Real estate is considered an essential business and continues to operate amid Coronavirus shutdowns. Showings are still taking place, lenders are still processing loans, and attorneys continue to perform closings. If you are thinking about selling a home in Massachusetts, rest assured that it’s still possible to do so. Here are a few Coronavirus home seller precautions to consider.
Preparing Your Home for Showings
In the past, preparing for showings simply meant cleaning up. Amid Coronavirus concerns, there are a few additional things you can do to minimize touched surfaces. For instance, you can leave doors open to rooms and closets so buyers need not touch doorknobs to enter. Some homeowners are even leaving cabinet doors open. As you walk through your home, think about anything else that you can do to eliminate the need for visitors to touch things. Also, move sensitive items such as toothbrushes.
Requests to Buyers
Everyone understands the need to be extra vigilant these days, so it’s not unreasonable to extend certain requests to visitors. For example, you might ask everyone to remove their shoes and use hand sanitizer before entering your home. You might even ask visitors to wear masks or cover their faces with a scarf. These types of precautions help to protect everyone, so buyers are unlikely to be offended by them.
Precautions After Showings
Once visitors have left your home, it’s time to disinfect. Focus first on high-touch surfaces such as door knobs and handrails. Then, cover locations that sellers may not have touched but that could be exposed by coughs or sneezes, such as countertops and sinks. To minimize the frequency of such cleanings, ask your real estate agent to group showings back-to-back whenever possible.
Other Massachusetts Coronavirus Home Seller Precautions
These are just a few ideas for Massachusetts Coronavirus home seller precautions. Discuss other ideas with your real estate agent. There may be additional things you can do given the layout of your home and the type of buyers that may enter. As you receive and review offers, contact our team for assistance with preparing a purchase and sale agreement and attending closings on your behalf. We are are continuing to work during this pandemic and are ready to assist you.