COVID-19 & Showing Your Home
So you’ve been thinking about listing your home for sale and a little worried about COVID-19, you’re not alone. Many sellers are very cautious when it comes to COVID-19. In La Pine and all of Central Oregon we have a lot of retirees. We have a lot of people with health issues.
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Central Oregon, and La Pine in general is very much a retirement area. Although we are transitioning to be a more diverse area with young families, a lot of our sellers tend to be retired and it puts them at that high risk category. With the onset of the pandemic the Central Oregon Association of Realtors, the Oregon Association of Realtors, and many of our local officers have come up with protocols to try and keep everybody as safe and healthy as possible.
What to Expect From Showings
Today we’re gonna talk a little bit about what happens during a showing during COVID-19. First of all, all of my listings receive a 3D Matterport tour. The advantage of that is, is a buyer can virtually walk through your home prior to ever stepping foot in your home. That’s a huge benefit for a couple of reasons. The person who’s gone through that Matterport already knows exactly what to expect when they walk in the door. They’re more apt to write an offer on your home and they’re more apt to have a shorter list of homes to see.
When we show a property physically in Central Oregon, a mask is mandatory. No mask, we can’t let you in. Buyers are not to touch anything not even closet doors or doorknobs or light switches. The agent is to do all of that. Agents are to sanitize behind ourselves as we leave. Oftentimes an agent will wear gloves instead of taking the risk of even missing a germ on a doorknob. Personally, I do both depending on the situation and many offices have come up with a tracing protocol where the listing agent will have the buyer sign documentation that they have no symptoms of COVID-19 and they’ll keep that in their file in case anything does happen. Is it perfect? No. But things are being done to try to make it as safe as possible for both the seller and the buyer and the agents as far as that’s concerned.
If you have thought about listing your home and COVID-19 is a issue for you or you would like to discuss how we could set things up for your home, please feel free to reach out to me. I’m here to help.