How covid has improved the business of property sales

WHILE Covid-19 has impacted on everyone’s life in some manner within the property sector it has kick-started changes on the technology front that those within the sector feel have improved the business of property sales.

Adrian Haythornthwaite, from Sherry Fitzgerald Haythornthwaite, in Wexford, said Covid-19 has changed the way auctioneers work and said it’s a change for the better in many respects.

He said online auctions and virtual tours are among the biggest changes.

‘ The major one has to be the arrival of the online property auction,’ he said.

‘ These are the way of the future,’ he added. In many ways the online auction is very similar to an old-fashioned auction, it’s just a lot easier for bidders to participate.’

Through the online platform people can bid using their phone.

Adrian said the business recently hosted an online auction where some bidders were participating from Belgium, while others were located in Dublin and Wexford.

‘Bidders prefer the anonymity of an online auction, we have found as well,’ said Adrian.

Through the online platform a bidding number appears beside the bid, which all bidders can see, however, names remain hidden.

‘We as the auctioneers need to know whose number is whose,’ said Adrian.

‘However, this information is confidential, as you would expect,’ he added.

He said the second big improvement in how business is done are virtual tours.

‘ This in effect is a video of the property and there are several ways of using this,’ he said.

‘Some buyers prefer to do the virtual tour as a virtual viewing, that’s when we use it in conjunction with a Zoom call so that we can chat about the property and about your requirements as we go through the video,’ he added.

‘Others prefer to see the video on their own and talk to us later.’

He said both methods work because they enable interaction with prospective purchasers about life in Wexford and what particular areas have to offer.

As a result of measures imposed by Covid-19, Adrian said the industry has learned how to use technology in a much more beneficial manner.

‘ This isn’t just in our office in Wexford by the way, it’s across the entire Sherry FitzGerald network of 100 offices across the country,’ he said.

‘Every day we are selling properties in a way that we couldn’t have imagined 14 months ago.’