When it comes to investing, most people don’t start out with real estate. It seems like a daunting proposition for those who have never done it before. It’s big money and a big commitment. Investors often start small: stocks and bonds, the S&P 200, and robo-investing. We want to minimize risk exposure and dip our toes in without risking too much of our hard-earned money.

Recently, Motley Fool reported on the ways that COVID-19 may change real estate investment as we know it. None of these predictions surprise us, really. Here’s a quick rundown of what their analysis predicts:

The last few months have presented a rollercoaster of reactions, predictions, and turns in both the U.S. real estate market and the economy at-large. Since the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have stressed a need for faith and patience in the real estate market. Thus far, we have seen widespread tenacity and adaptability. By and large, the U.S. real estate market has seen surprisingly positive movements. 

As real estate investors, we’re all tired of doomsaying. Even last year, before any of us could have anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic repercussions, experts were already predicting a recession to hit. And hit it did!

According to the experts, the United States officially entered into a recession in February 2020. With economic turmoil and record-high job losses, it’s not difficult to see the ripple effects of recession spread out into the areas of our lives.

As time passes, we’re seeing more encouraging information about the state of the real estate market versus the fearful predictions of a few months ago. That said, there’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to impact real estate. For real estate investors, the question is less about whether to invest, but how one’s strategy needs to adjust to changing priorities and both economic and market conditions.

As the pandemic impact stretches into the summer, we gain more clarity on the ripple effects shaking employment, healthcare, and real estate — among other areas of life. From the very beginning, we knew this was something big. Everything has been thrown into the chaos of anxiety and uncertainty. It was tough to tell how exactly it would all come out in the wash.

Investors of every kind look for the opportunities that they can count on. They want to be able to, at least to some degree, predict the future. While no worthwhile investment comes without risk, there is something to be said for the predictable, reliable, and proven. 

As real estate investors, we’re always hyper-aware of changes in the real estate market. This has been especially true since COVID-19 came ashore. It’s all-too-easy for investors to panic about the state of the market — or rather, panic about what they’re afraid the state of the market will become — when, as always, we adapt to thrive.

It has been near two months since COVID-19 became a major concern in the United States. Most of us remain in self-quarantine while we try to make our families, neighbors, and coworkers as safe as possible. We don’t know how long this will last, nor do we fully see and understand the ramifications of the pandemic — not just the toll on human life, but on our way of living and doing business, our economy, and our future.