Hi! I apologize for taking a little longer to get this information out. Joel and I needed to get one college student moved back home and, somehow, life doesn’t stop in the midst of a pandemic. In spite of all of the curve balls life is throwing our way, the Daniels team is still (though in a modified state) working for our current clients. I realize that there is much uncertainty about everything. Following is information on the state of the housing market, tips on activities/information that can help you now and how the Daniels team can help you and your family.
The State of the MarketThe big question – “How is this affecting the housing market?” and “Will prices drop?”
- Even in the worst month ever, homes were still bought and sold. According to the Genworth Mortgage First Time Homebuyer Report, first time home buying activity is at the highest level in 26 Years!
- The housing inventory continues to be low making it a great time to sell a home.
- Interest rates are at historical lows making it a great time to buy a home.
- Most homeowners have more equity in their homes than they’ve had in a while which makes buying and selling more possible
Where there is uncertainty, there’s also opportunity. We will provide information to help you make the best decision and provide the services and support (no matter what is happening around us) to help you achieve your goals. Please contact us at (912) 507-8062 any time to discuss your specific opportunities and ways to achieve them.
Specific Actions You Can Take
- Find a great source for information Enki Research has been my go-to source for information on hurricanes (and now pandemics). And for all things coronavirus related, the CDC is your best source of information specific to the virus.
- Preparation If you’d like, we have a hurricane prep booklet containing lists of items needed for emergencies and will happily email it to you. (Side note: While the current emergency is an epidemic, hurricane season is right around the corner; make your preparations now.) To receive your free copy, send an email to danielsreteam@gmail.com with “Hurricane Prep” in the subject line.
- Important Documents Pull together your family documents or directions to those documents. A legacy binder or drawer could be a huge benefit to your family should something unexpected happen. Plus, another great benefit for those of us that flee hurricanes or other disasters somewhat regularly is that all important information can be placed in an easy to grab and go container.
- Improve Your Home Start decluttering and making those repairs to your home that you’ve been putting off…these efforts always make a home more ‘live-able’ now and more ‘sell-able’ in the future. Contact us for a list of things you can do to get your home ready to list.
Specific Actions by the Daniels Team
It is our intent to continue working with our clients on current transactions, working with sellers to prepare their property for listing and helping buyers/investors find great deals. Of course, our world changed dramatically in the last two weeks and we are continually evaluating and adjusting our plans in light of our new world. For your comfort and ease of mind, we are offering the following services to help you take advantage of any market opportunities you see while making sure you stay healthy:
- Virtual Listing and Buyer consultations – Instead of meeting in person, we’ll send you a link through our online meeting platform, where we can walk through the process of buying or selling your home, cover all the paperwork, and answer any questions you may have just like we would in person. For our clients who are also buying homes, we’ll pull up the MLS so you can view it with us and we’ll narrow down your favorite homes!
- Virtual Open Houses – Our goal is to help every listing “launch” with the highest impact possible through technology and open houses. We will add in a virtual open house so that it will still receive the additional eyeballs that open houses bring! Our VOH process will include creating a strategic FB event, unique login pages to view the home (so we can track visitors), and live streaming to all major social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube).
- Virtual Showings – After our consultation, if there are homes that you would like to view and do not feel comfortable viewing in person, please let us know and we’ll schedule a showing and facetime with you while we’re there!
- Private Showing Protocol – For all of our clients selling their homes, we’ll be dropping off packets and instructions to leave at the door for all agents who may show your home. This packet will also be emailed to the agent prior to their arrival at your home. We’ll cover our protocols for showing your home (limit touching and opening of doors, if sick in any way please do not enter the home, etc.) and leave sanitary wipes for the agents to utilize as they show the home.
- New Home Purchase Cleaning – From now through August we will be providing a cleaning service for each purchase. We always want your first experience in your new home to be exciting and without the worry of anyone potentially getting sick.
Finally, our team believes in supporting our community at all times. Some people may be forced to limit their exposure to the general public. Our team would like to help by delivering groceries or meals as needed and check in on them during this time, so please reply to this email with name, number, and address of anyone you think could use a check-in during the coming weeks. Also, other people may just need to hear a calming voice, please call me (Charity – 912-507-8062) at any time to just talk through your worries or needs. As American activist Ralph Abernathy said, “I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.”