Bob Nelson – Navigating through Uncertainty

Let’s take a look at navigating through uncertainty.

Featuring:
Bob Nelson, Eugene real estate investment broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker

Marcia Edwards: It seems, as they say, the only constant is change. It seems like uncertainty is somewhere we’re going to be living for awhile. We’ve got coronavirus. We’ve got an election that the die is still out there in regards to what will fall into place. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air.

Bob Nelson: And uncertainty could be defined in one word, risk. If you’re not pretty sure of the outcome, that becomes by definition risky, and people really respond differently to risk. One person says, “Hey, listen. I got this thing figured out. Follow me. Here we go.” There’s another person sucking their thumb and pulling on their ear, laying in the corner, simply paralyzed by the idea, “I don’t know what’s going to happen next.” It’s interesting.

Marcia Edwards: And you don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen next.

Bob Nelson: We don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Marcia Edwards: And that’s okay.

Bob Nelson: Actually, death and taxes.

Marcia Edwards: Oh, you do know?

Bob Nelson: Yeah, I do know.

Marcia Edwards: A couple of things there. Let’s talk about uncertainty and how you sustain through uncertainty. I talked to a financial planner this morning and he said that his counsel has been most recently, “Do we have a plan? Are we working the plan? Is there a reason to change the plan?” Usually, following the plan or staying the course is good advice.

Bob Nelson: Well, most people don’t have a plan and that’s the problem. They see a situation. Sooner or later they reach out and take a chance, quote unquote, and from that point forward, they kind of follow a plan dictated by the direction of which the ship is going, which was fine, but it is so much better to have an real estate investment strategy. Have a plan, know what you’re doing, understand that you have reserves that could carry you through certain things or understand if you don’t. That’s even better yet.

Marcia Edwards: That’s right. The sooner you respond before you have to respond, the better your results will be. So if you need to pull in your lifestyle, do it today. Don’t do it when you have not enough money to make the next house payment or lose the job or go on lay off. I think that there are not uncertainties in certain areas.

I don’t think we’re going to see a recession that has a real estate bubble. I don’t think we’re going to see extensive unemployment in the local area. There’s some baselines that you can look to and say, “Okay, there is more certainty here.” So based on those pieces, lay your plan out for the balance of getting through this time that is uncertain.

Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30pm on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.