COVID-19 REAL ESTATE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

All around the country, homeowners like you are dealing with many sudden changes. In addition to health concerns, you may also be concerned about your financial well-being.

THE CHALLENGES:

As a country, we’re dealing with:

1. Significant unemployment.

2. A serious drop in the stock market, resulting in a drop in personal income from stock/bond investments and retirement funds for many.

3. School-aged children at home, needing childcare as well as help with remote learning, all while parents are also trying to work from home.

4. College-aged family members coming home as their schools close and they need to be educated remotely.

5. Health concerns as we adjust to six feet of separation and become more cognitive of what/who we touch and where we breathe.

6. Tenants and borrowers being less able to make their payments, and new laws to protect them for the next  few months, but making it so that landlords and lenders will need to wait to get paid.

7. Even though interest rates are still low, it is harder to qualify for a loan and the process may take much longer.

HOW I’M HELPING CLIENTS DIFFERENTLY NOW:

In spite of all the changes and chaos, people still want to buy, sell, rent, invest and exchange their properties. So what am I doing differently to help my clients?

1. I am meeting on Zoom and FaceTime and using even more digital tools during the buying/selling/leasing process.

2. Lenders and title companies are using encrypted documents to help protect you against cyber theft or scams. As your broker, I am redoubling my efforts to coach you through the process.

3. I am using photos plus drones and video marketing to show your property. The buyer shops for your property online and communicates with me through a video call.

4. After we have verified their financial abilities (with their lender and/or banker), you and I will decide on the next steps through video calls and emails.

5. On a case-by-case basis, we will decide whether the prospective buyer will be permitted to physically view the property after their financials are verified OR if they only be permitted on the property after they have written an offer that has been accepted, contingent on them walking the property.

6. Disclosures, COVID-19 information and liability releases will be signed by a seller/landlord permitting entry and a buyer/tenant seeking entry into a home for viewing. Only one person will be in the property at one time - meaning that I won’t enter with that person, and the occupants and pets will not be there.

7. I will coach you on procedures, including preparing for the showing. I will provide shoe coverings, gloves and masks for the buyer/tenant. Any person entering the property (including but not limited to inspectors, appraisers, repair personnel) will need to sign a liability release and disclosure and have protective gear and procedures. They will be coached prior to entering (and you will give each one written permission, if OK).

8. You and I will decide how we want to sanitize possible touch points (procedure lists are currently being prepared) after the person has left, even on vacant properties.

9. Offers, disclosures, title searches, escrow and other transaction details will be handled digitally.

10. You and I will be in constant communication via phone, text, and video. Circumstances including laws and real estate forms are, of course, changing on a daily basis. I will keep you up to date!