The Bay Area was a hot real estate market before the Covid-19 pandemic hit – and it still is. If you were on the path to selling your home, it’s still possible, even when most of the country, including California, is on lockdown.
Selling a home now looks a lot different than selling a home under normal circumstances, and we’ve outlined some selling tips during coronavirus, to make it easier for you to get that “For Sale” sign up, and to find the perfect buyer.
Clean It
Presenting the best face of your home with a deep clean is always recommended when you’re prepping to sell it. And now, this is particularly important, when people are hyper-aware. Consider cleaning more often than you would while showing your home, even if the only person showing it is your agent doing a virtual tour.
Stage It
Staging is always important, but now you might be wondering how you can stage your home, without resources like a stager who can advise you, or the ability to travel to stores to buy home decor.
Search for a digital stager or a designer who utilizes this technology, and can work with you remotely. Take them on a walkthrough tour of your home so they can advise you on working with what you have, or where you can purchase items online. Or, send them photos of your vacant home to digitally stage the space for added appeal.
Keep it Safe
When you get close to finding the person who will ultimately buy your home, they will want to see it at least once in-person, and that means taking extra precautions.
In-person showings are for serious buyers only, and remember to keep these tips in mind:
- Allow your agent to show your home to only one person, or couple, at a time.
- Maintain social distancing, keeping six feet apart.
- Ask all visitors to wash their hands or provide hand sanitizer at the door.
- After every showing, even if your agent is only doing a virtual tour, disinfect all high-touch surfaces, like doorknobs, door jambs, and light switches.
Make it virtual
Here’s where real estate marketing has lept into the digital age – everything is going virtual. That’s right, virtual meetings aren’t just for yoga, and conference calls, in the age of Coronavirus, it’s how buyers will “see,” and get to know, your home.
Now, more than ever, agents are introducing potential buyers to their listings using “virtual open houses.”
A virtual open house is similar to a live one, but with more options. You can have a live video call with one buyer at a time, or schedule an open house with multiple buyers at once. It requires extra coordination, but a carefully-orchestrated virtual showing will be your top tool for marketing a house during coronavirus.
Moreover, digital photography in the form of 3-D tours like Matterport allows a prospective buyer to “walk through” the space to get a feel for the home’s floorplan and flow, where there’s natural light, and how the rooms related to one another. It’s the next best thing to being there.
