Real Estate In The Time of Coronavirus: Questions Answered. The Future Predicted.

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Last night the real estate community was provided essential guidance on what real estate brokerage activities will be permitted during the conronavirus pandemic. A summary of that information and a review of the implications are offered below for your consideration.

Yesterday the Monroe County Health Department suggested the coronavirus apex is likely to reach our area in May, some four to six week from now. So, it looks like we’ll be operating under these new rules through May and probably longer.

As always, I am available to talk privately with you about your particular real estate situation.
Call, text or FaceTime: 585-732-1767. ​Email: romecelli@realtor.com

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​I'm hosting a Zoom meeting to answer your general questions about the local real estate market.
Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 6:30 pm - CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE MEETING
Meeting ID: 740 187 3035
Password: 691499

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After several days of mixed messages, confusion and concern in the real estate community New York State provided explicit guidance last night as to how real estate practitioners may proceed during the pandemic under NY PAUSE. Failure to adhere to PAUSE requirements could result in significant penalties for practitioners. 

It bears repeating that receiving permission to act is not necessarily the same as staying 100% safe. Each of us, you and I, are required to use our own good judgment before we act and to keep ourselves as safe as possible when/if we do act. The rules are designed to set limits not minimums.

The information from my post yesterday, April 4, 2020, under the heading “What are the options available for seeing/showing houses prior to making an offer” stands true after checking it against NYS’s message delivered today. (Click here to review my April 3rd post.) There are a few additional odds and ends that bear mentioning today:
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• No one is exempt from social distancing requirements. Everyone is encouraged to wear face masks. Less contact is better. Sellers are strongly urged (but not required) to leave the property while someone is inside their property. Real estate agents may not meet with clients, customers or consumers in person.
• I may not show homes when buyers are present. I am allowed to inspect a property by myself. Individual buyers may inspect a property by themselves (without any other buyers, without the buyer’s agent and without the seller’s agent). The seller must grant permission for anyone to enter their property.
• Professional home inspectors and bank appraisers may enter properties to conduct business under terms they set and with the seller’s permission. For example, many professional home inspectors are allowing only the buyer to be present with them during the inspection. Each business may set it’s own guidelines. All parties must agree in advance to whatever terms are requested.  I am allowed to open up properties for home inspectors and bank appraisers.
• I may take photos and videos with the seller’s permission. The seller may take photos and videos. Third-party photographers/videographers and other ancillary businesses are strongly discouraged from conducting business during NY PAUSE.
• I am not allowed to accompany my buyer clients who wish to conduct a final walkthrough before closing. However, video conferencing with me during the final walkthrough is permitted.
• I cannot attend real estate closings unless my presence is required to complete the transaction.

Click here to read the New York State Association of REALTORS (NYSAR) FAQs regarding these rules and regulations.  If you really want to dig in, watch the NYSAR video sent to me at the bottom of this post. Riveting. Not really.

Predictions for the next three to four months based on what we know now.

• In the very short term - two to three weeks - I expect listing inventory to rise somewhat and then level off. I expect buyers to engage in more property evaluation activities. As the rules become widely adopted and actively practiced a new normal will emerge only to quickly fall away.
• As we approach the apex of virus infections - in about three to four weeks based on statements by the Monroe County Department of Health - I expect market activity to diminish as people become more focused on the crisis at hand, as government exhorts people to stay home, as more people experience illness and as death rates mount all of which will undoubtedly hit closer and closer.
• Immediately after the apex has passed I suspect market activity will be quite low. During that time the amount of pent up demand will build in the background as everyone waits for medical leaders to signal the crisis has passed and as government leaders signal opportunities for economic activity to begin again.
• When leaders signal economic activities may resume (in June or July?) I expect a rush of activity in the residential real estate sector leading to increased housing inventory and then to increased transactions. However, since there will be a significant burst in the early days, I expect extreme consumer frustration (over delays and competition) as well as a lot of market confusion during the transition back to the new-new normal before we transition to the NEXT new normal, a post-coronavirus recession. Delays are likely to come in getting properties ready for the market as well as in filling the need for all the ancillary services that support property listings and transactions: photography, home improvement contractors, marketing materials and then mortgage processing, moving services among other services.
• The medium term (four months to one year after the apex) is still quite murky. An economic recession is all but guaranteed. The question is how deep and how long. Will there be a second waive of coronavirus? More on these topics in future posts.

I will continue to post updates related to the metro Rochester real estate market during the coronavirus. The situation is changing rapidly. You deserve the most recent information about our real estate market from a source you trust.

I wish you and your loved ones good health and good spirits during this unfortunate crisis!​

Yours,

Rome Celli
585-732-1767
romecelli@realtor.com

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A COVID-19 Update from the 2020 NYSAR Leadership Team from NYSAR on Vimeo.

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