To all of our wonderful clients and friends,

We hope you are all well and staying safe. In this ever-changing landscape that we are finding ourselves in the midst of, we wanted to be sure that we were communicating with all of you on how we are adjusting and continuing to work on your behalf. 

As many of you may already know, Governor Kate Brown has issued an update on last week’s Stay Home, Stay Safe plan. The new order outlines a more specific action plan for all of Oregon.  To read the full report, click here.

COVID-19 Real Estate Challenges

It is our understanding that real estate activity can continue with modifications to our normal protocol. We have been working closely as a brokerage, as a team, and with our industry partners, to be sure that we are implementing needed safety measures. We are also monitoring the state of essential services provided by the many vendors that we work with daily. They are an integral part of each transaction. Together, we are confident that we will get through all of this!

The safety of our clients, partners, and colleagues is of the utmost importance. In light of COVID-19 and new State guidelines, here are some steps that we are taking and some suggestions for all of our clients that are currently selling their homes, considering selling, and/or actively looking to buy.

For active listings:

We will not be hosting open houses and/or broker tours, until further notice. Showings will be by appointment only and we will be sending the following to all agents prior to any showing. 

• Please do NOT enter if you feel ill in any way.
• Remove shoes outside of the home.
• Wear protective gloves or masks if possible.
• Please sanitize your hands before entering and after.
• We have asked our sellers to turn on lights & to open doors to bedrooms and closets to help avoid spreading germs. The seller will also sanitize in between showings whenever possible.
• Please refrain from touching surfaces as much as possible. Please do not open refrigerators or kitchen cabinets, please do not touch kitchen counter-tops.
• Do not touch cabinet or door handles whenever possible.
• No more than one set of folks at a time. Please continue to practice social distancing while inside the home.
• Please limit showings to 20 minutes.
• The owners may or may not be able to vacate during showings due to the local jurisdiction orders but will allow privacy for your showing.

In addition, our team has invested in a GoPro camera that will allow me to do live stream showings of your property, should someone want to see it in more detail and not want to physically come to the property. 

Technology is going to play a crucial role in the weeks to come. We want you to know that we are on top that!

What to do if you are considering putting your home on the market and/or need to get your home on the market:

We recommend that we stay the course! As most buyers are now home for a few weeks and will likely have more free time, we feel there may be a surge in online activity. In addition, if we implement as many safety measures as possible, we feel that our market will continue to move during these tricky times. 

Getting a home ready for market is one of the most important steps in the process. While we will have access to certain contractors, we may not have access to all but we will make the needed adjustments. One of the values that we bring to our sellers is our in-house staging. Many staging companies have closed in the wake of the COVID-19. Fortunately, our staging company is family owned and operated and our family is currently all sheltered together! We believe we can continue to stage properties by implementing more rigorous cleaning and sanitizing before bringing furniture into a home and on the day of staging. 

Each of you will have unique needs and circumstances for us to navigate. Please reach out. We would love to hear from you and help devise a plan of action.

If you are currently under contract on the sale or purchase of a property:

We are pushing forward with closing. There may be some unforeseen delays that are out of our control but, with patience and understanding from all parties, we believe we will get to the finish line. Closing procedures will be a bit different for each transaction. We will be sure to keep you posted every step of the way. 

If you are currently an active buyer or thinking of buying:

This could be a season of opportunity for you! Interest rates are low and many sellers are motivated to close. We are happy to do live stream viewings of properties for you, if you are more comfortable with beginning or continuing your search in the comfort of your own home. 

Home inspection companies, lenders, and escrow officers have made needed adjustments to facilitate their portion of any sale. Of course, there will be a few changes in the buying process but nothing we cannot handle!

Our home inspector sent us the following message this morning:

We are still open for business and will be performing inspections as scheduled. To comply with the Governor’s orders and help maintain social distancing we are asking the following:

• The client should not attend the inspection. I will be available for a video/phone call at any point after the inspection to talk through the results of the inspection.
• If possible, we ask that the agent provide access to the home but stay in their car during the inspection.
• If someone in the home that we are inspecting is experiencing flu-like symptoms, we ask that the inspection be re-scheduled.

We are doing everything we can to protect everyone involved, while still serving the community.

Escrow companies are signing transactions at homes, rather than in their office, whenever possible and several lenders are currently looking at allowing signings to take place digitally. 

Give us a call with any questions that you may have! Marcia, Jessica, Darcie and I are all currently working from home but can easily organize a video meeting or a phone conference call at any time. Overall we are confident that this too shall pass! 

Stay safe and try to find the silver lining in the natural reset that we are all experiencing!

Many thanks,