Realtors push back on non-essential home sales

Extra precautions taken by those showing homes

The coronavirus outbreak is pushing some realtors to turn away all but the most desperate clients, while others are adopting extraordinary measures in an effort to help maintain social distancing and stem the spread of the pandemic.

Darren Slavens, a broker and vice-president at Torontobased Slavens and Associates, says he has seen many agents decline to put out new listings or hold showings in order to do their part to fight the virus, but not everyone’s doing so.

“It’s a question of making sure everybody’s safe. We’re told to self-isolate, we’re told to stay in, so how do you purchase a property, why are people still out there looking to purchase a property if that’s the case?”

Real estate boards have recommended against open houses and in-person sales activity, but even doing things remotely through video and virtual tours requires a team to go through the house including stagers, photographers and a floor plan assessor, he said.

Slavens said he’s concerned that because the market was in such a frenzy before the outbreak hit, new listings are too tempting for those who were in the market.

“When properties are put out, it’s like putting candy in front of a baby, we can’t expect our buyers to not want to go out and see these properties.”

He said he’s only helping clients who are truly in a bind, such a family who recently moved from the U.K. and are stuck in an Airbnb, but doesn’t think people should be listing properties if they don’t have to.

“Bringing out something because someone wants to sell right now is just wrong, it’s wrong.”

Said Warde, a Toronto-based realtor with Royal LePage, said he’s only taking out people who are in a situation where they need to buy, and would try to dissuade those simply looking for a bargain from shopping for a home right now.

“Some buyers might a bit selfishly, if they’re not in the need, try to sort of score a deal and take advantage of the fact that there’s less competition going on, but if that’s going to be your strategy, and that’s not something you need to do, I would talk you out.”

Ontario Real Estate Association president Sean Morrison said the designation of realtors in the province as an essential service means it should be used only when necessary. “This should only be for essential transactions at this point, this is not business as usual.”

Realtors who are still showing properties are taking increasingly stringent precautions. Alaina Burnett, a realtor with ReMax in Vancouver, said the company has come out with a waiver for showings that instructs clients not to touch anything and not to bring children if they can’t be controlled. She said she’s also driving to showings in separate vehicles from clients, keeping a distance in the homes, using lots of hand sanitizer and even taking fire escape staircases to avoid the confined space of elevators.

“We just have to do it in as cautious a way as we can.”

She said she’s still seeing a fair bit of activity, with 201 new listings and 136 units sold Wednesday in just the areas of the city she monitors for clients.