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Helpful COVID-19 Resources And Information For Land REALTORS®

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The National Association of REALTORS® and its NAR Commercial Affiliates, including RLI, have been compiling helpful information and resources for REALTORS®. This page features highlights of the various programs and resources available to real estate agents impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. We will do our best to keep this page updated with any additional resources that may be of value to our members and the industry.

NAR Blog Post on COVID-19 Relief Package Passed December 2020

This blog post from December 21, 2020 provides an overview of what’s inside the year-end relief package passed by Congress, including impacts on the real estate industry at large. Read here.

RLI Voices Of Land Podcast Episodes Related to COVID-19 and The Land Market

The new ‘The Voices Of Land RLI Podcast’, presented by the LANDU Education Program, featuring Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) host Justin Osborn just released two episodes for land agents discussing the impacts of COVID-19 on land real estate markets. The Voices of Land RLI Podcast recently released two episodes on the topic, the first being with guest Russell Riggs, NAR Legislative Policy Liaison for RLI, discussing What Land Agents Need To Know About The COVID-19 Stimulus Package; and another with guest KC Conway, CCIM Chief Economist, on The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Land Market. Listen now.

Virtual Round Table: COVID-19 Impacts On The Land Market

The REALTORS® Land Institute 2020 Future Leaders Committee presents a panel of Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) land experts from across the country in various different land markets to shed light on the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on land values and land market trends.

We’ve also captured the highlights from this recording for each land segment in a series of posts on the RLI Blog:

Webinar: COVID-19 Impacts On The Residential Land Market

The housing market entered 2020 with momentum as home-buyers were enthusiastic about low mortgage rates and the multifamily market continued its expansion. The sudden shock brought on by COVID-19 is impacting the housing market and wider economy as uncertainty and layoffs defer decision making.

This webinar will:

  • Help you build a playbook in real-time to navigate through today’s marketplace.
  • Give insights into the current outlook from home builders for land transactions.
  • Showcase on-the-ground experiences with pushing forward entitlements in today’s market.

Watch the recording to get pertinent information from Senior Managing Principal Tim Sullivan and Chief Economist Ali Wolf of Meyers Research in this RLI Hot Topic Webinar from Tuesday, April 28. Hear updates on this topic from our presenters during their company’s weekly webinars.

NAR’s ‘Right Tools, Right Now’ Program

NAR’s ‘Right Tools, Right Now‘ initiative makes numerous valuable resources available to the association’s 1.4 million members at reduced or no cost.

Members TeleHealth

Members TeleHealth, part of NAR’s ‘Right Tools, Right Now’ initiative, provides around-the-clock access to non-emergency healthcare from more than 2,300 board-certified U.S. physicians. Common issues addressed through telemedicine include allergies, asthma, rashes, joint aches, flu and nausea, among others. Beginning April 2, NAR is funding two months of services for members who currently lack access to telemedicine and enroll in this program by April 15. Recognizing that the opportunity will likely draw significant interest from its members, NAR has also negotiated a discounted rate for those who wish to retain coverage following the two month, no-cost period.

“As we continue to solicit input from our members regarding COVID-19’s impact on their lives and businesses, NAR is grateful to be able to offer expanded access to potentially lifesaving telemedicine services,” said NAR President Vince Malta, broker at Malta & Co., Inc., in San Francisco, CA. “Medical professionals are urging Americans who are sick to stay home, and telemedicine is playing a critical role protecting our communities and our health care workers. We continue to encourage members to limit their exposure and decrease the chance of spreading illnesses to others.” Learn more about this Members TeleHealth.

Coronavirus SBA CARES Act

NAR’s Federal Advocacy team has been working closely with Congress and the Administration to ensure the interests of REALTORS® and their clients are protected in any federal action in response to COVID-19. Many REALTORS® are small businesses, or work with them as clients. In the most recent relief package passed into law, the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or CARES Act, there were significant provisions aimed at assisting small businesses during this difficult time. The CARES Act appropriates more than $360 billion total for new Small Business Administration (SBA) programs – the 7(a) Paycheck Protection Program loans and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) advance grants program. View FAQs and learn more from NAR.

