By Priscilla R. Toomey, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker, Julia B. Fee/Sotheby's International Realty

Aug. 5, 2020: Since this past March, when the pandemic hit, there has been far less person to person contact in residential real estate than there had been.

People still want to buy and sell homes. Some buyers want to distance themselves from what they see as a risky dwelling situation in a densely populated urban area. Others are buying for the traditional reasons such as marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, death of a spouse, or job relocation, among others.

Virtual real estate has become a widely accepted approach in this "new normal." Virtual real estate enables prospective buyers to get to know the property without actually visiting it in person.

By now, most real estate agents have professional photographs and floor plans done to help in this process, but nowadays, there are virtual open houses, visual tours, and interactive floor plans to bolster these efforts.

Many agents and sellers want to see the prospective buyer's pre-approval before a showing, and COVID 19 disclosures and Fair Housing disclosures must also be signed to limit showings to serious candidates to avoid casual lookers from visiting in person. When in-person visits happen, masks, gloves, sanitizers, and no-touch requirements are in effect.

Enabling prospective buyers to see a property without actually visiting it can be very useful. From the selling side, it's also important that listing descriptions and data be as detailed and current as possible.

Practically every buyer who is serious about a property will see this new reality as a helpful screening mechanism and will want to visit the property in person before making an offer. But having used the virtual tools available, buyers can be far more focused and can spend their time far more wisely before settling on the home of their dreams.

Pictured here:  Priscilla Toomey, licensed associate real estate broker, Julia B. Fee/Sotheby's International Realty, Bronxville

Photo courtesy Julia B. Fee/Sotheby's International Realty 

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