Coronavirus CT Update: Real Estate Market Is A Brave New World

ACROSS CONNECTICUT, CT — Between social distancing, visitation restrictions and the advent of enhanced technology, it's a brave new world in the Connecticut real estate market amid the environment created by the coronavirus.

Good old ingenuity is also a factor, agents from across the state said.

Patch interviewed four real estate agents from four locations in the state — Lisa Velente Fagan of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England, whose territory is Farmington and West Hartford; Jen Ragno of CT Hometown Realty, whose territory is Enfield; Lisa Trombly of Sentry Real Estate, whose territory is Manchester into Tolland County; and Dan Romanello of Greenwich, an agent for William Raveis and a title insurance specialist.

They shared their thoughts on selling and buying homes over the past few weeks.

"The activity is actually good," Ragno said when asked to sum up the real estate environment. "We're commission-paid, so as long as we're closing, thing are OK."

The Market

Fagan said she marvels at the very thought, especially with the high-end properties available in her primary market.

But it comes with a catch, she said. With the option of meticulous touring currently not available, many buyers are looking at homes in obvious move-in condition. The oxymoron "sight unseen" actually applies in several recent cases because some buyers are throwing down deposits — or cash deals — without actually walking through a property. A full appraisal is sometimes bypassed, she said.

"It could be survival of the fittest, especially in the springtime market," Fagan said "Yes, the inventory changes, but a lot of buyers are looking at conditions."

Fagan said high-end properties, because of those conditions, are even being scooped up "to sit" or to "appreciate" or even to rent. She said new construction and remodeled homes especially fall into that category.

"Buyers want move-in conditions," she said. "And those homes are going quickly. The first-time buyers are the most affected, as are the people who are facing employment situations. They need pre-approval. The more cash you have in this environment the easier it is."

Trombly sells homes in a definitively more middle-class market, but said the attitude is about the same in terms of what is desired Fagan added, in the less-expensive market, move-in condition ranches do not stay on the listings long.

"Homes selling are essential to the economy," Trombly said. "So we adjust and do what we need to do."

The Tours

So what are the adjustments?

Romanello said with social distancing dictating the buying landscape, the landscape itself can not necessarily be looked at physically. That's where creativity and technology come into place, he said.

Trombly said, at least in the current time, the "group tours" aren't happening. For example, she said. the young couple looking at a home cannot bring along both sets of parents, the kids, Uncle Joe the furnace specialist and Cousin Jim the roofer.

"It's the buyers," she said of who gets inside a listed home. "But even so, it might be one buyer. That's where the technology comes into place."

Ragno said "good" virtual tours have been around since the 1980s, but with "big tapes" and bulky equipment, it was often a chore years ago.

Now?

"Oh you can do it with your phone," she said. "With the software available, it can look like a professional video."

Added Romanello, "You can see a lot on the virtual tours."

But what if Cousin Jim the roofer notices something?

"We can still do inspections, but often it's just the inspector in the home," Fagan said.

Closings

In vogue right now are drive-up restaurants. So are drive-up closings.

Trombly said she did one last week. The first step was the sellers pre-signing or doing so in their car, she said. The buyers then drove to their lawyer's office and called the staff once there. The paperwork was dropped off at the car. The buyers read through it, signed it, then called back the law office staff, which then came back to the car.

"Hard ink" is required for a closing, and all of it was done with separate pens for each person, she said.

"I don't want to be out right now if I don't have to be and I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way," Trombly said. "It worked just fine."

Life Goes On

"It's a super-aggressive inventory and people want to buy. We can still show houses," Ragno said.

"We can't all always be present like we were before the virus," Fagan said. "But we can still sell homes."

Added Trombly, "Buyers do have to be prepared to make the strongest offer possible. If buyers see a home and want it, they have to be ready."