Buying and Selling in Manhattan: New Methods for Positive Positioning COVID-19 and Beyond

As the proverb says, “necessity is the mother of invention” and the recent pandemic has seen the real estate industry rise to the occasion with creative ways to do business. “Virtual” will likely become a normal term in the days to come as well as adopting these technological strategies for the future in the housing market.

The good news is, despite the shutdown, there are potential buyers out there. These buyers are tech savvy and are letting their fingers do the walking and virtual walk-throughs do the talking. The old face-to-face business model of real estate transactions is going through a change and it looks as if this change is here to stay.

So how can sellers stand out with listing and buyers find and close in today’s environment?

From Virtual closings to virtual viewings, let’s look at alternative methods for positive positioning in New York for both buyers and sellers during COVID-19 and beyond.

Virtual Showings

New York classified real estate as an essential business at the beginning of April. Guidance under the new ordinance mandates that any real estate transactions take place virtually. Virtual viewings were just taking off before the pandemic and are now replacing the walk-throughs with sales happening sight-unseen. According to HomeLight, a survey taken before the crisis showed only 5% of buyers were making sight-unseen offers whereas today this is the new normal in many areas.

Video and photography are the current hot home selling tools. Sellers can ask their agents how to create a stunning video using a tripod and smartphone camera. There are even professional processors to help get the best results. Technologies such as Cupix, EyeSpy360, and Matterport are available to relators and sellers to aid in the virtual rendering of listings.

With your agent’s help, Zoom, Skype or FaceTime allows you to host a virtual open house or walkthrough in real time for potential buyers. Hearing the owner tell their story about a property helps form emotional connections. This flexibility on the seller’s part reaps many rewards, lending an authenticity to the virtual process.

Virtual Closings

New York Governor Cuomo on March 20, 2020 gave an Executive Order allowing ‘Virtual Notarization’. The new notarization process uses tools like Zoom and Skype to help facilitate the process online.

Banks are joining in the support by accepting desktop appraisals as appraisers and inspectors included in the Order can conduct their work by following certain distancing rules.

With a virtual closing, the gap created by using an escrow agent is closed. Everything is done electronically from the signing of documents to sending funds. Notarization is now performed using video conferencing technology. The document to be notarized gets sent by email, gets notarized, then sent back to the person who signed it. Within 30 days of the electronic transaction, the notary re-notarizes the original signed document and files it along with the electronically notarized copy.

The pandemic is allowing the real estate industry time to catch up to the consumer standards keeping their listings relevant in today’s world. In cities like New York, nimble agents like The Hoffman Group make sales while ensuring the safety of their clients and their families.There may be a learning curve to tackle regarding the new technology but many of the changes being made now will improve the buying and selling process in the future.

Compass in the News

It's no surprise that the global pandemic has had a deep impact on real estate. The pandemic prompted a dramatic decline in listings going under contract across every major Compass region, followed by an equally dramatic increase in these agreements after the region hit bottom. Read Inman's coverage (here) and our full, detailed report (here) that gives a market-by-market look at the pandemic's effect on real estate.

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