I wanted to talk a bit about how to navigate buying or selling a home now that we have to contend with corona virus. It’s an uncertain time and we all want to remain safe, and fortunately people have been buying and selling properties at a distance for a long time and we are equipped to adjust our business to minimize close contact and reduce the possibility of contracting it for ourselves and others.
Some recommended steps:
- If you are selling your home – you can list it in a ‘withheld” status. This limits marketing to only agents within a broker’s offices, NOT the general public. My broker has 800 agents, and any buyers that they represent would then be able to match their clients with your home. So, it’s not AS many people, but they are qualified people.
- As a withheld listing you would not be able to hold open houses (general public), but when you want to avoid contact with people, open houses aren’t recommended. Consider having a virtual open house if you want one, with the use of a 360 camera you can allow buyers to navigate on their own virtually, and it can exist for viewing longer than the hours of an open would.
- Virtual showings… if you don’t want to see every property in person, your agent can video the property and see if there are odors, defects that aren’t evident in the photos, a view of the neighborhood, etc. It cuts down on seeing quite as many properties in person.
- I ask sellers to leave ALL doors open, ALL lights on to minimize the surfaces that would have to be touched in the home.
- I bring Lysol wipes to all showings – and I wipe down the key box, kets, door handle, light switches, railings, etc so that surfaces are clean.
- Continuing with sanitation – hand sanitizer on the way IN to a house and hand sanitizer on the way OUT of the house.
- Screen buyers with health and travel questions.
- Use a virtual broker like Keller Mortgage… they do great work and they save you money! no loan origination fee, low rate, $1000 credit at closing for loans over $150K
- About the “market” – the one you sell in is also likely the one that you will buy in. If your home loses a little on price, the house you are buying likely will as well.
- Finally – people stay in their homes for 7-10 years on average. Home prices trend UP over TIME, the daily market conditions are only relevant if you’re buying and selling daily!
- You don’t have to be present for MOST things – even closings can often be done remotely. We use e-signatures on documents regularly – it’s a standard way of doing business already.
Thinking about buying or selling and have questions? Let me know your thoughts!