Seven Tips for Selling Your House During COVID-19
How to stay safe, keep clean, and navigate showings in the age of COVID-19
(Left and Right) 23442 W Copacabana St, Malibu, California, Images from Zillow
With Stay-At-Home recommendations and Social Distancing orders still in place across the country, prospective buyers, homeowners and real estate agents with a house on the market may feel left in the lurch. However, according to Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia in their article “The Coronavirus Housing Boom” for The Indicator’s Planet Money, countless Americans have chosen this period to pack and move to a new home.
Smith and Garcia explain that “people who don't have to be tied to big urban areas are migrating to towns, rural areas and small cities;” these moves are “being driven by conditions related to coronavirus, and the understanding that the way we work — or that some of us work — has fundamentally changed.” With a booming real estate market healthily chugging along, the next few months may be the best time to put a house up for sale in your state, but approaching staging, selling, and showing a house during a pandemic can be paralyzing. Follow below for a few tips for realtors in COVID-19.
Do Your Research
(Left and Right) 9141 Thrasher Ave, Los Angeles, California, Images from Zillow
Making your house sellable during any season is difficult, but the new normal requires a few extra steps. As Ann Bahney explains in her article “The New Rules of Buying and Selling a House in a Coronavirus World” for CNN Business, “rules about how showings and closings can take place and what agents can do will vary depending on local public health regulations [and] real estate association guidelines.” Keep a clear line of communication open between staging companies, real estate agents, listing agents, sellers, and potential buyers to make sure everyone is comfortable with and legally able to engage in the process going forward.
Determine whether any type of extra legal paperwork will be needed to continue. Bahney warns that some brokerages and other parties involved in the same may require both sides to “sign a disclosure that [they] don't have any symptoms and...don't have any connection to anyone with symptoms” before entering the home.
Create a Safe, Clean Space
(Left) 23442 W Copacabana St, Malibu, California, and (Right) 5046 Carbon Beach Ter, Malibu, California, Images from Zillow
Though the CDC notes that “transmission of coronavirus occurs much more commonly through respiratory droplets than through objects and surfaces, like doorknobs, countertops, keyboards, toys, etc.,” disinfecting surfaces frequently will make potential buyers, agents, stagers, and sellers feel more comfortable entering the home. The CDC goes on to explain that “cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in households and community settings.” Clean all surfaces with EPA-registered disinfectants (while wearing gloves and a mask to avoid breathing in fumes), but be sure to air out the space before receiving potential buyers to remove any obnoxious smells.
Other cleanliness tips for those trying to put a house up for sale in COVID-19 include offering disposable masks and gloves, and installing a foot-pump hand sanitizer station near the front door. Consider requiring temperature checks if the seller or agent will be present while potential viewers explore the home and request that visitors refrain from using any bathrooms in the home. Ask that visitors also avoid touching any linens or other fabric-covered decor or furnishings that have been used in staging the house and encourage viewers to bring their own pens and paper for note-taking. Provide a space for disposal of masks and gloves as people leave the house.
Increase Ventilation
(Left) 5046 Carbon Beach Ter, Malibu, California, Image from Zillow and (Right) Blue 211+ Air Purifier, Image from Blue Air
One may also wish to invest in an air purification system, even a simple, inexpensive air purifier that can be plugged in and taken from home to home. If an air purifier is not an option, try to enhance cross ventilation between showings by turning on fans or air conditioners, as, according to the CDC, “taking measures to improve ventilation in an area or room where someone was ill or suspected to be ill with COVID-19 will help shorten the time it takes respiratory droplets to be removed from the air.” Though not enough to eliminate the virus from a space completely, the EPA endorses the use of air purifiers because they “can help reduce airborne contaminants, including particles containing viruses.”
Play Up Home Office Areas
(Left) 1369 Londonderry Pl, Los Angeles, California, and (Right) 5046 Carbon Beach Ter, Malibu, California, Images from Zillow
Many people moving during the COVID-19 pandemic have made the shift from in-person to remote working. As such, realtors and homeowners attempting to sell should expect prospective buyers to inquire about home office spaces as a part of their search. While traditional staging best practices dictate that bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms should be paid the greatest amount of attention as they are typically the most often used spaces in a home, the home office has become a hub of day-to-day activity for countless residents (from students of all ages to mid-career professionals).
One should make sure any home office spaces are presentable and inviting. Add desks, ergonomically-correct chairs, and exceptional task lighting to each office space. For larger offices, consider doubling up on desks to show prospective buyers that multiple people can work in the same space at one time. If the home in question lacks a formal home office, create a workspace elsewhere in the home, possibly as a small station in the living room or on the opposite side of a bedroom. Make workspaces look appealing and comfortable without overdressing them with pillows, files, or other clutter.
Offer a Virtual Open House and Stick to Appointment-Only Viewings
(Left) 4514 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, and (Right) 23442 W Copacabana St, Malibu, California, Images from Zillow
As noted by Karen Parnes of NextHome Your Way, quoted by Larissa Runkle in her article “Selling Your Home in the Age of Coronavirus? Here Are All Your Top Questions, Answered” for Realtor.com, “‘it’s mostly impossible to sell your home with no showings or [prospective buyers] in the home at all…[but] real estate transactions are still happening in states where showings are not allowed and being done completely virtually.” To maximize interest in the home and to prevent missing out on the perfect potential buyer (who might have health concerns), consider offering a virtual open house and appointment-only showings relegated to one couple or family at a time. This variety of home-viewing options will aid in attracting buyers for your house.
Make your virtual open house pop online by making each space feel more alive; add plants and color where one would avoid it in a traditional showing. Emphasize the connections between outdoor and indoor space and play up any dual-use rooms or areas throughout the house. For in-person showings, stick to an appointment-only arrangement; this will allow the prospective buyer to have a more intimate experience with the house and will make everyone involved feel more comfortable knowing who is where and when at all times. It will also ensure that social distancing requirements are met, which might be impossible with a traditional showing.
Enhance the Exterior
(Left) 4361 Westminster Pl, Saint Louis, Missouri and (Right) 4900 Pershing Pl, Saint Louis, Missouri, Images from Zillow
Prospective buyers during this period may prefer to drive by the property and attend a virtual viewing rather than entering the home themselves. Consider painting the facade of the home to make it appear cleaner and more appealing in anticipation of drive-by viewings. If the home has an outdoor garden, tend to it as much as possible before the listing goes live. Detail the different types of plants (herbs, vegetables, fragrant flowers, etc.) the garden has to offer online and with small markers out front; create a space that prospective buyers can imagine relaxing in or adding to. For homes with porches, add small bistro table sets like those pictured above to help the potential buyer visualize enjoying socially distanced dinners with their friends or family.
Keep Everyone Informed
Lastly, make sure all parties involved are always in the loop. Notify viewers of the home of how many people will be showing them the house and how the home will be cleaned and prepared before their arrival. Make rules for in-person showings clear and available to everyone; consider posting information about mask and glove-wearing requirements near the entryway or as a sign in the front yard. Homeowners and agents may be hesitant to constantly refer back to the pandemic in correspondence with potential buyers or on signs outside the property, but keeping each person informed as to how the situation is being handled will only make them feel more at ease.