Open Houses to re-launch under new health and safety measures
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) has announced that all SRA members can conduct open houses under new health and safety measures.
When COVID-19 struck the province, the association asked all members to cease open houses in the interest of public health and safety. Now that the government of Saskatchewan has set a date for phase three of The Reopen Saskatchewan Plan, the SRA feels confident that open houses can begin again safely.
“I’m really impressed by the performance of our members during these times...they’ve gone above and beyond to protect those buyers and sellers who really needed to move or find a home,” said Jason Yochim, SRA CEO. “Many of the measures that will be in place are already common practice for those times when a buyer really needs to see a home before they make a purchase, so our members are wellprepared to manage a visit safely.”
Early estimates on the economic impact of the shutdown to Saskatchewan’s real estate market projected up to a 75 percent decline in activity, but April’s market stats showed an average decrease of approximately 50 percent.
New safety measures for open houses include health disclosure surveys and contact information records to aid in contract tracing should someone ever test positive after attending an open house. Only two people (plus the attending REALTOR®) will be allowed into a house at a time and they are expected to sanitize upon entering, not touch anything, wear shoes and/or disposable booties on their feet and maintain social distance. Other attendees will be asked to wait outside either in a socially distant queue or in their cars.
“The economic impact to the market was better than we expected but still pretty tough on many of our members,” said Yochim. “I am quite confident the markets will improve – there is a lot of pent up demand out there for both buyers and sellers who held off while the pandemic was in full swing.”
The SRA has long lobbied the government of Saskatchewan to amend legislation to allow provincially regulated not-for-profits to conduct AGMS and virtual votes, just like their federal counterparts can. Last week the government announced those changes, as well as amendments to allow all mandatory industry forms to be signed electronically. All other industry forms are also able to be witnessed electronically as well. Electronic signatures were something the SRA has been lobbying the government for over several years. Those changes became more critical considering the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures will aid the real estate industry in its ongoing efforts to keep buyers and sellers safe and move association business into the 21st century.
“We are beyond enthused with these changes and applaud the Saskatchewan government for tackling them during such a busy and difficult time for the province” said Yochim.