COVID-19 has and will continue to have an impact not just on how we do business but the real estate market as a whole.  We were looking at a strong spring market with the balance swung heavily in the seller’s favor with multiple offers and quick sales continuing to be the norm.  With the current state of affairs naturally buyer and seller confidence has shifted.  Predictably the number of showings in all price ranges has dropped dramatically as have new listings and pending sales.  The link from the Minnesota Association of Realtors spells it out for us.  Click here to read an article about COVID-19's impact on the market.

We need to look at the bright side of things too!  There are still many transactions happening daily.  In a nutshell, buyers are still buying, and sellers are still selling.  In the week leading up to April 1st 2020, the Twin Cities have seen 196 new listings with 39 of those already contingent on inspection. 196 properties have moved into a pending status and 187 properties officially closed.  And, even though some buyers have decided to hold off, at the same time inventory is dropping due to sellers holding off so the supply and demand ratios are still in the seller’s favor.  This means, we should expect values to hold firm and multiple offers to still be common.

Marketing Strategy Changes
We’re already making changes to our marketing approach in response to these market conditions. For our Seller’s listing’s; we are listing properties as “Coming Soon” for at least 7 days with a full set of professional photos.  This generates excitement and gives buyer’s time to process mortgage approvals and plan their offer. We found this worked quite well early in the year and has now become a must whenever the situation allows.

We’re spending a bit more to add professional video tours to our listings, so we are less dependent on showings.  And, we are developing strategies to make sure to maximize the price we get for our seller’s homes.  In the past we could have overlapping showings and open houses to get as many people through the house in a short amount of time.  This created an excitement and sense of urgency for buyers and their agents. Now, overlapping showings and open houses are not allowed during this Covid-19 crisis we may need to allow 3 or 4 days for a bulk of the buyers to have a chance to view a property.  In addition, we may need to set a deadline for offers and make sure we are following up with every showing by phone to help generate the sense of urgency.

And, for our buyer’s; we’ve always offered this, but now we’ll preview properties and provide a Zoom or video walk-through of the property. It's an extra step that will help narrow the property search for our buyers and limits the possibility of exposure to the virus for both sides of the transaction.

Without a doubt there will be other changes that we haven't even dreamed up yet. We remain optimistic and open to new ideas and strategies to continue to facilitate home sale.