The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted every industry, including real estate agents and brokers. As part of our series on COVID-19, today we’re going to explore how real estate agents and brokers can face the challenge raised by the pandemic.

Government regulations limiting movement and non-essential travel have disrupted agents’ ability to show properties and slowed down partners that help execute transactions, like attorneys and title companies. But there are strategies that brokers can employ to engage their clientele online even with government restrictions in place.

1. Virtual tours of properties: Most agents already have posted 360° views of properties on sites like Zillow and Trulia. But clients who can’t visit a property will likely have more specific needs. If you’re able to get to the property, use your smartphone to video chat with your clients so that they can take a more customized tour of the property. For example, the client might want to get a better sense of closet space, get specific information about fixtures, or get a better sense of the floorplan and surrounding grounds. You can easily provide that information virtually.
2. Digitize Everything You Can: To the extent that you haven’t already started utilizing tools like DocuSign to handle some of the transactional paperwork, now is the time to do it. Not only will it minimize the number of in-person transactions, it can also keep the transaction moving.
3. Maintain a Social Media Presence: Undoubtedly, some clients will decide to postpone buying or selling for the time being. But these restrictions will lift and homebuying will continue. In the meantime, you should remain top-of-mind to potential clients. Make sure you remain on social media. Continue to share videos of neighborhoods and showcase how local communities are coming together in the face of the epidemic. Provide tips for sellers whose plans to show their properties have been postponed.
4. Keep Your Website Up to Date: Don’t let visitors to your website wonder whether you are open for business. A banner notification is one quick way to let potential clients know you are still there to help. Write about how you can assist despite COVID-19-related restrictions and make sure people can easily access your social media feeds.
5. Stay Safe: More important than your business is your health. If you enter a property, wear gloves to avoid directly touching doorknobs, appliance handles, and lock boxes. If you’re working with a seller, have them video or photograph the inside of the house, while you photograph the outside. If documentation needs to be signed in ink, have the parties bring their own pens.

If you’re in the real estate industry and have discovered a successful way to persevere during the pandemic, share it on our Facebook or Twitter sites. If you’re looking for help reaching your users online, we’d be happy to help. For more information about how real estate agents can approach social media, check out our video here.