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By Gary Kelley
Remember going to a party, enjoying passed hors d’oeuvres, and having to say no to one particularly dreadful dish? For me COVID is the dish we keep passing. Nobody wants it, some try it, and then what do you do with a mouthful you really do not want?
Well, the COVID numbers are rising. Thanksgiving plans around the country are being adjusted. Turkey pot pie may be the order of the day for some, with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade “reimagined” largely as a made for TV event (reducing the number of participants to 25%, having specialty vehicles hold down the balloons, etc.)
Still some people need to buy and sell homes during this time. Historically low interest rates and low inventory levels continue creating a bit of a feeding frenzy in the market. I thought COVID would bring things to a halt in March and I was wrong.
To allow this to happen safely Realtors® have stepped up with an increase in virtual tours on listings where a buyer can literally walk through a home from their couch before seeing a house. My firm asks buyers to affirmatively declare they have no fever or lower respiratory tract symptoms, have not traveled outside MA unless to a lower risk state, and have not knowingly come in direct contact with any person who have COVID-10 (I’ve paraphrased the full document for space – drop me a note and I will send you the whole document.) You need to wear a mask to view one of our listings, we offer hand sanitizer, and ask people to look and not touch. Some require gloves and booties.
When hosting an open house we limit the number of people in the house using humor (“we don’t want Governor Baker coming to see us”) and have perfected touch free open house sign in (scan a QR code and fill in the blanks.) For some we are doing virtual open houses (either walking through the virtual tour online or doing a facetime session. We can wipe down high touch areas with a sanitizing wipe.
In a pinch, we can work remotely to stage a house, and help you take pictures. We can do all signatures online (except the final deed.) My company now supports deposits online, too, so no checks to move around.
During the spring we sold one house completely online with the buyer only coming through with a masked/gloved home inspector.
We would love to tell you these steps will keep you COVID-free and we cannot. My COVID-era tag line is “stay sanitized,” and while we can offer hand sanitizer, I would not have a clue how to sanitize an entire house. We are doing the best we can as an industry and let us just say we are doing better than some college parties.
We have some clients simply unwilling to assume any risk of getting COVID. We cannot guarantee that; we can tell you the steps we are taking. We do not want to get sick and certainly do not want our clients ill either. In the end it is a personal decision. For me, I miss the bacon wrapped scallops.
Stay sanitized! And Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
I am not a huge fan of Zillow, etc. for buyers. Here is an app for your phone/tablet tied directly to the MLS https://www.homesnap.com/Gary-Kelley
Gary is heard on WCRN AM 830 discussing “All Things Real Estate.”
If you need advice on selling your home or buying a new one, give us a call 508-733-6005.
Gary Kelley,
Realtor®
508-733-6005
MoveWithGary.com
