By Amy Moyer and Lisa Ivan • Century 21 Select Group Realtors
“You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania” is taking on a whole new meaning as we navigate through our current reality. With all of the hysteria, empty shelves, travel bans, and closed businesses…PA is choosing to thrive!
Our residents are helping each other in so many ways. Just a few of the things that have been accomplished in this tough time include special store hours for seniors, programs put into place to feed school children at multiple locations, and masks are being made in residential homes that will be donated to hospitals. The rest of us are doing our own part by staying home and keeping area cases as low as possible.
We wanted to use this article to share the upcoming Spring events with you. Unfortunately, most of these events are being postponed or even canceled. With the extreme amount of people choosing to enjoy the great outdoors, our area trails are over-run. This makes us all wonder how safe it is to go out and take a hike. We know it will be challenging to find a spot with no people, but highly suggest avoiding the trails with packed parking lots.
Due to all of the confusion, we would like to tell our readers that we are here for you and we understand how uncertain things are, especially real estate. This year started off with the growing values of a very strong market. We are confident that it will return to this level once things settle down.
To help reduce confusion and uncertainty, we think it may be helpful to answer some important questions that our clients have been asking. Is this a good time to list a home for sale? Can a buyer still get together with an agent and see homes if they are vacant? Are loan companies continuing to lend money in this uncertain time?
There are a few reasons why we think it’s beneficial to list and some obvious drawbacks. Many buyers are choosing to take advantage of the historically-low interest rates, which even brought them out searching during the winter months. Understandably, we are seeing a fast-growing amount of people passing time by searching homes online. They are checking out the photos and bookmarking houses of interest. Some are even taking a drive down the road to get a peek at the curb appeal.
Unfortunately, the biggest challenge is that they can’t actually make an appointment to walk through the house. Keep in mind, all Century 21 listings have a virtual tour attached. We may be unable to provide access, but you can still feel like you are there. Online tours are the next best option!
The current guidelines do not allow agents to meet clients and show them houses. Even vacant homes are on hold from showings for an unspecified amount of time. Gated communities have even gone an extra step by de-activating gate keycards for all non-residents. This precaution is in place to protect all of us. Even if Realtors are unable to go out and tour homes, modern technology keeps us just a click away!
If you are someone who likes to be prepared ahead of time, you should know that we are still working diligently behind the scenes. Feel free to reach out to us for advice, questions, or requests to be set up on automatic email alerts. This is the best way of keeping you up to date on every new listing that will be available for showings as soon as we beat the virus!
Don’t forget to keep your loan officer in the loop about any changes, because chances are good that his lenders will be anxious to get back to business the first moment they are able. Century 21 Select Group will be ready when that time comes. For now, we must keep our families safe at home so we can get past this and come out stronger!
Please remember to love your neighbor, try to remain calm, and stay safe. We will get through this together!
Born and raised in the Pocono area, you can visit Million Dollar Producer Amy Moyer at www.AmySellsPa.com.
A 21-year resident of Jim Thorpe, you can visit Multi-Million Dollar Producer Lisa Ivan at www.Mountain-Lifestyle.org.
Add Comment