us delicious and healthy takeout options to help keep our immune systems running strong.

Revamp your own house

I want to give you a hint of one more thing that’s keeping me busy! Every one of us now has the time to look around, get rid of some excess and get the most out of the place we live in. 

Heidi and I are making our home more customized to the way we live and work. I’ll be happy to share about our work in progress, hoping that it can help those of you who face home renovation decisions and don’t know where to start. See you soon with new content!

P.S. There will be a time for important considerations about how COVID-19 will impact real estate and your situation – and I will be happy to share them with you!

If you have any sort of question about it, just reach out to me and let’s chat!

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Chris Fitzpatrick is a licensed real estate broker owner in South Boston. Chris prides himself on his knowledge of South Boston nuances, off-market listings and new development projects rapidly shaping the neighborhood. He focuses on creating proprietary real estate tools, predictive analytics, and technology empowering sellers, buyers, and investors. Chris can talk your ear off about the benefits of yoga and HIIT training, loves to travel, is passionate about entrepreneurship and tech, and absolutely loves rooting for the underdog.