A lot of people are interested in how real estate is being conducted with COVID-19 restrictions in place. While the market has slowed down, there are still a lot of people buying and selling, albeit with some extra precautions in place. If you’re thinking of buying or selling real estate this spring you can also check out our “what to expect” and “COVID FAQs for real estate” blog posts or watch our Facebook Live Video to learn more. Here are our Top 5 Tips for selling your home during COVID-19: 1. Get a Virtual Evaluation Sitting around the kitchen table to discuss pricing, marketing, the market, and everything you need to know about selling your home is not ideal at the moment. So, many agents are taking that portion of the evaluation online. Agents still need to see your home in person to properly evaluate it, and will do so from a safe distance. They can then provide their advice about preparing your home for sale, marketing, pricing and so on, via an online meeting, when they can also answer all of your questions about the process. 2. Picture Day is the Most Important day Ever since the internet became the most popular place to look for homes for sale, picture day has been the most important day for a listing. Potential buyers search for homes based on price, location and features, but they decide which homes they're going to view in person based on the pictures. So, you want your home to look it's absolute best on picture day. Your agent can give you advice on staging your home prior to the photos, and may also have a professional stager assist you via a video call. Most photographers are asking sellers to take a few extra precautions before they arrive, including:
    • Leave home for at least 90 minutes while the photos are being taken
    • Turn all lights on (including floor and table lamps) and leave all doors and closets open before you leave
    • Leave the home exactly as you want it for photos as photographers won't be touching or moving anything
3. Get a 3D Tour We have been recommending 3D tours for years - we were the first brokerage in Alberta with our own Matterport Camera (one of the cameras used for virtual tours) back in 2014. A 3D walkthrough tour of some sort is now more important than ever; buyers want to do more research from home, before looking at properties in person. A 3D tour allows potential buyers to walk through your home on their computer or mobile device, so the people who actually come to view your home in person are serious. Make sure a floorplan is included with your 3D tour, as a floorplan really lets the buyers envision the space and their furnishings in the space. In addition, you may also wish to have a professional video done, which can generate additional interest in your home. A walkthrough video (done by your agent) may be lower production quality than a professional video, but can also be of higher value to interested buyers since the agent can take more time to point out all the features and benefits your home has to offer. Almost all of our listings have 3D Tours, and many have videos as well. 4. Price it Right, Right Away There are currently over 9 months of inventory on the market in Edmonton, which puts us in a buyer's market and means there is no room for error when it comes to pricing your home. With that said, different parts of the market are moving at different rates, and a simple calculation of the absorption rate will give an indication of how aggressively you need to price your home. For example, there are 4 months of inventory of detached single-family homes between $300-$400k, and over 15 months of supply of homes between $700-$800k. There are some market segments that had no sales at all in April. Different pricing strategies are needed for different types of properties, in different locations - your agent can advise you on the best pricing strategy for your home, keeping in mind that we are expecting inventory to rise as more homes come on the market than sell in the coming weeks and months. If your home sits on the market for too long, buyers will think there is something wrong with your home. 5. Getting Ready for Showings First off, you need to decide what requirements you have for buyers that want to view your home - are you going to require that they complete a questionnaire of some sort, or that they confirm they've viewed your 3D tour, or that they're prequalified, or do you have other requirements? Your agent can help you find the right balance between letting everyone and their grandma in your house, and unknowingly turning away your best buyer because they didn't meet your requirements. We ask our sellers to provide hand sanitizer at the front entry, leave all interior doors open and the lights on (so the agent and their buyers don't need to touch anything), and sanitize door handles and surfaces before and after showings. If you have questions about selling your home, feel free to get in touch or ask in the comments below. Posted by Liv Real Estate on

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