Real Estate News
By Marian Goetzinger, Pine Knoll Shores Realty
Coping with change
When I was a little girl, I remember closing my eyes really tight so that the
“boogeyman” couldn’t see me. I also thought that if something 1 didn’t like came
up, 1 could ignore it and it would go away.
Change is hard, and when the change comes with something scary like a
boogeyman or a pandemic, we can be paralyzed by our fear. When we were first
told to shut down our real estate office and stay home, I was paralyzed. Being a
real estate professional has always involved much personal contact with people,
from showing property and holding open houses to sitting around the closing
table. I couldn’t imagine how we could continue our profession in the midst of a
worldwide health crisis. I still enjoyed the first few days of playing Scrabble with
my husband, sleeping in and counting the rolls of toilet paper. By day three, 1 was
frustrated, irritated and scared. It was becoming obvious that this scary thing was
not going away anytime soon. I tried closing my eyes really tight and I tried to
ignore it, but those things did not work.
I resolved to get up, dress up and show up every day even though I couldn’t
leave my house. I could sit down at my home office desk and connect with
customers, clients and friends. I had my computer and my cell phone. I could
reevaluate and make plans and figure out ways to do things differently. I added
more reading to my morning devotional time and focused on motivational
inspiration books and made sure to keep up with the practical advice coming in
daily by email from our state and national realtor associations.
I stumbled across Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson and read it
again. I first read it when I was new to the real estate world and the little book was
just out. It is an amazing business fable but it would do well for everybody to read
today, business person or not. It very simply points out that if things change and
we do not, we will not do well.
I am eternally grateful for the North Carolina Association of Realtors and the
National Association of Realtors for stepping up their communications with their
members with valuable ideas and advice on how to handle the change in our
business because of the pandemic. They shared ways to cope and stay safe in this
scary world while still managing our business and assisting our customers and
clients.
We discovered that we could still do real estate work without returning to the
office. We focused on virtual viewings and upped our computer skills. I personally
found that my paperwork and reaching out to friends, family and clients by phone
improved. Most of us did quite a bit of dropping off items to front porches to
avoid contact, but we sure missed all the personal contact that has always been
such a wonderful part of our careers. When we were told we could return to our
offices with safety protocols in place, we were thrilled to go back to the office but
things were not back to normal.
In our office we practice extreme cleanliness habits and social distancing and
keep masks handy for ourselves and visitors who may come in without one. We
do everything possible to avoid contact and have realized that much of our work
can be done remotely. Nothing replaces personal contact, and even the best virtual
tours are not the same as actually walking around a home and through the house.
Sometimes we just have to get inside. Here’s one way to do it:
Suppose I have just listed a home for sale. I contact all my prospects and notify
the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that I will have that home open on a certain
day and time for two hours. All interested buyers and agents will be able to walk
through during that time. They must wear masks (we provide extras for those
who forget) and take off shoes or cover them with booties, which we also provide.
Hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes are provided, and all who enter the house
are asked to refrain from touching anything, but if they forget, they must wipe
that surface down with a disinfectant wipe. We have at least two agents present
to hand out safety protocol instructions and make sure everybody follows them.
We start by wearing our own masks and setting a good example. It actually works
quite well. Tliere is usually a good group of people, all learning to distance and
stay safe together. There is a lot of laughing and joking about how our lives have
changed during these times. I have always felt that as long as we can laugh about
problems, we will handle them better.
Some realtors have always refrained from asking prospects to ride in their
car for safety reasons. Now we all ask them to bring their own car and follow
for different safety reasons. We all wear masks, and we keep our distance. We
don’t shake hands, and we don’t hug our friends. I miss all that, but for now it is
recommended and doable.
The big message in this article is be safe. Don’t be offended if your real estate
professional does not shake your hand and keeps stepping back if you move
closer. Know that we are all trying to learn new ways of doing our jobs and
keeping everybody around us safe.
How’s business? Surprisingly, most of us are as busy as ever, listing and selling
property. We are learning new ways to do things and having fun doing it. If you
have questions about buying or selling real estate in the middle of a pandemic, call
your favorite realtor and ask.
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November 2020 I The Shoreline
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