The pandemic may be ongoing but the real estate market is booming, at least for sellers. If you want to sell your home, you may want to strike while the market is still hot and listings are still in demand. Of course, healthy and safety are still top priorities.
Ron Parpara wants what’s best for you and yours, so use these six safe selling tips to minimize risks for everyone involved, including your family.
Hire an Experienced Realtor
Before you do anything else, you should find a local realtor who has the expertise and experience to help you navigate COVID-19 concerns and get your home off of the market faster. If you are buying in the Vancouver area, one look at Ron Parpara’s recent successes will show you that he has what it takes to make selling your home less of a hassle. On average, homes listed with Ron have sold in just over a month and at 98% of the sellers’ asking prices.
Searching in a different location? NerdWallet suggests that to find a great listing agent, ask for the same sort of sales numbers and facts from all potential candidates.
Set Up Online Showings
Do COVID-19 worries have you stressed about selling your home? Well aside from working with a realtor who knows how to keep your family safe, you should also know that there are additional precautions you can when showing and selling your home. In fact, your realtor may suggest setting up video chat tours while your home is on the market. You can have your agent host these tours or you can take care of them on your own if you prefer not to allow extra folks into your home.
Worried about having your kids or a bit of clutter in the background? Since it’s a sellers market right now, know that buyers likely won’t be put off by these distractions. Even so, your realtor can give you advice for staging your home, and you can keep reading for some key tips.
Tidy Up a Little Each Day
As stated in the link listed above, most markets are more favorable for sellers right now, so having some clutter or untidiness in your home shouldn’t be too much of a turn-off for potential buyers. Despite a downturn, even the market in Vancouver has held steady as a sellers market, which means that there is a shortage of available listings for buyers to choose from.
If you are concerned about presenting a neat and clean home to shoppers, however, there are small tricks you can use every day to avoid having to clean for hours before a virtual showing. Try putting items back in their place as soon as you’re done with them and deep cleaning once per week. With these simple hacks, even busy parents should be able to keep their homes tidier.
Stage With What’s Available
Now may not be the time to have a staging company come into your home and if you have financial stress due to the pandemic, you may not want to pay for this extra service. That’s really okay though! And Then We Saved notes you can always use your own furniture and decor to stage your available home without spending any extra money.
The first step in accomplishing this is to de-clutter as much as possible, especially before virtual tours and showings. If you’re working at home and have kids at home all of the time, you may not be able to get rid of every piece of clutter, but keeping things organized will boost your home’s appeal to buyers. You can also swap everyday towels, linens and accessories out for the ones you typically reserve for guests for a polished look.
Stock Up on Health Essentials
Depending on where you live, current COVID-19 restrictions may permit in-person real estate showings and open houses. If this is the case, remember that you have the final say in how tours and showings are set up, but there are steps you can take to keep your home clean and your family safe if you want to allow buyers to visit your home. For instance, you can pick up a few packs of paper face coverings to keep on hand, and then you can require that all shoppers and agents wear one when viewing your home. Also be sure that you and others follow all
recommended precautions, like practising physical distancing and washing hands, at all times. You can also stock up on hand sanitizer for people to use when hand washing is not possible.
Only Hire Safe Pros and Movers
As you prepare for your home sale, and your upcoming move, you are likely going to need to hire professionals to help you out. This includes contractors to help with repairs and renovations that are needed before you list your home, as well as moving companies to assist with packing and relocating your belongings after closing.
While the idea of letting these pros into your home in the middle of a pandemic can be nerve wracking, you can give yourself some peace of mind by doing a little homework before you hire each one. Take the time to ask what measures they are using to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including physical distancing and wearing masks, while working in their customers’ homes. Also confirm that workers aren’t exhibiting symptoms. After the job is complete, be sure to clean and disinfect any surfaces that were touched.
If you were planning on selling your home in the coming months, there’s really no time like the present. While the coronavirus may still be a threat and restrictions may still be in place, available homes are in demand like never before. Not only should you be able to sell your home, but you should be able to do so a lot faster. That means far fewer showings and far fewer instances for you to stress about keeping your loved ones healthy and safe. Plus, with the help of virtual tools and an experienced realtor like Ron Parpara, you can put those worries to rest anyhow!