Congress Clears Coronavirus Relief Bill

6/17/2020 The Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday rolled out major updates to the Paycheck Protection Program, offering automatic forgiveness for certain independent contractors and creating a broader application form for forgiveness. Read more.

4/23/2020 The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday providing a fresh round of funding for coronavirus small-business relief programs championed by the National Association of REALTORS® and available to REALTORS® through the CARES Act. The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday.

President Trump is expected to sign the measure, which will clear the way for lending to resume as early as Friday under two Small Business Administration programs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.

Under the agreement, the PPP will receive $310 billion in new cash, while the EIDL fund will receive an additional $60 billion. The bill sets aside $60 billion of the PPP funding for small and medium-sized community banks, which will provide extra help for self-employed individuals and small businesses that don’t have relationships with larger banks.

“The PPP and EIDL had tremendous demand. Although the rollout was rocky, this latest bill should provide enough funds for everyone who needs a loan to get it. REALTORS® still waiting should contact their lender again and keep trying,” says Shannon McGahn, senior vice president of advocacy for NAR. “We have a wealth of resources to help you through the process, including a new video just posted last night.”

The bill also includes $25 billion for coronavirus testing and $75 billion for hospitals.

Quick Guidance for REALTORS® on the PPP and EIDL From NAR

  • If you’ve already applied for an EIDL: The SBA is processing applications already in their system on a first-come, first-served basis. You do not need to reapply.
  • If you have not already applied for an EIDL: Check back at the SBA application page once the additional funding is signed into law.
  • If you’ve already applied for a PPP loan through an SBA lender but have not been approved yet: Check with your lender to see if they are maintaining a queue of applications during the lapse or if you will need to reapply when the renewed funding comes through.

If you have not applied yet for a PPP loan through an SBA lender: Have the application form filled out and your documentation ready to provide to your lender. (For businesses with employees, have payroll documentation; for independent contractors, have your 2019 Form 1040, Schedule C, and 1099-MISC.) If you have an existing relationship with an SBA lender, you should go to that lender first once the program reopens, but be prepared to try multiple lenders, which you can find on the SBA site.

Additional Resources

NAR Commercial: Webinar – Insights For Commercial Executives

his webinar from April 15, 2020, covers the latest news on legislation and SBA loan programs, key transactional guidance from NAR’s legal team, and insights from commercial real estate executives on their experiences working through today’s volatility and how they are helping clients navigate changing opportunities in the coming months. Watch recording.

COVID19 Webinar for Commercial Real Estate Agents

CCIM: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources and Guidance For Commercial Agents

CCIM Institute has prepared a resource page for commercial real estate professionals to provide additional professional guidance around Coronavirus (COVID-19). This page hosts information about FEMA extensions, Tax Extensions, and updates on other legislative advocacy issues.

SIOR: COVID-19 and CRE: What You Should Know

As CRE leaders around the globe, you are feeling the impact of COVID-19. SIOR has provided a collection of resources available to you to keep you up-to-date on latest news and industry impacts.

IREM: COVID-19 Resources and Information for Property Managers

If you are a property manager, this page from IREM is filled with resources for dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.

rural home

Will Americans Trade-In Their Urban Lifestyles For Rural Ones In The Wake Of COVID-19?

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The COVID-19 pandemic will encourage a lot of people to rethink their urban lifestyles. In a time when social distancing and self-isolating play crucial roles in health, consumers living in urban centers find it nearly impossible to follow the rules for safety and are realizing they are at a much greater risk of being impacted by such an outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic will, however, only add to subgroup of the population moving away from large, crowded cities to homes with more open lands in rural areas.

In fact, in a recent Virtual Round Table discussion about COVID-19’s Impacts on The Land Market, Accredited Land Consultant Lisa Johnson with Horsepower Real Estate out of Junction City, OR, predicts that there will be a lot of demand and says that right now there isn’t a lot of inventory to meet it. “We’re still seeing a lot of people calling from the larger metro areas… that, whether its 5 acres or 100 acres, they just want somewhere to go.” Read more insights from Lisa in the COVID-19 Impacts on Rural Residential Hobby Farms RLI blog post.

