Brokers in the US sell homes during the pandemic
Online deals, masked realtors and keeping a social distance are how the American real estate market is adapting to new conditions, the Washington Post reports.
American States have different approaches to the issue of concluding transactions in the real estate market. Illinois, despite being hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, felt that real estate is an important service, and therefore companies are not required to close like retail and restaurants. But California, new York, and Pennsylvania decided otherwise.
Spring is usually the busiest time of year in the housing market, when buyers come in droves. Now that many businesses are closing, some real estate professionals continue to work — with masks, gloves and hand sanitizers, writes the Washington Post. To make deals, buyers and sellers are placed in separate conference rooms and a new box of pens is opened for each client.
In Maryland, brokerages must close, but real estate agents can still meet with clients and complete ongoing transactions. While in Seattle, the listing site refused to place new objects.
Self-isolation can bring unexpected benefits to the housing market, the newspaper writes. “Now more than ever, you understand what your home looks like, some of it is good and some of it is not,” says Jeff kottmayer, a market research consultant at John Burns Real Estate Consulting. “People spend a lot more time in their homes and think:” it would be Good if I exchanged this for something newer, bigger, different, because there is such an opportunity.” They say they want a new home and start searching for it on the Internet.”
Real estate agents go online instead of face-to-face meetings. The number of 3D tours for viewing real estate on Zillow increased by 326% on March 20. Brokers offer virtual home displays via FaceTime or Facebook Live.
“This is certainly not a typical spring housing market. However, we are still insanely busy, because in these unstable times, customers want to discuss all their options, ” says Dana rice of real estate company Compass. “My phone is ringing and I have no shortage of options if clients are still interested in buying or selling a home. We continue to conduct virtual viewing tours on Facebook Live. And we accept applications in listings.”
Although much of the process of buying a home can be done online, some stages — inspection, evaluation, purchase-usually require personal participation. States like Virginia allow remote notarization, but others like Maryland don’t allow it yet.
