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You may or may not know that we, Realtors are restricted to working only from home during the Coronavirus pandemic. This is per PA Governor Wolf's COVID 19 shutdown orders. Therefore if we can't do it from our house, we are not permitted to do it. As of May 8th many counties in the counties north and west in PA will begin to reopen. The rest of us are looking at an extension of the shutdown, at least until June 4th although the governor is supposed make another announcement to let us know which additional counties will be going into the "yellow" phase 2 stage.
You also may or may not know that despite the efforts of many brokers, including our own at Keller Williams, real estate agents, Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR), Suburban West Realtor Association (SWRA), Suburban Realtors Alliance (SRA) Governor Wolf is not budging in his decision to re-categorize real estate as a non-essential life sustaining business. None of us can fathom how anyone can believe housing is not life sustaining. At the same time, we believe in following the law so as not to put anyone's health at risk, clients', their families or our own. We also do not want to risk losing our licenses to practice real estate. Then we wouldn't be able to help anyone who has real estate needs.
Under the Governor's current orders, anyone who has a contract to purchase or sell real estate that was signed on or before March 18th can continue on with the transaction and take the necessary steps that will ultimately bring them to settlement. This means they are the exception and can have inspections done, go to a pre-settlement walk through and go to settlement. Mind you, anyone involved in this exception must still adhere to strict precautions. For the rest, at this time there are NO showings, NO open houses, NO inspections, NO in-person meetings, NO settlements at all even if we took all the necessary and required precautions. Buyers can see homes from the comfort of their own home through a virtual tour or photos. We've been hearing from some other agents that some buyers are going under contract on properties they have not physically seen, and sellers are accepting their offers. We do not recommend this unless you're an investor and you're planning on gutting the house to do a full renovation, and even that can be risky not knowing if there's structural damage or added costs from termites and termite damage. This is something to think about.
It's our job and responsibility to do what's in the best interest of our clients. If a buyer were to enter into a contact for the purchase of real estate during the pandemic shutdown we do have protections we can put into place. For instance, there are addendums that would extend contingency periods (so long as all parties agree) and once the governor lifts the restrictions on real estate activities, you would be able to physically "inspect" the property during the inspection contingency period (the same period for home inspection, radon, wood destroying inspections, etc.). But there are legitimate concerns.
While choosing a house from photos or a video may seem like a new and exciting way to conduct business, nothing can or will ever take the place of physically being at the property and seeing it in person. We enjoy new technology like anyone else but not all technology is good and no technology can take the place of the old-fashioned (if you want to call it that) personal touch.
So what if a buyer submits an offer to a seller and the seller accepts it during the pandemic? The buyer will need to wait until the governor reopens real estate so that the buyer can is able to physically to see the property. What if the buyer decides they don't like it? Well, like I said, there will be measures taken in the contract of sale that will allow the buyer to terminate the contract, no questions asked. However, one would think that the buyer would have been mentally preparing for this house and the seller the same. In fact, the seller probably would have been looking online for a new home, mentally to move as well. So, if the buyer has the right to decide to terminate the contract after they see the property during the inspection contingency period then will be the point of going under contract?
Another point I'd like to make is that the buyer will be locked into the offer price which could be higher than what it may be when we come out of the shutdown. On the other hand, what if housing prices go up after the restrictions are lifted. Now the seller is obligated to take the contract price unless the buyer decides they want to terminate the contract based on their physical inspection or any other of the inspections they've chosen to do. In that case the seller can put their home back on the market and adjust their list price.
We don't expect housing prices to dip too much but we do expect them to dip a little during the shutdown. But don't despair. It's quite possible that once PA is reopened we may see a healthy and robust delayed Spring market! That's what we're talking about!
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