Tag: Virtual open house

S O L D – Peaceful Southwest Haven

Posted on by Mel Marzahl

Pending in 2 days!

This gorgeous 150sqft attached home sold quick! The seller, Marisa, had updated the home a few years ago and kept it very well maintained. She loved living in this home but was ready to buy her “move-up” house with her fiance Danny.

Marisa and Danny were fantastic sellers to work with. They gave me a virtual walk-through of the home and a list of upgrades they had done so I could provide them with the most accurate pricing, staging, and repair recommendations. They also knew what their budget would be for touch ups and pre-listing prep.

Importance of Listing Prep, Photos, & Video

I brought in a team of staging consultants who were able to work virtually. They are professional interior designers who were able to look at photos of the home and provide Marisa and Danny recommendations for furniture placement and design choices. Marisa and Danny dived right in, spruced up their home, and collaborated with the designers so when photography day came around, the house was sparkling clean and perfectly staged to show off its features.

The photos, video, 3-D tour, and floorplan came out great! With the coronavirus affecting everyone, it is extra important to show every inch of the house in as many ways as possible. When buyers have a floorplan, 3-D tour, as well as great photos and video, they are able to see if a home might be the right fit for them, before even stepping in the door.

Virtual Open House and Social Media

One powerful new thing I have added to my marketing tool belt is the ‘virtual open house.’ I set a specific time to do a video tour the home while streaming live on Facebook. This gives buyers and agents the chance to see a “hosted” walk-through of the home while being able to ask questions in real time. It also leaves me with a recorded video tour of the home which I can share with other agents and interested buyers. It’s lo-fi compared to the 2 minute professional video I’ve hired a pro to make, but it makes taking a live tour of the home more accessible. Many buyers like that the longer-format tour as well because I will talk about the upgrades and features of the home as I walk through it. Here is the link to the virtual open for Marisa’s lovely home. 

Pending in 2 days!

All of their hard work preparing the home to look its best, paid off! We received a great offer on the first day, and more came in the second day. They ended up with a solid over-asking offer with favorable terms, and a second very similar offer in back-up. They just closed today, and negotiated an extra two weeks in the home to do a bit of work on their new place (closing tomorrow) before they move!

Congrats Marisa and Danny!

Real estate in the time of COVID-19: Part I

Posted on by Natalie Tracy

The most common question I get from clients of late – buyers and sellers alike – is “what’s it like to buy/sell a house right now?” The short answer is: not much different than buying/selling a house at any other time. The long answer: well, it is different in some key ways.

First and foremost, those of us conducting real estate right now want to keep people safe. We want to do the very best for our clients, as always. But that means doing our best to keep them safe while also getting them the house of their dreams and/or selling their house with an optimal outcome. To this end, the first big change to the home buying and selling process in the time of COVID-19 has been the huge shift to virtual options.

We’ve had the options of 3D virtual tours, video tours, virtual showings, and virtual open houses for a long time now. But when we could be face-to-face with most folks most of the time, virtual was more seen as a nice-to-have versus a must-have. During a pandemic, when we need to limit in-person contacts for everyone, virtual has taken center stage and become an absolute must.

All of my listings now have 3D virtual tours and video tours. I offer virtual showings to all of my buyers, and make them available on all of my listings. I am starting to offer virtual open houses on all of my listings. This takes what used to be a much less accessible and much more time consuming process for buyers and potential buyers, and makes it accessible to everyone and much less time consuming.

For instance, if buyers are interested in ten homes, but they can narrow that down to two homes by viewing 3D tours and/or having virtual showings – guess how much time they save, let alone how much less driving has to happen? It’s a win-win for people and the planet. And it allows me to more efficiently and effectively serve my clients, hooray! Additionally, those folks just beginning the process, who may not yet have an agent helping them, have full access to homes virtually. It helps them dream and plan, and it can also help them find THE one!

So a much bigger push to virtual is the first key change to buying and selling homes in the time of COVID-19. And with the need to rethink how we do business longer-term for the sake of our planet, this is a change I believe will stick around. Even when we can conduct business more readily in person again.

Stay tuned for more soon!