“When I did enter a home for a final walk-through, we all sanitized, I had gloves on, the lights were all on and cupboards had been left open,” she added, saying that all contact with clients continued through phone and video calls.
While Szabo, who works for Home Group Realty Brokerage, counsels her buyers to continue to look online at properties they could be interested in, she suggests her sellers “to not put their home on the market unless necessary.”
The agent agreed with Arnold’s assessment that the coronavirus pandemic could bring about a more digital future for real estate, saying: “I believe we will see a lot more house shopping (being) done virtually.
“You could be seeing more 360-degree house tours that show the ceilings and the floors,” she explained.
“Listing agents are doing video walk-throughs showing parts of the house they never showed before such as inside of closets, utility rooms, laundry rooms, insides of garages and sheds.”
Quentin Sill has been a licensed agent since 2001 and says that changes made to the way his industry works are “not like anything I have ever seen.”
‘It is odd’
Sill, a Trillium West sales representative, described an unusual experience.
“I have shown one property since the COVID lockdown — it is odd, and I feel uncomfortable with the signed disclosure statements, masks and gloves, but if a property is a good fit and a client needs to make a move, it can be done,” he explained.
For Sill, real estate is about human interaction and virtual showings are “not something that I am 100-per-cent behind — at least not with the way my business is run as of today.”
Sill’s advice tells both sellers and buyers that “if you don’t have to make a move in real estate today, don’t.”
John Leacock had monitored early news reports on the looming coronavirus and, in anticipation of a market impact, advised his clients to sell in February, to “great success.”
“I did not expect the drastic extent (of) COVID-19, though,” he said, adding he believes “the work day has been completely changed” with the regular business of an agent reduced.
But now, Leacock said, “(days) involve researching homes and new web-based technologies for virtual staging, showing of homes and honing the skills necessary to manage multiple virtual showings with clients.”
All of the real estate agents that spoke to the Mercury Tribune emphasized a similar experience spending time fine-tuning their online presence.
“The amount of usual March/April activity has declined well over 80 per cent,” Anita Van Rootselaar explained. The spring months are considered one of the busiest times for the industry.
The RE/MAX agent said: “I’m immersed in learning new technology in regards to meetings, marketing, 360-degree tours (and) social media.”
In the end, said Brad Wylde, real estate is about consumer confidence and with the median sale price still up seven per cent from April 2019, now may not be a bad time to buy.
“Right now prices are a little lower than what they were in early March — money’s cheap. If you’re going to buy something and it’s going to be a longer term hold, you’re going to be set for several years,” he said.
“You might as well take advantage of the market.”
