Social Distancing Stupidity

Note: I have unpopular opinions about this pandemic. 

I went to a buyer consultation with some dude named Steve. Generally, the way things go, I meet with the buyers in their place of residence (if I know them), a coffee shop or a title office conference room and talk a bit about what to expect when it comes to buying a home. It is all well and good to look at pretty places, but let's face it, buying a house is a financial decision that should not be taken lightly.

Anyway,  Steve wants to buy a home. Steve is living in an extended stay hotel in (his words) "a sketchy neighborhood" (which it is, but I can't tell him that) in East Phoenix. I don't know Steve. I have talked to him on the phone once. I am not about to show Steve homes when he isn't prequalified and we haven't had a consultation. So, it was time to meet.

Now then, you may not be aware, but it was 105 degrees on Thursday. You also may not be aware, but the entire corporate world is closed down because everyone has a lawyer who is telling them more than two people in a room the size of a small grocery store can cause cold/flu-like symptoms which can be transmitted to perfect strangers miles away. And one last you-may-not-be-aware, though I know a lot of Steves, I don't know this one so I wasn't about to go into this strange man's hotel room.

Because coffee shops and title companies were closed (and hotel management decided we were a health risk to sit in an empty lobby on two couches), Steve and I headed over to a park to chat about house hunting. The shady ramada worked well enough for our purposes, though he was enjoying the heat much, much more than I was. And then, some City of Phoenix employee who is being paid handsomely to explain how we were contaminating other Phoenix residents, told us we could not sit at a picnic bench more than six feet from each other. All that was permissible was sit in the grass--because that was a better place to social distance. And that is what Steve and I did--me in my realtor garb, he in his casual Arizona-tourist-in-May clothes. Ninety minutes later, we had chatted, I got him in touch with a lender who prequalified him and I darn near passed out from the heat on the drive home.

Will Steve be my client? I don't know. He said he was "picky." He said he is in "no hurry." Whatever, he is living in a hotel in a sketchy part of Phoenix, so I am guessing he is in a little bit of a hurry. In any case, he is now prequalified. I have to tell you though, I thought he was super-pleasant and I would love to work with him. But next time we get together, there will be air conditioning.