New York City at the Epicenter of a Pandemic

It didn’t take long for New York City to become the COVID-19 pandemic’s epicenter. Millions of people commuting on a public transit system and passing each other on crowded streets helped the virus spread quickly.

Millennials Were Already Moving to Suburbs

Fear of future pandemics will likely encourage more people to leave cities and settle in suburban and rural areas. Those moving away from cities, however, are not starting something new. They’re continuing a trend.

Drew Ary, ALC, with Ary Land Co in Coweta, OK, said in the COVID-19’s Impacts on The Land Market Virtual Round Table that he is seeing a similar trend in land sales with “an increase in anything outside of 45 minutes of a major metropolitan area.” He also noted that the inventory and interest rates are low and thinks “we’ll continue to see an incredible increase in demand for these types of properties. Read more insights from Drew in the COVID-19 Impacts on Rural Residential Hobby Farms RLI blog post.

As Millennials get older and start families, many of them realize that they cannot continue to afford living in large cities. The median home cost in New York City exceeds $680,000. In LA, the median home cost is nearly $690,000. Few families can afford to spend that much money on housing. A growing number of Millennials and other young people see suburbs, mid-sized cities, and rural areas as cost-saving alternatives with other perks of their own.

Knowing that they will have to spend half a million dollars more on housing to live in big cities, a lot of people don’t mind moving. Moving to smaller cities, suburbs, and rural communities often means that they can purchase larger homes, access better public education, and avoid higher rates of crime – not to mention improve their mental health. Add the fear of another pandemic, and it becomes easy for people to reconsider living in places like New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

rural home

Technology and Remote Work Opportunities May Influence Decisions

Improved technology and a growing number of remote work opportunities may also influence people when they decide where to live. Living in New York makes sense when it’s the only place where you can find a job. When work becomes decentralized and remote, though, employees can effectively make more money by living in cheaper areas.

Data from the Pew Research Center show that internet access has grown considerably in rural and suburban areas over the last two decades. In 2000, only 42% of people in rural places used the internet. During the same year, 56% of suburbanites accessed the internet. In 2019, 85% of people in rural communities and 94% of people in suburbs said that they use the internet.

Despite improvements in technology, many business leaders have shown reluctance to remote working. The pandemic has forced them to reconsider this outdated idea, which could lead to a significant paradigm shift that embraces the value of working remotely.

Companies have already undertaken the hardest parts of setting up remote teams. Stay-at-home orders meant that businesses had to review and adopt software applications designed for remote workers. With these technologies now in place, some companies may decide that it makes sense to keep their employees remote to decrease overhead instead of bringing workers back to their offices. By keeping workers at home, companies may have to spend slightly more money on technology. However, in return, they can save a lot of money on overhead costs associated with real estate, energy, and insurance.

The combination of better internet technology throughout the country and an increase in remote work opportunities will make it even easier for ambitious people to move away from crowded cities.

rural home

Are Employers and Employees Rethinking the Future?

No one knows how people will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once researchers develop a vaccination, employers and employees might go back to life as usual. Alternatively, they could be reconsidering their urban lifestyles as a way to prepare and protect themselves from future potential outbreaks as the world economy continues to globalize. If they feel less certain about the future, there is a good chance that many will leave crowded urban areas for places that offer more room to spread out.

If this pandemic has you thinking about moving to a more rural area to put some land between you and your neighbors, as well as allow you to source your own food, make sure to Find A Land Consultant and use the Land Connections property listing site to help find the perfect property to meet your needs.

rural residential farm

COVID-19 Impacts on Rural Residential Hobby Farms

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A panel of Accredited Land Consultants of the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) shed light on the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on land values and land market trends across the country in a recent Virtual Round Table session. The panel, which consisted of expert land agents from across the country, mostly pointed towards a positive outlook for the land market despite volatility in other areas. One key market they covered was the rural residential hobby farm market.

