What are the Top 5 Little Things that will Get Us Back to a Fully Operational Re Market? Well, here they are!
Open Houses, and Not Just By Appointment!
What’s amazing to me is that despite the headache of scheduling every single showing that’s taken place, there have been more properties in contract in the past 3 months than in the past 2 years. When New York State, New York City, and Cooperative Buildings finally permit regular open houses to take place, it will be a minor miracle. But also, it’s just supply and demand. Once we can more easily accommodate more people coming through these listings, invariably we will have more offers. And more offers = higher prices. This is good for sellers, and a more honest representation of demand. Open Houses are a wonderfully efficient, and give my team an opportunity to hang out with you!
Managing Agents in Offices
I cannot wait for the overworked closing agents, those who have been scattered across the world, working from home, to be back in their Property Management offices. We can see how slammed they are, how frustrated they are to work from their dining room tables. People want to work in offices- and will get more done!
It comes down to having school open in the Fall, then commercial real estate to return- which it already is- then the flood of working from the office will unleash a level of administrative operational efficiency we haven’t seen in a while!
COVID Forms Be Gone!
Why do I long for the day when COVID forms will be no more? Because it is costing my team ten (10) hours a week, collectively, to send forms around, register buyers and float forms to the doormen on duty at different buildings,! And for what? Apparently, no one reads these. They are effectively meaningless at this point, especially as almost every adult looking at apartments has been vaccinated- and the infection rate is extraordinarily low. Further, the Real Estate Board of New York is awaiting guidance so that we can get of it. Surely buildings will follow suit. Once this happens, there will be pushback from buildings, but overall, the demand to fully reopen is palpable!
It was easy to start, now it’s hard to end.
What I’ve been comparing these forms, and masks, and all the accoutrements to the pandemic to, is the Chinese Finger Torture Device. We were fine starting with these little things to keep us safe. They did the job, and now- how to extract ourselves from this, when the scientific evidence, and the CDC edicts, point to their no longer being necessary?!?
Brokers In Town
For better or worse, working remotely has been a godsend. However, we have not only discovered the promised land of Zoom. We have also learned that buyers still want to see apartments. I know, it would be great if we could instead just help people buy via 3D & Video Tours, but it’s just not playing out like that.
And what this means is that Brokers must make themselves more readily available to show apartments. I won’t name names, but I will say that there are some less-accomodating agents who are making is VERY hard to see their properties. I will be generous, and assume it’s leftover anxiety, overcautious behavior from a pre-Vaccination world. At this point, when brokers make it easy to see apartments, we’ll see yet another ramp up of market momentum!
Cranky Neighbors
Wait. They’re already back. They just won’t let you share the elevator with them. And is that really so bad?!?
-S