Looking To Sell Your Home During COVID-19? Follow These 6 Tips For Success

By Staff Reporter

Jul 23, 2020 11:00 AM EDT

Looking To Sell Your Home During COVID-19? Follow These 6 Tips For Success(pixabay) (Credit: Getty Image)

If you're thinking of finally putting up that 'For Sale' sign in your front lawn, now's still a perfect time despite the COVID-19 pandemic. While much of the world faces uncertainty, the real estate market still has a wealth of supply and demand, wherein real estate agents are keeping busy during these uncertain times. Just as sellers are anxious to sell, buyers are just as excited to find their new home. Follow these tips to set yourself apart from the competition!

Find the right price for your listing

As the economy grinds to a halt, you might be worried about receiving a good price for your home. Fortunately, real estate experts expect this pandemic to only slow the rate prices are rising, but not lower prices altogether. This means you won't have to set a price for your listing that's lower than you were anticipating before the COVID-19 outbreak. Still unsure what the best price for your home is? Talk to a local agent, and they can walk you through the process. 

Market the listing virtually

While in-person showings are no longer recommended under social distancing guidelines, sellers don't need to put a halt to all marketing campaigns. Top real estate agents have developed virtual tours, digital closing tools, and remote client meetings, so your real estate endeavours can carry on.

Ask your agent for tips and suggestions when it comes to taking listing images and developing virtual walk-throughs, and you should have no problem getting prospective buyers viewing your home from the comfort of theirs.

Tackling in-person showings safely

If a prospective buyer insists on forgoing virtual tours in favor of in-person showings, it's still possible to do so safely. Simply take proper precautions. Ask buyers and their agents to show up separately to your property, require all in-person participants to wear masks, and disinfect the property before and after each showing. It's also a smart idea to limit the number of people per tour and ask all those present to refrain from touching anything. Ask your real estate agent what other steps you could take to keep yourself, your home, and all those involved in the selling process safe.

Understanding alternative appraisals

As a result of the coronavirus, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FDHA) has come up with alternatives to in-person appraisals. These new alternatives still require plenty of research by the appraiser to come up with an accurate evaluation of the home's worth, while maintaining social distancing guidelines. These new methods use exterior inspections, drive-bys, market evaluations, and video walk-throughs hosted by the seller in order to determine the home's quality and condition. Thankfully, in-person inspections are no longer required, so you won't have to worry about your own safety as your home gets appraised. 

Consider after the sale logistics

You've finally dug up the 'For Sale' sign from your front lawn and the closing papers are signed. That means it's time to pop open the champagne! While there's still plenty to deal with in terms of moving (for instance, finding the right moving company to help out), rest assured a coronavirus addendum can protect both buyers and sellers who might require flexibility in the closing timeline in order to deal with delays. Take your time and know that you're protected!

Trust your real estate agent

Perhaps the most important way to successfully sell a home during the COVID-19 pandemic is to find a trusted real estate agent who can advise you on every step. For more on COVID-19 and the real estate comeback, check out HomeLight's Top Agent Insight Survey from Q2. 

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