Back just in 2020—how long is that?—the fear in commercial real estate was palpable. The pandemic was full on. States and cities were closing businesses. Many office buildings became ghost towns. People were without incomes. Who would pay the rent and, through that, the mortgages? The tax bills? Insurance? Forget profits. How would anyone stay in business? And who would scoop up all that distressed property?

Then the government troops came roaring in. A congressional cavalry authorized massive amounts of aid for big corporations, small businesses, and individuals. The Federal Reserve opened the taps, bought corporate bonds to stabilize markets, injected liquidity at rates never before seen, and dropped the benchmark rate down to nothing.

The economy took a beating … and quickly turned around. A wave of distressed properties came along.