I had the most unique experience this summer with one of my listings in Princeton. Multiple buyers wanted to see the house from the convenience of their current home. Many of these buyers were relocating from other states. They found themselves trying to buy a home remotely before making the move.
I had experienced this once before with a buyer I had been working with many years ago. She was on the west coast. Her husband was in the military and they were moving their family east. I loved creating a plan for this buyer to feel confident house shopping with me from 3,000 miles away. I invited her trusted friends and family and did a live video conference with her at the property.
In addition to the video, I would take as many photos as possible and forward information about the area. But, in the past, that felt like a unique situation and we found a way to make it work. This summer with COVID changed all that. Buying a house without physically being there has become more common. Being a part of a large company like Keller Williams enables me to work with buyers relocating from different areas. As a result, I had multiple calls from buyers all over the country wanting to see some of my listings.
How did I adapt? Easy! Technology! We have so many resources available to us these days. Zoom, Video Conferencing and FaceTime make it easy to interact with clients.
My photographer does a fantastic job of taking accurate, beautiful photos and video of my listings. I often have comments about how amazing the photos are for my listings… but other than some lighting touch ups, this is the house.
We do not alter the rooms to make them look bigger or play tricks with our photos. I find that deceives buyers and they are frustrated when they actually see the property in person.
I also created amazing information packets to send to the buyer ahead of time including floor plans. That way, they could follow the floor plan while on the video tour. This enabled the buyer to get a really good feel of the layout and space.
Matterport and other 3D tours are available to do a virtual walk through as well. But the biggest thing is being available for the clients. Can you imagine moving across the country to a new home, job, and community… probably spending a large chuck of your nest egg on this move and trying to do all this in the middle of a pandemic??
So, being available to answer questions and concerns along the way was key to the success of this transaction.
I would like to welcome all of the new buyers to our community and I hope that even with the pandemic, they have had a chance to get out and meet the amazing people who live in Sterling and Princeton. Hopefully they have been able to take advantage of all the wonderful small businesses we have. I love our community in these two towns and I was happy to help this new family with their adventure of joining us!
If you are putting your house on the market, be aware that this is becoming more common with everyone adapting to our current way of life. Be prepared to have buyers looking at your house virtually and make the necessary accommodations and plans with your real estate agent to be ready.
Luckily, we live in an amazing age of technology and being able to adapt to the times is key for buyers, sellers and realtors to have success in today’s market. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me anytime. And look for my new office coming soon on Route 140 across from the Sterling Greenery!
If anyone has any questions on these thoughts or would like me to give them a home value assessment on their property, feel free to call or text me any time at 978-407-2568 or email kpackardrealtor@gmail.com. I am always happy to help.
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