Someone wants to see a house...a simple enough request up until a month ago. Now, this request poses a new set of challenges in these days of social distancing and this is what I tell my clients, clients I am about to show houses to. My first step is to give them the option to view the house “virtually.” I can create a video tour that they can view on their laptop or phone. Buyers have made offers on properties “sight unseen” for a variety of reasons long before this pandemic. However, when one of my buyer’s makes an offer on a property without physically visiting, I recommend inserting language in the Offer to Purchase and Contract giving my Buyer proper due diligence time for personal verification, walk-throughs and professional inspections to confirm the condition of the property and that the property is satisfactory.
To be sure, at some point, the rubber meets the road and I DO take buyers to a property. At this point, I alert them that my wife is at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. As a result, I will be wearing a mask when we meet at the property and I suggest you do the same. I inform my buyers we will go in separate vehicles. This is no big deal. I’ve been doing this for years. Who needs to meet at a real estate office anyway? I let them know we will obey social distancing requirements. And, I will have them put on booties and apply hand sanitize upon entering the home.
In North Carolina, I am required to give my customers and clients a Working with Real Estate Agents brochure at the first significant contact. I’ll send this by email ahead of time and call to review. I’ll also attach my Exclusive Buyers Agreement which they can sign in order to hire me.
In the house, I remain at least 6 feet away from my clients. You may wonder why I even go in the house. Well, one of my responsibilities to my buyer is to be available to answer questions. But also, homeowners might feel concerned about leaving their home during a showing — and rightfully so. Another one of my responsibilities is to put the sellers at ease and this includes securing their house prior to our exiting.
Normally, before we leave a house, especially if I hear that my buyer is especially fond of the house, I will sit down with my buyers in the living room or dining room and learn their thoughts. Can you imagine serving Thanksgiving dinner in this room? And so on. No can do in this time of social distancing. I leave these questions for a telephone conversation as we head to the next house and so on. At the end of our tour, we will bump elbows, maybe, and return to our separate vehicles. I’ll arrange for a follow up zoom call to hear their reactions to the houses they visited.
Am I doing enough in this time of COVID-19 to protect the buyers, sellers and myself from a health standpoint? Hard to know. What I do know is that I am doing my best to discern how to balance staying physically healthy in our little corner of the planet while fulfilling my obligations to both buyer and seller. And from a liability standpoint? Well, in the case of a pandemic where the risks associated are widely known, the virus is widespread, easily transmittable, and may not show symptoms for days after exposure, proving causation would be nearly impossible from a legal standpoint.
And it is for these health and liability matters that I encourage virtual tours until our scientists, County and State officials can give us better guidelines. To learn more about real estate in Emerald Isle, NC, sign up for my blog on my website, www.EIHomesforSale.com, or subscribe to Emerald Isle Vacation Home Specialist on You Tube. If you want my free Guide to Living Were You Vacation, text your email address to: 919-308-2292. Stay well and stay safe.
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