How to show a vacant
house safely
Realtors and
Property managers can operate on a limited basis during the Pandemic. Cautions
are in order; however, we are in basic needs business of “shelter” as in Food,
shelter and clothing.
Instruct
your prospective buyers or tenants to keep driving by the outsides. If vacant
there is a big advantage during this Pandemic. Prospect can peak in the windows
if vacant which would be inappropriate if occupied. If a buyer or tenant wants
to see the inside here are some ideas to be safer in doing so.
·
Qualify
your prospect. No sense leaving your home if the buyer or tenant cannot
complete a transaction. This is not a time for a noisy neighbor showing.
·
Set
the appointment at least 2.5 hours ahead or behind any other showing. This will
leave time for any airborne particles to dissipate.
·
Have
the seller or as a Realtor place Clorox or Lysol disinfection wipes at the
front door entrance. Might also add a spray disinfectant medical gloves and
shoe covers. Some Realtors have been supplying shoe covers for a long time now.
·
Realtor
shows up early in a separate vehicle. Normally to drive the prospect is better,
but during the pandemic, stay in your own separate vehicle.
·
Realtor
has gloves, a normal mask, and his/her own disinfectant wipes. The Realtor uses
the wipe to clean off the lockbox and key as it is presented. Then opens the
door with the key inside the disinfectant wipe.
·
Realtor
can walk through with shoe covers and turn the heat/AC to comfort zone, unlock
side or rear doors, turn on lights where needed, wipe all door handles, light
switches, and cabinet knobs that a buyer or tenant might touch.
·
Realtor
goes back to his/her vehicle alone and waits for the prospect to show up or
instruct the prospect to stay in their vehicle with a “wave salutation”. Remember
no personal contact and stay your distance.
·
The buyer is instructed via a cell phone to use the front door that you have just
disinfected. Ask each person entering the house to take a wipe when then enter.
Children should not enter the house. They should use the disinfected wipe in
their hands between the skin and any doorknob or anything that they touch.
·
Instruct
the prospect not to touch anything that is not important to them even with the
disinfecting wipes in their hands.
·
With
Zoom or Skype or Facetime the Realtor can participate in the showing from their
vehicle. A buyer might focus on an item like the furnace and ask a typical
question. The Realtor seeing what they are focused up can answer typical
questions. Or the buyer might say, “I don’t like the blue carpet”. The Realtor would have the opportunity to overcome small objections.
·
After
the prospect has completed their tour they should get back into their vehicle.
·
The Realtor then has a special duty during the pandemic to re-enter the house and
wipe down anything that the buyer may have touched. Don’t’ forget the appliance
handles, faucet handles, toilet handle inside and outside door handles of all
sorts including but not limited to interior, exterior, closet, garage, and cabinets.
Even any pull chain that might have been used.
·
Realtor
needs to be extra sure that the key, lockbox and front door handle is wiped
with disinfectant when he/she leaves.
·
The
rest of the transaction can be done from the Realtor’s home computer using DocuSign
or other internet authorizations.
We do
acknowledge that there is always some risk. Some mistake, a momentary lapse in
the procedure, so putting showings off is the safest procedure. I agree with
the government and health department rules, regulations and recommendations.
Still, I think that Realtors can operate on a reduced basis.
Showing a
house that is occupied is another story.
Thomas Goebel is an international real estate consultant with offices in Plymouth Michigan, USA, and Windsor Ontario Canada. Look for more info on this site soon.
705 S Main Plymouth MI, 48170 USA
734-453-7000
TomEgoebel@Gmail.com
Windsor Real Estate market
ReplyDeleteI like to use a ratio; sales per month over new listings per month. 50% is a normal market. 60% is a very good market at 70% is hard to reach being a super-hot market.
40% is bad, 30% is a recession and 20% is about as bad a depression as I have ever seen (2007-2010).
So let us look at the states attached as compiled September 2, 2019.
August 2019; 1,002 sales by 1,632 listings = 61% sales/listing ratio = a very good market. Priced fair they will sell off the MLS. Year to date s/l = 7,840/12,476 = 62.8% still a very good market.
Year 2019 as compared to prior years: 2016=67.5%, then 2017 = 72.2%; and 2018= 68.86% sales to listing ratios. Therefore although a very good market continues it is trending down as compared to last three years.
The number of sales via MLS has declined from approximately 12,000 in each of 2016 & 2017 to 11,000 in 2018 and the last 12 months = 12,229 a healthy increase.