With a trend the past decade of urban-dwellers moving further to the outskirts of larger urban areas, the COVID-19 outbreak seems to have pushed the migration to rural residential hobby farms even further. Lisa Johnson, ALC, with Horsepower Real Estate out of Junction City, OR, shared that when it comes to buying a rural residential hobby farm or ranchette, these properties are a great “entry-level for owning land, typically 5-20 acre plots.” She feels that due to the COVID-19 outbreak “People are looking to get back to the basics a bit and out of the suburbs.” She explained these rural residential hobby farms are the perfect alternative because “the price range for these properties is well within reach of someone looking to sell their home in town and roll their equity into a down payment for 5 to 20 acres.”

Rural Residential Hobby Farm

As far as going forward, she says they aren’t seeing a lot of listing coming on but closed sales were still pretty even with where they were this time last year. She did note that since the start of April, many agents are seeing a slight slip in the number of closed sales.  Lisa predicts that there will be a lot of demand and says that right now there isn’t a lot of inventory to meet it. “We’re still seeing a lot of people calling from the larger metro areas… that, whether its 5 acres or 100 acres, they just want somewhere to go.”

She also noted that the shutdown is making it clearer than ever that not everybody needs to go to work in an office. With so many companies getting a taste of working remotely, there will likely be a shift in the future to more remote jobs that will allow people to settle further out from cities on to properties like these. As far as an outlook, she said “I also think the economy is going to come back pretty strong.”

Drew Ary, ALC, with Ary Land Co in Coweta, OK, said he is seeing a similar trend in land sales with “an increase in anything outside of 45 minutes of a major metropolitan area.” He said they’ve “had some seasoned listings that have been on the market a while and many of them have been snatched up lately,” noting them having “a lot of calls on rural residential developments.” Drew mentioned that “these properties on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas really seem to hold their value.” He also noted that the inventory and interest rates are low and thinks “we’ll continue to see an incredible increase in demand for these types of properties.

Panel moderator Eric Zellers, who is also with Ary Land Co., noted that he’s been “getting a lot of calls asking if sellers of larger tracts would consider breaking them down and selling 5 or 10 acres of the property.” It is still early to tell, but this could be a new trend in buyer purchasing as more and more people look to invest in living outside urban areas and instead on a rural residential hobby farm or ranchette.

For more insights on the impacts of the outbreak and shutdown on the ranch land market for ranchers from Clayton as well as insights on how other land markets are being impacted, make sure to watch the full Impacts of COVID-19 on The Land Market Virtual Round Table presented by the RLI 2020 Future Leaders Committee or check out the related posts below:

If you are interested in buying, selling or investing in land real estate, make sure to Find A Land Consultant, like an ALC, in your area with the expertise needed to best assist with your transaction.

Drew AryAbout: Drew Ary, ALC, is an agent with Keller Williams Advantage. Drew has a vast knowledge of raw land, land with improvements, and farm and ranch properties. Above all, he has a passion for selling land and farm and ranch properties by bringing buyers and sellers together through honesty and integrity. Drew spent 10 years in the real estate auction world with roles as a Closing Coordinator, Project Manager, and a large portion as the Director of Farm & Ranch Sales. Drew moved to traditional real estate with Keller Williams Advantage at the beginning of 2017.

Lisa JohnsonAbout: Lisa Johnson, ALC, is the Owner/Principal Broker at Horsepower Real Estate. Specializing in Farms, Ranches, and Equestrian Properties in Western Oregon, her and her team of land Brokers are among the top rural agents in the area. Lisa is a member of the RLI Pacific Northwest Chapter, and a 2019 Future Leaders Committee member.

recreational land camping

Are Buyers Moving To Recreational Land In The Age Of COVID-19?

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A panel of Accredited Land Consultants of the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) shed light on the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on land values and land market trends across the country in a recent Virtual Round Table session. The panel, which consisted of expert land agents from across the country, mostly pointed towards a positive outlook for the land market despite volatility in other areas. One key market they covered was recreational land real estate.

