COVID-19 and our community

03/30/20 | Liz and Ellie Local

We are fortunate have almost all the information you need online. So while you're stuck at home, use our search engine to dream!

A special message from Liz & Ellie

Credit: Maksim Tkachenko

Wow. What a month. We have talked so many times over the last few weeks about how best to serve our clients during this unprecedented time—and each day the answers are different.

Life is a balance, and a complete shut-down of the economy feels almost as scary, if not more so, than the virus in some ways. So we are trying to do what’s best on many levels:

Safety first, of course—for our clients, colleagues, the trusted professionals with whom we do business every day (attorneys, painters, house cleaners, appraisers, etc), our families, and ourselves.

And then all the significant things that are still happening in your lives: needing to move because your lease is up; having to sell in order to close on the house you have under agreement; relying on income from an investment property to pay your mortgage—these things don’t stop being a reality just because we’re dealing with a virus.

We are fortunate to be in a business where almost all the information you need is online: listings, photos, floor plans, neighborhood walk-throughs via Street View, etc. So while you’re stuck at home, feel free to use our search engine to dream!

If you are actively looking to buy a home, here’s what we suggest:

Please hold off on attending public open houses until further notice! Although a few companies have made blanket decisions to cancel, many companies allow individual agents to decide.
For any property that interests you, let us first walk you through via FaceTime, Skype, or a video tour. Of course you can’t make a final decision without an in-person visit, so with safety protocols in place, we are still scheduling private showings. We can discuss all the issues—just from 6 feet apart.
If a home inspection is desired, different inspectors are devising their own protocols for maintaining social distancing and other requirements.
Most money transfers, signatures, communications with attorneys and lenders, and even document filing can be done electronically, from the safety of your own home.
Zoom, Google Hangouts, and other on-line services are a great way for us to stay in touch.

If you are trying to decide to sell your home, please reach out to us directly. Every situation is different. Property is still coming on the market daily, as many sellers have been waiting for spring and are hesitant to change their plans. Interest rates are still historically low, and your personal situation might require you to move as soon as possible. We can help you figure out how soon “possible” is, and how best to market your home while maintaining safety protocols.

Obviously if there is a total lock-down by the government, all bets are off. It seems more and more likely that will happen at some point. If and when it does, we will still be at our kitchen tables, doing everything we can to make sure life goes on when this is behind us!

Take very good care of yourselves.

Liz & Ellie

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