Listings have declined from 2016=17,489, to 2017 =16,695, to 2018= 16,122 to an increase in last 12 months to = 18,707
Justin Wolfers, @ U of M, I loved your article. Very close to my "business plan" that will eventually replace the obsolete commission structure in real estate. Please visit my web site www.Thomas-Goebel.ca for details. In the NY Times article, everything was "right on" with one exception. Realtors (sales associates in Ontario) add more than time, which is the Multi List System (MLS) access. The truth to the matter is that 95% of the marketing after a listing is signed is done by automation of these multi-million dollars (perhaps $100MM investment) fantastic system. So Realtors and sales associates have to pay to belong and to belong we must take lots of courses and follow lots of rules. Still the 4% to 7% (Real Estate One in Michigan was at 7% last I heard) commission for a house, especially in a "Hot Market" is too much on the average to high end.Please contact me, feel free to call my contact info below.My son John Goebel, who has his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Michigan sent me the NY Times article. I charge $100 per hour with a $600 retainer to cover the first set of time that places the listing on the MLS for houses. It is not uncommon for sellers to save $7,000. For buyers, I rebate 20% to 100%, when paid by the hour, with a $100 retainer. Commercial is more. As far as I knew I was the only business plan out there that services both buyers and sellers on an hourly rate. I started to develop this plan in the year 2,000 and perfected about 2015.Call me.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Tom Saturday, October-26-19
Very interesting. I will share with other Realtors.
DeleteARE YOU COMING TO THE NATIONAL ASSOC OF REALTORS CONVENTION IN SAN FRANCISCO THIS MONTH
DeleteOn Business Opportunities
ReplyDeleteThe market value on Biz Ops (Business Opportunities) varies wildly with the industry.
Most will sell at about three (3) times NET annual income. However there are lots of items to consider.
A clean professional business that includes the real estate may sell for as much as ten (10) times income. This might be an “Engineering Firm” with pride of ownership and status, run entirely by paid CEO and little oversite.
A dirty business may sell for as little as one (1) times annual income. There was a “septic cleaning” business in Traverse City listed at the value. The owner rarely got dirty as the hired help did the dirty work but there is no “status” in the eyes of the public and when employees fail you, the owner did have to get into the stinky business activity.
Real estate and Biz Op should be separated as much as possible. Still the Rent or the fair market rent must be taken into account. My Rotary Friend Carl Riegle was so proud of the business he built in Livonia Michigan. Carl had the Goodyear Tire affiliation and top mechanics along with healthy gas volume sales. This was many years back when $1 Million was a lot of money. After the sale PB disposed of the buildings fired all the mechanics and let the Goodyear Tire franchise go. They simply wanted the land to build a new PB gas station.
Employees are also a vital part of the value. On a party store the owners may work 120 hours a week. Compare that to the annual income. $100,000 on a small store doesn’t sound bad but 120 x 52 = 6,240 hours. That $100,000 is $16 per hour, very close to minimum wage. There might be a risk of violent theft.
The point is to find the answer to “what is the net income, after rent and after you pay someone to do the work that the owner preforms?
Larger more profitable businesses are easier to analysis. They usually report all their income and expenses. So a business that NETS $4 million may be worth $12 Million and we are no so worried about how much a manager might earn. But a small business like the store above will make nothing if the owner gets sick and has to hire the labour.
So the final part of the formula is that the Net income on small businesses should be an amount Over the base of “any old factory job” that the buyer can find. Say in Windsor now, it is not hard to find a job that pays $55,000. So if that store Nets, $100,000 the first $55,000 is simply buying oneself a job. The next $45,000 can be “capitalized” at 33% (three (3) times net) provided that rent but not real estate ownership is included and that hired help over a reasonable work week is included in expenses.
Often times when real estate is included, the mortgage payment, real estate taxes and building casualty cost can equal an approximate rent.
How much house can I afford, answer;
ReplyDeleteWhat Mike or any mortgage broker needs is a credit score, income, and debt information.Mary can run a credit report for free in 5 minutes but be sure she gets one with a "score" which may cost $5 although if she belongs to a credit union or credit card it may be part of a benefits package. Don't kill yourself trying to save $5. This will not actually be the credit report that the lender needs to use but it is good enough for the pre-approval estimate.The income is simple and based upon current pay. The GROSS is what they are looking to find. If she worked a full year last year then her income tax return "Gross" will do. On take the latest full-time paycheck and multiply by 52 weeks, or 24 bi-monthly or 12 monthly however the last but latest paycheck is stated.Last is the debt schedule. The approximate balance on each debt with the payment. Car loan, other loans and in the case of credit cards the payment is assumed at 5% of the balance.This gives the mortgage broker an opportunity to run their rations. It may be "housing cost including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance not to exceed 33% of gross household income" and "50% of total debts including housing". These are not the actual percentages but given to use as an example.An experienced mortgage broker like Mike can estimate the maximum amount of mortgage and help define maximum purchase power in a matter of minutes.