Justin Osborn, ALC, out of Durango, CO, who is with the Wells Group Durango said he is “definitely seeing an increase in demand for recreational properties.” For example, he “had three properties that had been on the market for over a year and all of them went under contract the first week of March.” He expects there are a lot of buyers out there “just looking to get away with all the sports clubs shutdown, the recreation centers shut down, and people just can’t get out to spend time as a family recreating like they were able to before all this started.” This is already being reflected in the market as “demand for recreational land has actually gone up,” at least so far in the early days after the outbreak and shutdown.

recreational land

While the demand has gone up, the interesting thing that Justin pointed out is that many of the recreational tracts being purchased are on the smaller-side, as opposed to larger more expensive parcels. This means that many buyers in the market right now are turning out to be potentially first-time land buyers or middle class buyers looking for a refuge to camp and “hunt to fill their freezer.” In his opinion, “We’ll probably see a small uptick, less than 5%, in the small parcels.” He said he doesn’t “see those depreciating, at least right now.”

The bigger parcels, especially in the millions of dollars, he noted that “there’s still a lot of inventory of those. I don’t see those larger ranches doing quite as well, especially the ones that are overbuilt… those I’m afraid could get pretty hard [to sell].” He noted, though, that the depreciation of those larger ranches though should be more of a short-term hit that will eventually correct in the longer-term.

Overall, Justin is predicting “a lot of opportunities, even for the average Joe, to get themselves into a recreational property.”

For more insights on the impacts of the outbreak and shutdown on the ranch land market for ranchers from Clayton as well as insights on how other land markets are being impacted, make sure to watch the full Impacts of COVID-19 on The Land Market Virtual Round Table presented by the RLI 2020 Future Leaders Committee or check out the related posts below:

If you are interested in buying, selling or investing in land real estate, make sure to Find A Land Consultant, like an ALC, in your area with the expertise needed to best assist with your transaction.

About: Justin Osborn, ALC, is a licensed associate real estate broker with The Wells Group. Justin is a member of the REALTORS® Land Institute and serves as Chair of their 2020 Future Leaders Committee.

COVID-19 Impacts on Agricultural Tillable Farmland

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A panel of Accredited Land Consultants of the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) shed light on the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on land values and land market trends across the country in a recent Virtual Round Table session. The panel, which consisted of expert land agents from across the country, mostly pointed towards a positive outlook for the land market despite volatility in other areas. One key market they covered was farmland real estate.

RLI 2020 National President Kyle Hansen, ALC, with Hertz Real Estate Services in Nevada, IA, shared his expertise on what’s happening for agricultural tillable farmland, especially as for the Midwest. Kyle’s company holds a lot of in-person auctions and due to the stay at home orders and CDC recommendations they’ve been postponing a lot of those. However, he noted some are choosing to move to online auctions. “There’s been a little bit of activity, though some sellers are withdrawing their properties.” He went on to say that “We haven’t seen much of a drop-off in the number of sales that we’ve seen happening. It is still a little too early to tell how much this is going to affect the market, but I can definitely tell you that there’s been a lot of activity; a lot of phone calls asking what’s available on the market.” He told listeners that most are looking for good deals and mixed-use agricultural/recreational properties.

On a positive note, he said “It seems like there’s money to be spent. I’ve even had a few properties that have been on the market for ten months to almost a year that I received three offers on in two-days and that hadn’t had almost any offers on over the past ten months. So there is definitely activity and some increased interest from buyers.” He believes that, especially for high-quality productive agricultural properties, they will continue not to see a drop off in buyers which is good news for sellers and the market as a whole.

agricultural land

The biggest change he’s seen since the shutdown? “We’ve been doing a lot of remote teleconferences… a face-to-face meeting isn’t necessarily warranted.” He went on to touch on other technologies that have enabled transactions to continue taking place remotely, saying “We’ve been using drones and are able to see a lot more with drone footage than ever before in the past… so it’s a tool that’s come out in the past few years that [agents] are really taking advantage of now.”

When asked by sellers if now is the right time to list, Kyle tells them “It’s the right time when you and your family decide to sell a farm.” As he pointed out, “no one can know for sure what is going to happen to the market six months from now,” so he believes “as long as [sellers] are realistic and understand the market conditions right now, I tell them that we’ve got buyers asking.” Predicting some pent-up demand after all this gets figured out and the market goes back up, he says “You have to be positioning now to get your property on the market.”

