The current real estate market is experiencing very low mortgage interest rates right now which has triggered a lot of real estate buyers to jump on new opportunities! If you are ready to sell your house, don’t let the Covid-19 virus stop you! Buyers are buying! Here are some tips for selling your San Diego house during the coronavirus pandemic
Sell Directly
This may seem obvious, but the easiest and fastest way to sell your San Diego house during the Coronavirus Pandemic is to work with a direct buyer. Trusted House Buyers can help you facilitate the process with very little effort on your end, which may be much easier than working with a traditional real estate agent or broker!
Limit Open Houses, Or None At All
If you are going to sell or if you have your house listed already, best cautious about open houses. In fact, some current ordinances prohibit them altogether. It is too risky to have multiple strangers from different households, possibly different cities or states coming into your home wandering about touching fixtures and breathing throughout your personal space. You would have to have strict management of all of these guests and maybe only allow so many people in at a time with strict social distancing guidelines. With technology as great as it is these days, there are ways around the traditional open house, you will just need to be flexible and creative. If you do have folks walking through, be sure to have masks, gloves, and plenty of hand sanitizer for those individuals that are taking a more cavalier approach.
Create Virtual Tours
Once great thing about today’s real estate sales process as opposed to even a few years ago, is that you definitely do not need to do an open house anymore. Once your house is photo-ready, go ahead and take a walking video tour of your home. Go slowly and try not to be too shaky or spin too quickly. These videos can easily be uploaded and shared on a plethora of real estate advertising sites, or you can upload to a popular video hosting site to share with your real estate professional. This will allow potential buyers to virtually walk through your home without bringing their germs! You can also hire a professional videographer to come take professional video and some of them offer 3-D type technology, which will help you out even more! Although many of these services may not be currently operating, and it might be cost prohibitive.
Clean!
When you do receive inquiries from serious buyers, you will need to make sure to clean up and sanitize commonly touched surfaces including door handles, light switches, countertops, and any other features you would like the potential buyers to be able to try out. During this time of the pandemic, it is acceptable to ask the buyer to try not to touch surfaces as much as possible; however, there are some things you just have to touch, such as light switches in the garage or hallways. Once the showing is over, you will then have to make sure to sanitize all of those surfaces over again. You shouldn’t be present when the buyer is viewing the house, so you have to assume they have touched doors and light switches. Make sure the buyers and their representation have a clear cut expectation as to how they should handle themselves in your house while you are not there. Set expectations and communicate them clearly and early.
Use Technology
In this day and age, it is perfectly acceptable to use video conferencing or phone conferencing instead of face to face meetings when discussing the terms of the sale of your home. You can also use digital signature programs to negotiate the contract. They even have mail-away closings available so you can have a fully contactless transaction. These will become more and more common as times like this continue, so don’t let paperwork get in the way of your transaction.
Take it Easy
Selling your home is a lot of work and stress under normal circumstances. During the coronavirus pandemic, selling your house is even more stressful because of the possible extra cleaning and avoidance of contact, and the unknowns of the market. In fact, tighter lending guidelines make it harder for more people to qualify and also anticipate delays in what would be considered a normal escrow time period. So don’t be afraid to take the steps of selling your house at your own pace. Plan ahead for multiple showings and only allow one or two per week to cut down on your cleaning time. Make videos and pictures of your home easily available to potential buyers and real estate professionals. These tips should help you during this unprecedented time to sell your san Diego house during the coronavirus pandemic.
Call Trusted House Buyers today at 619-786-0973 or send us a message to discuss these and other tips for selling your house. We can discuss your technological options and best practices for minimizing contact with the buyers while still being available while negotiating the sale.