At this time of the year, I am usually promoting my active listings and reviewing my Team’s sales. Not this year. We are living in unprecedented times for our families, communities and Nation. We all are navigating very dangerous and unknown challenges. As for real estate, we all understand that at some stages of life, buying or selling a home is critical to our lives. That is why real estate has been deemed an essential service by many states, including Maryland.
But, any near term real estate activity now comes with very serious health and legal requirements and still entails some unknown risks. Each individual has to evaluate their own personal risks and decide on their course of action. Many agents, including My Team, have had owners that have withdrawn their listings or are waiting to list when the pandemic subsides.
In my personal case, I plan to restrict my near-term activity to virtual meetings, virtual tours, e-signature contracts and strict social-distancing for all personal meetings. We have built web tools into our Team operations over the years and now we are deepening those tools for the duration of this pandemic. Some members of my Team, are holding personal meetings, with strict adherence to CDC guidelines and Maryland State guidelines for real estate activities. For example, although real estate is deemed essential, Open Houses are forbidden right now. Even showing homes is strictly regulated and limited.
March ‘20 Compared to March ‘19.
It may be surprising to learn that this past March 2020, sales in Montgomery County were up by 17% compared to sales in March of last year! That was despite the fact that active listing were down by ~16% and we had the start of this pandemic. Truth be told, if you need to sell and if you price your home reasonably you will likely get multiple offers, as inventory is down dramatically. We have the strong backing of Long & Foster, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, and we are able to operate in these difficult times with our professional relationships that we have developed over 1,000+ transactions.
Season Will Resume Later
This year the Spring season in real estate will be corona-delayed. I have no idea when the traditional active Spring Market will fully resume. When it does, The Barbara Ciment Team, hopes, prays and plans to be there in full force ready to help you Buy or Sell.
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