A rookie Realtor makes her mark
Practicing real estate in today’s “COVID climate” in Santa Fe requires extra layers of safety, precaution and protection for buyers, sellers, vendors and real estate brokers.
When showing homes to prospective buyers, I have adopted protocols such as ensuring all parties are masked and gloved, as well as filing a hold-harmless COVID-19 agreement to protect everyone at the showing.
I carry my hold-harmless forms, disposable surgical-grade gloves, sanitizing solutions and backup surgical-grade masks with me everywhere I go.
While this might be a change for the majority of established local Realtors, for me it is “the norm” since I started as an associate broker mid-pandemic.
For those traveling from outside New
Mexico who have not quarantined for 14 days upon arrival, I provide an extra layer of COVID-19 hold-harmless disclosures and written permissions for the brokers and brokerages involved.
I provide live virtual tours via FaceTime or Zoom to help accommodate out-of-town buyers who wish to see properties from the comfort of home.
By optimizing my virtual-technology capabilities, I have managed to reach buyers and sellers even while social distancing.
With more people working from home, Santa Fe has become a destination place to live. “Zoom towns” are springing up all around Santa Fe, as many families relocate and prefer to live in a more remote area.
My goal is to keep everyone safe and compliant throughout the real estate purchasing process, while providing an environment of hospitality and unmatched professionalism.
As a first-year Realtor, I am primarily working with buyer clients, and I have managed to get three deals closed just since my last column (hurray!).
My buyer clients in Los Alamos are winning the bidding wars despite the low-inventory conditions happening “up the hill.” For my buyer clients wanting an adobe, I help with home searches from Santa Fe to Pojoaque, Jemez Springs, Española, Tesuque and anywhere in the Santa Fe area.
The highlight of my job as a Realtor is exploring options with new homeowners to help them find the perfect fit in Northern New Mexico.
Many people who have read my column have reached out, and for those of you still reading, I am eternally grateful to meet and know you and share with you a snippet into the life of a new real estate broker in Santa Fe.
If you happen to receive an Instacart order from someone named Jenna, I am still shopping for clients every weekend, and your online orders help me make ends meet.
Jenna Hensley is a Realtor at Keller Williams Realty Santa Fe and is also a full-service personal shopper for Instacart in Santa Fe. Originally from Austin, Texas, Jenna lives with her fiancé on a small farm in La Mesilla.