PHOTO: SUPPLIED Vicky Ingham made herself available for anyone who needed advice during the lockdown period.
Real estate is a very personal, people-focused industry.
Not surprisingly, the lack of ability to conduct business face to face during the lockdown has caused major disruption in the way people function in this sector.
With people generally insecure about their jobs or maybe even having lost their jobs, many potential home buyers are – at least for the short term – reluctant to plonk down their cash on a big-ticket purchase. Consequently, many real estate agents have adopted innovative strategies to cope during these unprecedented times.
NEW NORMAL
Green Bay-based Vicky Ingham of Ray White had a new listing ready to go live in the week of the lockdown but after discussion with the vendor she held it over until level 3. “I made myself available to buyers and sellers who needed advice over the lockdown period but took care not to contact people who may have been under stress during that time,” she said.
The new normal in real estate is that if you can’t hit the bricks, go online. Ingham points out that some of her colleagues were able to secure contracts over the lockdown which included a clause ‘subject to the purchaser viewing in level 3’. “This worked well for buyers who loved the look of a home online, with the option of being able to view at a later date before declaring a contract unconditional,” she said.
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