Real estate business looks to keep running as crisis continues. As the coronavirus pandemic is keeping more would-be homebuyers at home, real estate agents are looking for new ways to cater to their needs while adhering to social distancing and self-quarantining. Despite the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Realtors say the market is good and they are adjusting to doing business in different ways.
Many real estate agents run virtual open houses and add video to their listings on their website. I don’t think a lot of this is temporary. I think a lot of this is going to stick. A lot of this is going to become the new normal.
We are setting up open houses and tours through webinars or FaceTime. Buyers can see the property as the agent walks from room to room with an iPhone, for instance. We’ll videotape the house for some of our clients. It’s going fantastic. We’re getting a lot of response and a lot of interest. Sellers love it. Buyers love it. We are still trying to remain involved, while protecting ourselves and our sellers by wearing masks and gloves while coming in and out of their homes. What we are trying to do is eliminate big parties of people going into the homes to look. Maybe just the people signing contracts.
I did another FaceTime with someone, and they made an offer through the FaceTime. So, we’re doing a lot of virtual things. I’ve recently learnt a lot about Zoom here. At webinars we get such a great deal of information. There is a lot of learning going on. We are doing a lot of things virtually now. We are having buyer consultations and seller consultations over Zoom meetings. We are doing virtual tours for sellers who don’t want people in their houses or people who don’t want to go into sellers’ houses, but they still want to look at the houses. Our team are trying to be safe, smart and responsible during the virus outbreak.
I believe the market is strong. The market has been very good for homes listed in the $100,000 to $175,000 range. There are like four or five buyers for every good property that comes off on the market within that certain price range. They are great buyers. Good credit ratings, and records of work. Recently I sold an $800,000 house to someone who toured it virtually. We sent him the paperwork digitally. He clicked on it, signed it and sent it back to us. He bought it, and we’ve never even met face to face.
Most of the realtors in Greenwood, made the decision locally not to have any open houses during the outbreak. As long as we abide by social distancing, I think we are going to be good. The move to social distancing will change how the real estate market operates even beyond the pandemic.
Source: http://www.indexjournal.com/news/covid-19/the-new-normal-real-estate-agents-pivot-to-virtual-tours-buyer-meetings/article_758b9721-8762-57f9-b4c0-5a8e155397f9.html
