Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, feels like it has changed in the past couple of months. Life as we knew it is no more.
Coronavirus – the great disruptor – has turned upside our personal and professional lives. It’s also true with residential real estate.
The industry has had to pivot to accomplish business as Realtors ® mostly work from home. Springtime real estate sales continue in pockets across Puget Sound but there is no denying activity has slowed.
Our paramount concern is for the safety of the public. Real estate professionals are tasked with limiting in-person interactions to the greatest extent possible.
Sellers have rightly taken a cautious approach to listing their homes and welcoming visitors inside. Buyers are equally concerned about face-to-face meetings with brokers, mortgage consultants, home inspectors and appraisers.
This new world has prompted real estate professionals to reinvent themselves – or at least evolve. Our business has become as much hands-off as possible while being in touch (at least 6 feet apart!) more often with clients, customers and industry associates.
In a survey of 1,300 consumers conducted in April by realtor.com and Toluna Insights, 24% say they would be willing to buy a home without seeing it in person. In fact, 21% say the combination of health risks and advanced technology have made them more likely to move into a home without physically touring inside.
Having technical and marketing skills are coming in handy, as brokers shoot videos for new listings, schedule online meetings and produce more informative communications for people to peruse before taking additional steps. We are all leaping into a new level of digital communications in the wake of stay-home orders.
In some respect our industry is catching up with one of its target audiences – millennials, who comprise a majority of this country’s home-buying group. They are more adept in the digital world and should welcome this transformation of residential sales. The realtor.com survey said “younger demographics” would be most comfortable using virtual tools instead of in-person showings (29%).
The stay-home order included a ban on open-house events. No longer could sellers have listing agents hold a special kickoff weekend with a “grand opening” for neighbors, friends and buyers. Installing the traditional “For Sale” yard sign is even prohibited, as of this writing.
In some respects, the sale of a home has become more civilized. Now, each buyer wishing to tour a home must schedule an appointment with a broker. The state limits the number of people to two in a home during a real estate visit and requires social distancing to be maintained throughout that experience.
Today, most buyers are using real estate search tools to narrow down their next dream home. They not only read the property description and pore over data, but buyers are also taking advantage of media provided with the listing. That includes immersive virtual walk-through technology and videos of the home – inside and out.
In addition, brokers often provide home tours via Facetime, Skype or other video apps with buyers staying in place – possibly watching on a big-screen TV in their own home. Once deemed culturally unacceptable, video conferencing is considered quite essential to do business. Everything can be simplified.
That goes for many other aspects of the home-buying and -selling process. Digital signing or drive-through services are now common practices for escrow services at closing. Mortgage lenders are managing more and more communication from arms-length too.
The state requires home inspections and repairs to be organized by the buyer and his/her broker. However, only the broker and inspector can be inside the home while the work is conducted. Buyers must either wait outside until the conclusion or they can follow along virtually. They also must arrange payment with the service providers in advance. (Home inspectors typically ask for payment on the same day – before a formal inspection report is delivered.)
And, you can forget about shaking hands either as a greeting or when the sale is completed. Those days are gone – at least for now.
True, these rules are not etched in stone. Just use a whiteboard for now! Policies and best practices will likely evolve further as we all slowly get back to business.
(Please contact me – your virtual agent/broker – if you have questions, especially if you are reading this post after May 2020 when policies would have likely been updated. Thanks!)