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Trust This. Covid and Closings

May 20, 2022

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Trust This.

By Joseph E. Seagle, Esq. ● May 20, 2022

Smart Brevity^® count: 2 mins...480 words

Omicron found our office this week and sent five of us — including yours truly — home until we are negative. Right now, I’m better at sleeping and coughing than thinking and writing, so this week’s Posts will be short and sweet .

1. A picture ….

soups and tea boxes displayed as pyramid

A PCS crew member care package: echinacea tea and chicken noodle soup.

One of our company’s core values is “caring for others.” That translates to “be nice to everyone you can when you can.”

This week five employees tested positive for COVID-19. We dusted off our pandemic protocols and sent out a company-wide Teams message Sunday evening.

Those who were able, should work from home;
Those who are too sick, don’t need to work, nor do they need to worry about using up their Paid Time Off, because it won’t count while we’re in this mess;
Those who could make it to the office or who had to be there, would wear masks and provide backup to the remote workers.
We purchased more KN95 masks and test kits to give to crewmembers to replace all the ones they’re now using.

These are nice things to do to have each other’s backs. But Herodita, our office administrator, took it one big step further and ordered care packages (pictured above) that were delivered to the sick employees’ homes.

It’s one example of a PCS crew member living the company’s core values, and we’re fortunate to have people like her and everyone else who has each other’s back this week.

2. Catch up quick

An elevator button for going up that is lit up, and an elevator button for going down that is not lit up.

Imagine being under contract to purchase a new construction home, only to not be able to afford it when construction is completed, because the interest rate on the mortgage increased so much during construction. Lose the home and your deposit? Wall Street Journal

Mortgage rates have risen faster in the past five months than at any time since 1981. Fannie Mae expects a meaningful slowdown in home sales for the second and third quarters of 2022, followed by a softening in construction activity and a large deceleration in home-price growth. American Land Title Association

The Biden administration unveiled a plan to increase the amount of available affordable housing. A big part of it focuses on mobile and manufactured homes and financing new construction. Marketplace

FHA issued a mortgagee letter that provides additional time for owner-occupants and approved non-profits to purchase and finance FHA’s post-foreclosure homes. FHA

3. Music to my ears

Rolling mountains in autumn with forest in foreground

I grew up here

At one of our L10 meetings this week, our segue question was, “What’s your favorite song.” Here’s JT performing my favorite on the BBC a few months before I was born.

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