It’s true that marketing a house during coronavirus may require a few different approaches than you might use in more ideal, typical selling circumstances. However, DIY solutions can still prepare your home well and get it onto the market. With your ingenuity, elbow grease, and some good advice from a local agent, you’ll be able to get your home in front of prospective buyers faster than you think!

Deep-Clean and De-Personalize Your Home for Listing Photos

While you might have more input on creating a good listing photo look if we weren’t in the midst of social distancing, there are plenty of ways to DIY your listing photos. Get advice on angles and styling from your agent, but focus at the beginning on the key elements. First, clean everything and make sure that your furnishings show as little wear as possible. Second, de-personalize the home so that a wide range of buyers can see themselves in it and start imagining how they’ll make it their own.

Virtual Showings Introduce the Buyers To Your Home

Through a camera’s lens, you can introduce buyers to the aspects of your home that you like the best. Talk to your agent about the best way to film a video walkthrough of your home, and then consider hosting video-conferencing meetings where your potential buyers can ask questions and see elements of the home in real time. These DIY events can help people feel like the are getting to know the home without having to interact in person.

Keep Everything Clean and Physically Distanced During Visits

When buyers are really close to making an offer, you may opt to have very limited, social-distanced in-person visits to the house. Your DIY efforts here have to do with lots of hand sanitizer, anti-microbial wipes for surfaces, and clear ways to keep your distance from each other. People can get creative: you can leave the house while they walk around and look at the home but stay on a phone call the whole time, so they can ask questions whenever they see something. You can also wear cloth masks when you must be in each other’s proximity. Your agent may have other ideas for making the showing effective without jeopardizing anyone’s health.

Consider an Alternative Appraisal, Given the Recent Legal Exceptions

Among our other selling tips during coronavirus, this one offers a way forward without having to get a traditional appraisal with an in-home visit. Because the Federal Housing Finance Agency provided guidance about making appraisal requirements more flexible during coronavirus, you may be able to work with your agent and potential buyer to agree to an exterior inspection, a drive-up inspection, or another non-traditional form of inspection to create the appraisal for your sale.

Use E-Notarization Services During Virtual Closing Meetings

One last DIY tip for your coronavirus home sale: some states have the option to do notarization online, which may make your closing meeting easier to do virtually with all needed parties in a secure video conference. Talk with your agent about what will be needed and whether a physically-distanced in-person closing or a virtual closing makes the most sense where you are.

Let Chopper Russo Team know any questions you may have!

Patrick, Geno, Jessica, Jen, Carol, Tommy & Chopper

chopper@chopperrussoteam.com

(201) 240-5200