Thrive Owner/Broker Maribeth Lynch and Gary Kelley of RE/MAX Executive Realty discuss personal best practices for showing and listing real estate in Massachusetts during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Such uncertain times for so many of us. Real estate professionals have been trying to ascertain whether we are/are not essential workers. The answer is just as unclear. We at Thrive Real Estate believe it is our duty to serve our buyer and seller clients by providing them with updated information as well as offer our time and assistance. We have quite a few sellers who want to sell during this time. We support their decisions and have established a set of criteria under which we work. Here are a few of those guidelines:

1) Most showings are conducted by a Buyers Agent who will be escorting the potential buyer through the house. Our first best practice is to have a conversation with the agents to establish that the buyer is MOTIVATED and PRE APPROVED. During these unprecedented times, the last thing we want our seller to have to endure are “tire kickers”. So all of our showings are taking place with the understanding that the buyer can act to buy the house, can afford the house and has a pre approval letter in hand.

2) We are providing all the tools needed for the safety of anyone who enters the house. This means we have rubber gloves and sanitary wipes available to be used throughout the showing.

3) We are leaving lots of doors ajar so there is no need to manually open the door. It’s really all about using common sense. The “look don’t touch” mentality.

Despite the COVID19 outbreak, our office is BUSY. We are spending time answering questions about the real estate market and helping people plan ahead for their purchases or sales of their homes.

We have conducted virtual walk throughs of homes to help with staging and organizing. Most homes will need a bit of organizing/staging, we find most homes need about 2-4 weeks to be prepared to enter the market. We also need time to get our photographer in and also get any contractors in to complete the finishing touches.

We have quite a few homes under agreement and are working with our attorneys and support staff to ensure these homes have all they need to successfully close. The rules are changing daily with regard to home inspections, mortgage underwriting procedures, smoke detector inspections, appraisals and many other things. We are staying on top of the ever changing market and are happy to share what we know with anyone with questions.

Now is a GREAT time to consider selling or buying. But, you want to hire an experienced firm with local resources to help you be successful. We at Thrive Real Estate Specialists have the time and experience to make your home buying/selling experience pleasant!

Stay safe, stay distant and stay immersed in day-to-day activities that bring your joy and keep you occupied with positive thoughts!