Dear Clients and Friends and Partners, You know that expression, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"? Translated it is "the more it changes, the more it is the same thing." Well, in this instance, it is more like "the more it changes, the more it changes." It is a good thing I didn't write this email a week ago, or it might have looked a bit different! Here's the second installment of five emails addressing questions about the buying and selling of real estate in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, for today: Preparing properties for sale during COVID-19 This is an arena in which we're learning a lot, quickly. The takeaway message is that we're doing as much as we can to present our listings online as robustly as possible, such that people can gain a strong sense for the property and can rule it in as a strong contender or rule it out completely, all from their home computer, without needing to see it physically. Our expectation is that buyers who think a property is a strong contender will still want to see it in person prior to fully committing to buy it. However, through a robust virtual presentation we'll be able to focus and optimize our showings to only those buyers who are an excellent fit. If before COVID (the other B.C.) we would show a property to 50 buyers in person and get 1-3 offers, our hope now is to show it to 5-10 buyers in person, and still wind up with 1-3 offers. So, what are the elements of a robust virtual presence? Some are the same as they've been - excellent photography, video, and accurate floor plans. 3D tours are excellent, and though we've been using these selectively for a few years, now we're using them on every listing. Think of it like Google Street View, but inside a house. Here's an example of one from a recent listing. Click on it, move around - you'll see you get a great sense for the space and how one moves through it. One consequence of the shutdown has been that staging is often a non-starter. To compensate for that, particularly in our new construction listings, we're relying more on virtual staging. If you just went "Ewww, cheesy," I was right there with you until this past week. Having now researched many vendors in the space, I can tell you that they're not all the same. Here's an example of the master bedroom in our upcoming listing at 21 Newell Street in Cambridge, first empty, and then with virtual staging: I'm a big believer in showing what's actually there, and then showing what is possible with the space. The last thing we want is for a buyer to arrive to see the property in person and then feel duped by our virtual presentation. But showing the staged spaces really helps buyers envision what life could be like there. A wonderful unintended consequence of doing a deep dive into how to best present properties virtually is having the time to get my arms around some of the emerging technology in virtual renderings. Now it is possible to easily show a client a current (dated) kitchen alongside a compelling rendering of the same space with a renovated kitchen. This magic used to be the purview of high end, tech-forward architects and developers, but just as my 10 year old can now capably run a 30 person conference on Zoom, the technology is getting more and more user friendly and is getting pushed down to the level of the consumer. Don't get me wrong - you still need your architect for the actual work, but as far as showing what might be possible with space, we have tools that can take some of the guesswork out of it. Ditto for immersive 3D renderings of new construction spaces, before the construction is finished. So the bottom line as to how we're preparing properties in the time of COVID is - virtually. And our tools for doing this are being expanded and refined almost by the day. We can't wait to show you some of the cool stuff we're working on. Stay tuned for our next installment: Showing protocols during COVID-19 And finally, from the desk of simple joy, some wisdom from our elders: Yesterday, my kids received this letter in the mail from my almost 80 year old dad. They agree. Sending good health, love and sanity to each of you,
Lauren, Alberto and Mike Dear Clients and Friends and Partners, We, like all of you, are getting our feet underneath us and trying to adapt to our current environment dealing with COVID-19 and figuring out how to help our clients and community members. As with every aspect of life, COVID-19 is impacting every single phase of the real estate journey, and we've had to adapt each milestone with the goal of protecting our clients, ourselves and our community as a whole. We're going to send a series of emails, explaining how we're tackling the distinct phases involved in buying and selling real estate. Topics include:
So, for today: Should I Buy or Sell During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Well, this is a tough one. Like hospitals delaying hip replacements but still attending to broken legs, we're trying to figure out how to accommodate our clients who have a need to move vs. those making discretionary moves. For example, some of our current buyers are in a rental that is being sold when their lease is up (you know who you are!). They have a timeline that isn't of their choosing, and it requires them to find somewhere new for their family to land. Some other clients of ours, sellers this time, have a property to purchase under agreement, and they need to sell their current house in order to be able to close on their new one. I would place both of these scenarios in the broken leg category. Delaying their purchase/sale will leave them with nowhere to live or having lost over $100,000 in deposits. We encourage everyone contemplating a move to consider - is this a hip replacement, or is this a broken leg situation? If it is a broken leg, we can help you. If your property is vacant, it is pretty straightforward. If your property is occupied, we have some more hoops to jump through, but we can still get it done. We'll cover our showing protocols in the third installment of this series (oooh! cliffhanger!), but if you need to know now, please reach out. If your situation is more analogous to a hip replacement (you'd like more space but you're sheltered for now), perhaps consider punting this to later spring. Having said that, we currently have two sets of clients with three young kids each, in very small homes, stuck in quarantine... we understand if this feels like a broken leg. If this is you - call us! Actually, call us in any case and we're happy to brainstorm a smart path forward that addresses both your goals and your safety and the safety of our community as a whole. Stay tuned for our next installment: Preparing properties for sale during COVID-19 And through all of this, let's keep our Cambridge community in mind: Check out some ideas for supporting our community below Sending good health, love and sanity to each of you, Lauren, Alberto and Mike 3 Easy Ways We Can Have a Positive Impact on Our Community in a Trying Time |
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