Are we ACTUALLY ready for open homes?

Like most of you, I am pretty keen to get back out on Saturday and open up property.

Still, I can't help but wonder if this is more about me and my own desire to be amongst people than is it the right thing to be doing at this point.

As the owner of a marketing agency and a property management division I speak with a wide variety of people on a daily basis and the feedback I'm getting at the moment is

"people are not confident with open homes just yet".

Now, let's take our agent hat off for a moment & look at this from a tenant's point of view. I spoke with one of ours today who is terrified about what people could bring into her home where she & her husband and 6-month-old son live, but still understands the owners need to sell the property and wants to accommodate in every way possible.

Given current circumstances, can you blame her for the concern?

I also spoke to a sales agent today who tells me he's never going back to the way things were because he's getting much better results having embraced technology. He said to me and I quote " Nic, why would I open a home up to every man and his dog when I can pre-qualify a buyer before they step foot in the property as to whether they like the home or not".

The agent in me asked "what do you do in that situation then to build competition that open homes and auctions with large numbers do". The response - We do our job. Beautifully said.

Like it or not COVID-19 has changed our lives. It's changed how we look at social gatherings, what is deemed essential & how can we better ourselves in business.

Having worked with over 500 agents since COVID-19 first hit, the implementation of new technology and the benefits it brings also brings a tough decision for those agents who are succeeding in the new world and having to go back to “the way things were” could prove to be difficult. 

I know most of us are looking forward to opening up homes on Saturday, however, it seems the jury is still out.  With new cases of the virus continuing to emerge it seems not everyone is convinced it's time relax the restrictions.

Our research over the past few days has shown 72.3% of people would prefer that the way things are currently remain in place for a little while longer. 

In these uncertain times it's easy to just want to get back to the way things were but sadly, it doesn't appear that things will ever be the same again.

Just because open homes are allowed doesnt't mean everyone will be embracing them.

Nic Fren

Founder

Bespoke Media Management