San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sound Off: How have open houses changed since the pandemic? See what Realtors have to say.
“We’ll just go to the open house…”
That phrase, uttered by potential property owners, buyers, possible sellers and inquisitive neighbors, became nonexistent as open houses and broker’s tours came to a screeching halt in March 2020.
One of the big surprises that surfaced this past year is that many homes still sold without open houses, and we found other ways to make a successful transaction occur.
There is a renewed excitement in the real estate industry for all of us to be out and about among colleagues again. One of the big changes is many agents want to change the times a home is open. Instead of the 1 to 4 p.m. or 2 to 4 p.m. traditional times, there is a movement about making a new time frame of 10 a.m. to noon or 11 a.m to 1:00 p.m.
As a veteran agent, I can say for myself that I terribly missed having our weekend open houses, conversing with the general public and spending a few hours showing a property inperson.
In a year of having to schedule appointments, complete the mandatory forms, schedule appointments on a oneonone and onetime basis — let’s say goodbye to wearing masks, use of sanitizers, gloves and wipe downs. Those things are gone for now and hopefully forever.
Jeannie Anderson, Compass, 4152714887, jeannie.anderson@compass.com.
Open houses have long served as a staple for marketing and sale of Bay Area homes.
They provide both an opportunity for buyers’ agents to send clients to preview the property on their own, and for the listing agent to not only meet prospective purchasers, but get to know the neighbors as well.
On June 15, California eliminated many of the prior cumbersome restrictions required for an open house (necessary paperwork, social distancing, limiting the number of visitors who could be inside the house at any given time, etc . ... ).
The primary protocol now dictates that all attendees must wear a mask when entering the property.
Although the mask requirement is government imposed, homeowners are free to require additional restrictions if they desire, like hand sanitizing, limiting the numbers of people and more.
See you at our next open house.
Karen Starr, the Grubb Co., 5104146000, starr@grubbco.com; Brenda Schaefer, the Grubb Co., 5104532401, bschaefer@grubbco.com.
Well, the first thing that has changed is that we are finally able to host open houses after a 14month hiatus.
As of June 15, the only restriction for open houses is that visitors will be required to wear a mask.
Prospective buyers will no longer have to sign the Property Entry Advisory and Declaration Form (aka PEAD).
Social distancing is no longer required, nor is hand sanitizer.
I think some visitors will still be practicing social distancing and using hand sanitizer.
The open houses that I have hosted the last few weeks have been well attended, but not quite back up to the number of visitors I was getting before the pandemic.
Buyers are thrilled to be able to go out on the weekends and visit multiple open houses.
We remain in a redhot housing market with multiple offers and sales prices significantly above asking price the norm.
Jeff LaMont, Coldwell Banker, 6507408808, jlamont@cbnorcal.com.