LANSING, Mich. — Many states like Indiana and Ohio have realtors listed as essential workers, but Michigan is not one of those states. A local Keller William realtor said Saturday that although businesses had to temporarily close, he's still making a way to sell houses.
"We're really doing about 97% of what we're able to do but just all virtually at home right now," Jeff Burke, an associate broker for Keller Williams Realty, said.
He says that the extra 3% is the part that's slowing down business.
"I think that a lot of people are just wondering if real estate is still moving. I think it's just slowing us down a little bit as far as how to get things on the market. Agents who may not be as virtual right now, or are trying to get virtual. So, I think that once everyone does get virtual we can get back to doing things," Burke said.
Burke says while he's been incorporating 3D technology to sales for about five years, there's one thing that's really keeping the business afloat right now.
"Some of the things in technology right now are actually some of the things that I've already been using. It just really went on warp speed and we're using it a lot more. The 3D walkthrough and virtual tours and everything that we've got out there agents are using, those are pretty much our 24 hours, 7 days a week open houses right now," Burke said.
Home buyers and sellers say the 3D technology is comforting in a time like this.
"We really didn't have a lot of fear putting the house on the market during the pandemic because we knew we were relying on non-contact means, so really there wasn't a fear We thought people could use this time to look online," Jan Zick, a current homeowner said.
Homeowners are even saying the pandemic could become a blueprint for future home sales.
"This pandemic is the perfect example of a home we want to limit the people to our home, especially the people who we know it's not going to meet their need," Zick said.
"Things are moving, we can do. It's just a new way of doing it and it's up to us to educate the public as to how we're doing it and how we can continue to do it," Burke said.
Burke says while homes have not begun to see a change in pricing yet, he's still seeing people apply for consultations.
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