WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
I’ve spent more hours on Zoom calls this past 2 months than I care to think about. My dreams at night are broadcast in a 5x5 grid with frozen faces and garbled sound.
However, I don’t know what I would have done without it and am grateful that it was already part of our technology package. I bring up the Zoom craze because it dovetails so well with today’s topic — Where Do We Go From Here?
Our world and lives have changed incredibly in the past few weeks because of this virus and I doubt we’ll ever go back to what “normal” looked like in the beginning of the year.
We’ve been talking to a lot of people both inside and outside the real estate world. Homeowners, buyers, Realtors, lawyers, bankers – and the consensus is that the real estate transaction process will be changing permanently. Most of the changes I’m seeing are positive and will result in a better experience for all involved.
Let’s start with the entertainment factor. It’s going to be a long time before we’ll see public open houses again. Gone are the days of 20-30 people traipsing through your home on a Saturday afternoon. I can’t imagine, with our heightened awareness of contagions, that homeowners will be prepared to let masses of people through their homes, potentially contaminating the property as well as disrupting their lives. Especially when the technology exists to view a home in much more detail than merely walking through. Now, I don’t expect people to buy entirely without seeing the home. I do see a much more rigorous qualifying process for both buyers and the homes buyers will want to offer on. After all, many people are prepared to buy a new home or condo from a builder based almost entirely on a pretty, computer-generated rendering and a 2D floor plan.
Historically, Realtors have been brutal with pre-qualifying potential clients. Agents typically work on a commission-only basis. In other words, no sales means no paycheque. The pandemic and the restrictions of working within the challenging health conditions means that Realtors must now to be certain the person they were working with was qualified. Meaning approved by the bank and having the financial wherewithal to buy, along with the actual desire to buy a home. Many agents would have been reluctant to ask those personal and tough questions for fear of alienating and chasing potential buyers away. The days of the pop-tart agent – the one who would show any property, any time, no questions asked – are in my opinion, thankfully over.
Home sellers are going to want assurances that the potential buyers coming through their home are well qualified and have the intention to buy. Home owners will not be prepared to go through the hard work of getting their homes prepped for sale in order to have the bulk of their showings being booked by real estate tourists.
Our expectation is that the process of buying and selling a home will become a much better experience for most consumers, even with the added layers of questions and qualifying. We as an industry will need to bring a strong process to protect the health of our clients and ourselves moving forward. It also won’t hurt that I expect 20-30% of the Realtors currently licensed to likely drop out of the industry within the next 18 months. Why, you ask? As a brokerage, we won’t have any tolerance for the liability and risk that will come from agents that aren’t prepared to up their game and level of professionalism. We also expect consumers will become much more discriminating and will easily see which brokerages and agents have stepped up and offer a higher level of service and attention to detail about keeping clients safe and protecting them during their real estate experience.
Which brings me back to my Zoom meeting affliction. I believe consumers are expecting agents and brokerages they work with to fully utilize technologies like Zoom, 3D home tours, and video to market homes to their full potential.
With every adversity, there is always an opportunity that presents itself. The opportunity here is to enhance the real estate experience for all the stakeholders for the better.
A few weeks ago, we released our new guidelines for how we do business; you can read them at the link below:
THIS WEEK IN THE GUELPH REAL ESTATE MARKET:
The Guelph & area real estate market is slowly coming back to life. We recorded 43 properties selling in the City of Guelph over the past week. That’s about 68% of the number sold during the same week in 2019. 18 homes (42%) sold at or above list price this past week, compared to 2019 and 51% of homes sold above list.
You can see that the gap is narrowing each week. 2017 was the high water mark for the number of sales and percentages over, and despite the pandemic, our market conditions are not what I would call horrible.
I’ll say this again, I’m bullish on this market doing a nice rebound over the coming months.
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Thanks for reading & enjoy the long weekend.
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SPOTLIGHT: Speed River Bicycle
It’s cycling season! If your bike needs a tune up, flat tire fix, or a brake adjustment, Speed River Bicycle in Downtown Guelph is offering curbside pickup and drop off service for bikes of all shapes and sizes. Book your service online and stay safe on the trails this long weekend!
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