Technology is playing a greater and greater role in helping everyone come together to safely work within new restrictions. That includes residential real estate sales.
“Uncertainty around COVID-19 and limitations around social interactions and group gatherings like open houses have made buying and selling homes more difficult than ever,” Nate Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer for realtor.com® said in April. “As real estate agents and consumers seek out ways to safely complete these transactions, we believe that technology will become an even more imperative part of how we search for, buy and sell homes moving forward.”
Welcome to a new world of virtual real estate. It has arrived on every doorstep of every home on the market. The enabler – not disabler – is here to stay.
As I shared in an earlier post, about a quarter of all home sales conducted by Realtors ® were completed without a buyer stepping foot inside. Mike Ferry, a real estate rock star for 40-plus years, predicts that figure will double soon enough.
At John L. Scott, real estate professionals are evolving their approach with buyers and sellers by taking extreme levels of caution when conducting in-person real estate services. Agents/brokers can essentially do 90% of their work to complete the sale of a home without visiting inside. It just takes creativity, communication, coordination and cooperation – the four “C’s.”
Sellers want to put their home on the market while seeking assurances from their listing agent that state and federal safety guidelines will be followed and steps taken to keep visits to a realistic level.
That’s why, now more than ever, real estate has become a virtual-based industry. Here is a selection of examples:
Listing presentations – Real estate services start with the “job interview” – better known as the listing presentation. That’s when a broker presents his/her qualifications, skills and strategies to market and sell a home at the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time with the most favorable terms.
I welcome making my presentation in person – to meet the homeowners and make a strong emotional connection. The presentation can be a video conference call just as well, if that is what a seller prefers, but I find sellers seek in-person engagement even if it means taking extra precautions.
Preview – With listing agreement signed, a broker will want to visit the property, examine its condition and recommend possible repairs or improvements, always following CDC safety guidelines during the visit. I recommend walking through the home with only one of the owners – maintaining social distancing of six feet or more, wearing a mask and disposable gloves. Other family members (if any) should try to be out of the home – enjoying a walk in the park or a short drive to their favorite drive-up burger joint. The aim is to limit contact with people, allow the broker to focus on the task at hand and then leave, followed by a written report and phone or video call to discuss next steps. Alternatively, the seller can perform a virtual walk-through with the listing agent seeing the property on the call back at his/her home office.
Promotion – Every home is marketed through online listings, standard photography and possibly other traditional means. A tech-focused broker takes the home promotion to a new level. It can include digital marketing and a virtual walk-through of the home, in which dozens of professionally shot photos are digitally stitched together to present a 360-degree tour of the home. It can also mean a video “sizzle reel” of the home’s greatest qualities, including dramatic drone shots from high above.
As the state prohibits traditional open houses (as of this writing), the best alternative is a live walk-through hosted by the listing agent on Zoom, Skype or Facebook Live and available for additional promotion as a recorded event. (Having used Facebook in this situation, I have been surprised by the hundreds of people who can drop in and watch a live event thanks to the social media platform’s ability to geographically target a broader audience.)
In-person visits – With the assistance of a licensed broker, buyers can schedule a tour of a listed home through a scheduling app available to all Northwest MLS members. The app alerts the listing agent of an attempt to schedule an appointment. The listing agent should ensure the buyer’s broker understands the precautions already arranged and approved between the agent and his/her seller related to safety protocols. Only then, should the listing agent accept the appointment request.
Qualified buyers have the opportunity to see the home in person, as well as show the property to friends/family through their own phone – either live or recorded video. Alternatively, listing agents or other brokers can do a live walk-through with the buyers back at their residence. This is nothing new. Real estate brokers for years have been conducting these live or recorded walk-throughs for buyers from out of state. It’s now more popular than ever.
If the buyer is paying for the home with a mortgage, the lender will want to have an appraisal conducted to obtain an independent market valuation. Appraisers typically perform their job by visiting inside the home. If sellers are hesitant to have one visit, an appraiser should conduct a “desktop appraisal” or “drive-by appraisal,” in which the home valuation is derived from market data, previous appraisals and a visual assessment. Homeowners can also help by conducting a video chat with the appraiser to show them the interior.
Signatures – Sellers and buyers still need to sign a lot of paperwork to complete a transaction. (You didn’t think we could avoid that, did you?) Fortunately, we have had e-signature platforms like Authentisign and DocuSign for many years. All Northwest MLS forms and other documents are available through these services.
E-signings are becoming a preferred method to complete the sale too. This generally includes sending hard copies from lenders, escrow agents and real estate attorneys to the home ahead of time and conducting video-conferencing meetings with buyers or sellers to verbally describe each document and witness the parties sign – then and there. Completed documents are returned via courier. Some signings can take place at a drive-through service where parties stay in the vehicle, or many offer mobile notary services where a notary public visits the home with the documents.
There is one other aspect of the purchase and sale worth noting, most of it old-fashioned real estate services:
Onboarding – This is possibly the most challenging aspect of the home sale. Most homes require a little work in preparation of the listing. That can include house-cleaning and declutter. There are services available to address the clean-up if sellers cannot do the work themselves but it will require some creativity to follow social-distancing and coordination with cleaning services or “junk” removers. It’s a potential obstacle that hopefully sellers can address with their real estate professional.
If the home is vacant, many sellers agree to have the home staged with prop furniture and accessories. This allows buyers to see what the home might look like if they were to live there. To save time and resources, many homes are virtually staged to make the home appear lived-in while actually leaving it empty.
Should repairs be a consideration, sellers have to decide whether to proceed and fix the issue themselves or attempt to hire a contractor to visit the home – a process that could be protracted in our current situation. This is really not the time to have the home painted or carpets swapped out, particularly if sellers are living there. The work and time required will slow the time to market. Instead, I would advise only doing state-mandated repairs (operational furnace and functioning smoke and CO detectors, for example) and wait for your buyers to mention additional fixes. In a competitive housing market, buyers conduct inspections but often agree not to ask for cosmetic or less-critical repairs, while some request cash credit at closing to complete the work after move-in.
To be sure, integrating technology is an important tool but it’s not the only solution to success. There are still personal services, industry and hyperlocal knowledge that are required to ensure a well-rounded and positive experience for customers.
Virtual or more traditional, my aim is to address any issue with selling or buying a home, provide first-class service throughout the process, while always demonstrating care for your health and well-being and of those involved in the transaction.