We’re Doing Things Differently in Real Estate To Prioritize Safety and Continue To Serve Our Clients

March is typically a very busy month for real estate, with sellers getting their homes ready to list and buyers out at open houses and showings every weekend. With the COVID-19 outbreak and the Illinois Stay at Home Act that’s all come to a screeching halt along with most everything else in our lives. However, there are always going to be people that need to buy or sell, which is why real estate was deemed an essential business. To continue to serve the needs of our clients in the safest ways possible, we’re changing the way we move through the real estate process:

Going Virtual
We're doing as much as possible remotely because it's important for everyone to stay at home, so there are a lot more virtual meetings. Open houses and virtual home tours are being held through Facebook or Instagram live or through a pre-recorded video tour of the house so that buyers can continue their search from the safety of their homes.

In instances where an in-person showing is required, we're taking all the necessary precautions as far as social distancing of six feet or more, using gloves, hand sanitizer, and wiping down door handles, surfaces, and anything that has been touched.

Contracts & Payments
As far as pre-approvals go, that's pretty much business as usual. Mortgage companies are sending those out through email. I use a program called DocuSign to write up offers and send them to clients for signature online, and we review contracts either over the phone or on Zoom, so we don't have to get together in person. Once we're under contract, the earnest money is due and is typically paid by check. We have options where you can deposit earnest money via wire, and if that's not possible all of our offices have drop boxes that are checked daily where a physical check can be dropped off.

Home Inspections
Home inspections are being done differently as well. A home inspector will be able to do a FaceTime or Zoom call with the buyer while at the home inspection or provide detailed documentation with photos of any potential issues that have come up. The inspection report is sent through email male and can be reviewed over the phone or in a virtual meeting to alleviate the need for the buyer to be physically present at the home inspection.

Legal Review
Before the pandemic, attorneys often conducted their reviews over phone and email, so that's business as usual.

Final Walkthrough
Walkthroughs can be done virtually as well through FaceTime or Zoom, so the buyer doesn't have to be physically present. For buyers who do want to be present for the final walkthrough, we take the necessary safety precautions as far as social distancing, hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, wipes, etc.

Title & Closing
Title companies are still in business and still fully functioning, but a new rule was recently put in place that the realtor is not allowed to attend the closing in person to keep the number of people at the closing to just the buyer’s attorney and the closer. I've had closings where it's all done through a power of attorney where the buyer can pre-sign documents and have their attorney act on their behalf at the closing.

New Disclosures
Two new disclosures have been created in response to the pandemic. The first is a COVID-19 showing disclosure where the buyers sign off saying that they have not been sick, traveled to a high-risk country, or been exposed to someone that has COVID-19. The signed disclosure is sent to the seller as reassurance to the seller that no one who is sick or has been exposed to the virus is going through their house. The second disclosure is signed at contract by both the buyer and seller in the case of any delays with the closing due to COVID-19 the disclosure reasonably extends the timeline.

Market Reaction
As far as the market goes some sellers have taken their houses temporarily off the market so inventory has gone down slightly, but there are still serious buyers out there looking and sellers that need to sell their houses. There is activity out there for sure and I see this kind of as a delayed spring market.

When all of this is over, I predict that we're going to an increase in both inventory and demand. Interest rates are still low and will likely stay low. This situation is very different than what we saw in the 2008 real estate crisis—this is not a real estate crisis it’s a health crisis that has led to an economic crisis.

I'm here to support you. If you have any questions about what's going on in the real estate market, contact me at  jnewsom@bhhschicago.com or (773) 580-5840.