By Shirley Martin
You’ve been planning your big move for months, and when the time finally came to put your house on the market, you figured that you would be able to find a buyer within a reasonable time frame, pack up your belongings and settle down in your new city.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has turned your plans upside down, and now, you’re wavering between delaying your move and looking for a buyer later this year, or continuing to market to buyers now despite the difficulties. If you want to keep moving forward, here are a few guidelines for selling your home during this pandemic while protecting the health of everyone involved with the process.
How Home Selling Has Changed
As you consider new strategies for attracting buyers, you’ll need to consider how this pandemic has made an impact on the real estate industry. For example, most sellers aren’t holding open houses with multiple potential buyers gathering at their property. Furthermore, some sellers aren’t having a home staging professional enter their house to redesign certain rooms, as this could present a health risk. Overall, home buying has become a virtual process in many states for the time being, so if you want to sell your house, you’ll need to consider different options.
Managing In-Person Showings
While you may not want to host a large open house, you can still have interested parties come by for private showings. You’ll need to take a few careful precautions, such as giving buyers shoe covers and requiring them to wear masks.
Your home might be a little messier than usual right now, especially if you have children who have been stuck at home, or if you’ve turned your kitchen table into an unofficial home office, so before making big staging decisions, designate a space for any clutter floating around to get it out of the way. Make it a point to tidy up daily.
Most importantly, you’ll have to disinfect your home before your guests arrive and after they leave. Cleaning Product Reviews recommends carefully wiping down commonly used items and fixtures, including doorknobs and light switches, deep cleaning your kitchen and bathroom, and doing a load of laundry to change out your bedding. Sticking to a strict deep-cleaning regimen to sanitize your home before and after showings is key.
Spruce Up Your Home for Virtual Tours
If you’d feel safer scheduling virtual tours, you’ll need to begin by deep cleaning and decluttering each room of your house. You might also want to give your walls a fresh coat of paint. If you want your home to have an absolutely amazing look, hire interior designer freelancers who can give your interior a professional touch!
Once you’ve finished working on your home’s interior, it’s time to boost your property’s curb appeal. TurnKey suggests trimming any shrubbery, power washing your driveway, and watering your lawn. And even if buyers are only seeing your property on a screen, don’t forget to tackle any necessary repairs before “showing them around” because structural flaws and maintenance issues can still be visible on camera!
To boost your digital presence, begin by taking great real estate photos for online listings. You have several options for virtual tours, including 3D walkthroughs or video chatting with buyers. Be ready to respond to their questions in a timely fashion if they email you with further inquiries about your home! And most importantly, be sure to consult with a realtor who has extensive experience selling and marketing homes. For instance, if you’re selling your beach home, get in contact with Sandra Erbe, who has experience with this type of property!
If your year has not panned out the way you envisioned, rest assured that almost everyone else feels the exact same way. As a home seller, you may be worried that because of our current circumstances, you won’t be able to find an interested buyer. But relocating can’t always be put on hold, and if you are open to switching up your selling strategy, you’ll end up connecting with someone who feels that your property checks all their boxes!