Kyle also pointed out that for those looking to do a 1031 Exchange or who are getting close to the deadline of finalizing one, they have extended the deadline to July 15. This 1031 deadline extension was fought for by the REALTORS® Land Institute which signed on to a letter from the National Association of REALTORS® petitioning congress for an extension. NAR and RLI have advocated heavily for these extensions since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the best things buyers and sellers can do right now is “to try to understand the market and visit with your land professional each and every day.”

For more insights on the impacts of the outbreak and shutdown on the ranch land market for ranchers from Clayton as well as insights on how other land markets are being impacted, make sure to watch the full Impacts of COVID-19 on The Land Market Virtual Round Table presented by the RLI 2020 Future Leaders Committee  or check out the related posts below:

If you are interested in buying, selling or investing in land real estate, make sure to Find A Land Consultant, like an ALC, in your area with the expertise needed to best assist with your transaction.

Kyle Hansen, ALCAbout: Kyle Hansen, ALC, has been a member of RLI since 2008, receiving his ALC Designation in 2011. In 2015 and 2016, he served as Chair of RLI National’s Future Leaders Committee. He is an active member of the RLI Iowa Chapter, serving as their President from 2012-2013. The chapter also awarded him the RLI Iowa Chapter Land Broker of the Year Award in 2013. Then in 2014, he received the RLI National Rising Star Leadership Award which recognizes a member approaching a mid-level in their career who is on their way to making significant contributions to the land profession and to RLI. Kyle later went on to receive a 2017 RLI Top Twenty Producer APEX Award and was among those recognized in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 APEX Producers Club as part of the RLI APEX Awards Program. Kyle received his Broker’s license in 2016 for Iowa and Missouri.

ranch land

What Ranchers Need To Know About COVID-19’s Impacts on The Ranch Land Market

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A panel of Accredited Land Consultants of the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI) shed light on the impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on land values and land market trends across the country in a recent Virtual Round Table session. The panel, which consisted of expert land agents from across the country, mostly pointed towards a positive outlook for the land market despite volatility in other areas. One key market they covered was ranch land real estate.

Clayton Pilgrim, ALC, with Century 21 Harvey Properties in Paris, TX, shares his insights on the impacts ranchers are seeing from the shutdown caused by the outbreak. You can’t talk about the land values for ranch land though until you talk about the demand, so he started by noting that “The restaurants being shutdown has left us right now about 10% off where we were last year, looking at $100-200 per head loss on cows. We’ve had some price adjustment, so people are pulling cattle back to try and wait until prices go back up. In my opinion, though, that’s going to cause things to go even further down.” Additionally, he noted that the demand for higher quality cuts of meat has gone down due to restaurants being shut down and people looking ahead to potentially another recession with higher levels of unemployment. “If I’m a beef producer today, I would definitely keep things tight,” he suggests to current ranch land owners.

So what does all that mean for land values? Clayton says “In my opinion, I think you’re going to see pretty declining prices in [ranch land] in the next six-months to maybe a year,” just looking at the decreased demand for poultry, beef, dairy, and other ranch land products. “One positive for any potential buyers,” he joked, “is that interest is sure cheap right now!”

For more insights on the impacts of the outbreak and shutdown on the ranch land market for ranchers from Clayton as well as insights on how other land markets are being impacted, make sure to watch the full Impacts of COVID-19 on The Land Market Virtual Round Table presented by the RLI 2020 Future Leaders Committee or check out the related posts below:

If you are interested in buying, selling or investing in land real estate, make sure to Find A Land Consultant, like an ALC, in your area with the expertise needed to best assist with your transaction.

Clayton Pilgrim, ALC, is a licensed real estate agent with Century 21 Harvey Properties in Paris, Texas.  Throughout his career he has been in production agriculture from on the ground operations to large scale management. Pilgrim is involved in private investing in farms, ranches and recreational tracts throughout Texas and Oklahoma. He is a member of the Realtors® Land Institute, an Accredited Land Consultant and on the board of the Future Leaders Committee. He resides in Paris, Texas with his wife, Kristy and daughter, Caroline.