If you’re under the impression the housing market is stymied by the pandemic, we have news for you: not so much! In fact, thanks to technology, there are ways to find, buy, and sell homes right now, without the worry of getting sick. We’ve gathered the tools you need to safely make your selling or purchasing dream come true, so read on!

What’s New?

When it comes to adapting, little could be more impressive than the many ways the real estate market has shifted to accommodate home buying and selling during this challenging time. Get familiar with what’s available to help you from start to finish.

• Chatting with your real estate agent has never been easier. You can connect safely from anywhere, thanks to video conferencing tools.
• Redfin explains that even with shelter-in-place restrictions, you can still enjoy live home tours via virtual options.
• Along those same lines, if your home is sitting empty or you simply want to spark buyers’ imaginations, you can put virtual staging to work.
• If you want a bird’s-eye view or are just looking for a way to personally control the virtual tour, a drone is another possibility.

What’s the Same?

Some things about buying and selling a house are unaltered. Keep up these proven selling traditions to ensure your success:

• Go room to room decluttering your home so buyers can picture what their things would look like in the space.
• Assemble an arsenal of cleaning supplies and clean your house thoroughly from top to bottom, even inside your closets and behind the toilets.
• Stage your home in a manner that shows it off in the best possible way, highlighting strengths and downplaying weak spots.
• Curb appeal is still a must, so bring your home’s exterior and landscaping up to speed.

The Legal Process

With businesses locked down and/or practicing social distancing measures, the legal process of buying and selling a property is affected as well. Happily, it can still go on with a few adjustments.

• Just like viewing homes, virtual inspections allow the purchaser to ensure a house is safe and sound.
• You’ll want to price out any significant, non-cosmetic repairs the report reveals. Just like many other things, you can do this online; for instance, HomeAdvisor says replacing an air compressor in an air conditioning unit costs $1,200 on average.
• As Forbes explains, repairs are just one thing you can negotiate when buying a home.
• Even the closing process can be successfully performed while social distancing.

Thanks to technology, real estate is carrying on business in a somewhat altered, but safe, manner. Put the tools at hand to work for you, address the normal selling concerns, and prepare for a slightly modified version of completing the deal. The pandemic might have changed the terrain a bit, but the path can still be navigated successfully.