Safety has always been vital in real estate sales. During the Great Recession I sold a lot of assets, aka houses for banks and I had more than one bank install railings on a deck to prevent falls. There was one bank owned house with a mold issue and I had to get everyone to sign a hold harmless agreement from the bank prior to entry. I still carry leftover yellow caution tape in the real estate box in my car.
In 2020 our job as Realtors has gotten more labor intensive with the COVID protocols. Not only does every buyer and agent coming through a house have to sign the PEAD, Property Entry and Advisory Disclosure, but they also have to sign the listing brokerage’s COVID Prevention Plan. The plan must be affixed to the front door. The way things are going they’ll have us use the caution tape with big yellow X’s on the front doors that entrants will need to duck under. They won’t be able to say they weren’t warned if the property has crime scene curb appeal.
I’ve got a wonderful new listing coming on the market in San Rafael’s Sun Valley. The owners are in the final phase of an awesome rebuilding project, and I recently prepared the property for potential showings. I posted our Coldwell Banker rules and put out gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes and booties as well as a bin for the after viewing refuse. Normally when someone views a property you are supposed to open up windows and doors to create air flow, however this past weekend everything was sealed up in the house. I forewarned people without using the caution tape.
Before even viewing a home the buyers, of which there can only be two at a time in the house plus their agent, must use masks and booties, and gloves if available. Both showing and listing agents are supposed to provide hand sanitizer but If there is none available entrants must go directly to the nearest sink and wash their hands for the requisite 20 seconds Happy Birthday ritual. While in the house the agents and buyers should not be touching anything, and anything they do touch must be wiped down.
Listing agents are supposed to wipe down commonly touched surfaces before showings such as light switches and door knobs. We come early, put on the PPE, go into the house, wipe it down and open the windows. I have to admit the first time I did this I felt a little uneasy about potential wiping up somebody else’s COVID germs, like I was stepping into a contaminated lab. Even with my naturally elevated level of paranoia I didn’t need a hazmat suit to get used to the process. It beats not showing houses at all so I’m not complaining.
Showing properties has a 2020 twist. We still need to make properties safe for the visiting public. You can't do that without the COVID cleanup.