What Do You Have To Lose?

The first weekend in May was gorgeous and crowds of stir-crazy Floridians took to the beaches. Downtown Cocoa Beach was swarmed with people, probably inland Floridians considering that vacation rentals and motels are virtually empty. From casual observation it appeared the majority were practicing some version of distancing. Dat B Good BBQ food truck at the south fork was doing a brisk business with a long line of appropriately spaced customers when I passed by. I am encouraged by what I'm seeing that we can safely resume our lives with minor behavior changes. Might be a long time before I'm willing to go to a concert or ball game but I can live with that.

I have been wondering about the future of rentals locally since the shutdown began. Many of the renters who lost their job in March have now missed two rent payments. The suspension of evictions on most property types will expire in our county on May 17. Tenants in some properties with federally backed mortgages are protected from eviction notice until July 25. Whether landlords will begin booting renters who are past due remains to be seen. With a drastically reduced pool of gainfully-employed renters and a higher supply of rentals, landlords are in a tough spot. There are 206 rentals offered on the Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral MLS this morning.There are probably several dozen others that aren't listed. Some of the MLS listings are former weekly rentals being newly offered long term. Median rent of the listed properties is $1800 a month. Will the new dynamic force rents down? It's too early to tell but increased supply and reduced demand is usually negative for prices.

Local restaurants began reopening yesterday. I haven't visited any yet but I know of at least two Cocoa Beach restaurants that are not requiring workers to wear masks. Political considerations aside, requiring food workers and servers to wear masks is a reassuring sign to customers that the restaurant is taking safety seriously. Hand washing policy is already in place for customer safety. Food safety goes way beyond coronavirus concerns and masks on servers at this time in history signals an aware management's attempt to mitigate customers' risk. If I've overlooked some obvious reason for not wearing a mask while handling a customer's food I'd enjoy being schooled. Otherwise I'd encourage restaurant owners to review their mask policy. I realize this has become a political issue but my reluctance to expose myself to possible infection knows no ideology. Hey, I don't want to catch a cold if I can avoid it. I'm for wearing masks forever but that's me. I wear one for sun protection when I'm on the water. Doesn't make me a bad guy.

"Now, having sown the wind, we are reaping the whirlwind."  __a mashup of several Old Testament verses