How COVID-19 Has Forever Altered the Home Buying Process
Under normal circumstances, selling residential real estate involves interacting with several people. The standard formalities include in-person property tours, roundtable closings, and handshakes.
But the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, safety, and social distancing has become the new norm. This means that sellers and real estate professionals have to adapt to a new way of conducting business through changing how they approach open houses, closings, and even personal greetings.
Industry experts express surprise at how quickly the industry has evolved. Industry participants have come together throughout the many facets of business to develop constructive solutions allowing them to safely and comfortably serve potential clients and buyers.
In states experiencing surges of COVID-19 cases, many of these safety solutions, such as self-guided tours while wearing personal protective gear, are still in place. However, experts predict that some of these measures will have staying power even after rates fall out of the high-risk zone and a coronavirus vaccine has been widely distributed.
Many new methods of facilitating a home sale have been ushered in due to the pandemic. Industry experts predict that the following practices are here to stay:
Curbside and No-Touch Closings
The closing day is perhaps the most exciting part of the process of home sale transactions. Finally, your property is sold! Curbside and no-touch closings have been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to remain compliant with social distancing guidelines.
How does the process of curbside closing take place? In places where this is practiced, a title expert walks out to the client’s vehicle to gather signatures on documentation that a lawyer has prepared beforehand, rather than the traditional way of completing all paperwork with a lawyer in a conference room.
In cases where remote online notarizations or remote ink notarizations are allowed, all documents can be signed remotely via an approved online notary platform (such as Notarize) or audiovisual portal (such as Microsoft Teams).
Experts predict that curbside and no-touch closings will become the norm in the future. Today, time is at a premium, and curbside and no-touch closings help save time. These new closing options help reduce travel times for most parties involved as well as help minimize some of the scheduling challenges involved in the closing process.
A majority of clients appreciate these changes and would like to see them as the norm after the pandemic is over.
Say Goodbye to Out-of-Focus Pictures and Inadequate Listing Descriptions
Well-informed sellers understand that high-resolution listing images and a detailed listing description of your property are important to attract buyers. During the pandemic, presenting your home in its most favorable light online has been more vital than ever as in-person open houses are not always recommended.
Due to the pandemic, the need for agents to be more virtually knowledgeable and use heavy pictures in their listings has accelerated. Many agents have begun leveraging social media by posting more videos of properties on Facebook Live or Instagram, which has been much appreciated by buyers.
In the future, the more “virtual” details, the better! The standard marketing strategies of a residential property is likely to include professional images, virtual tours, and a gripping property description.
Virtual Showings are Here to Stay
Physical open houses will always remain a part of the home sale process. However, virtual showings are certainly a big part of the future of residential property sales.
In virtual showings, 3D videos are used to showcase the property. This has revolutionized the way the industry operates and will continue to do so in the future, according to real estate professionals. In fact, the 3D tours are so realistic that clients now want them to be a standard part of marketing initiatives.
It appears that virtual tours will be used in conjunction with in-person open houses in the future. Buyers are now using virtual tours to shortlist their choices before physically viewing their choice properties.
Work from Home (WFH) Residences are Becoming Popular
WFH has become a significant part of life today. Thus, developers will seek new ways to capitalize on this trend. In new homes, specially designed WFH areas will be incorporated. Social distancing has increased the need to develop more and more contactless technology. Therefore, business models will now be powered by technological advances that are custom made for clients.
The real estate sector has shown great speed in responding to these changes and adopting new technologies, which is apparent in the digitization of various processes. There have been substantial shifts in investment preferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and these changes will last well beyond the pandemic.
Hire a Knowledgeable Real Estate Attorney for Property Purchase, Sale, and
Closings
The sale and purchase of real estate can be a tricky area of law to handle and warrants a qualified attorney to be successful. This is particularly true when it comes to the development of entitles pertaining to real estate as well as the negotiation and drafting of transaction paperwork necessary in these deals.
When it comes to your property, nothing but the very best quality legal work will do. A seasoned lawyer will be able to provide detailed and easy-to-comprehend closing services for residential and commercial real estate transactions. At Evans Law, we are equipped to handle all legal matters related to real estate transactions. For a free consultation, call today at (410) 626-6009.
