Business As Usual? – Not Quite – Our safer viewings procedure.
Following Government restrictions being lifted regarding the housing market being able to start moving again, this means that estate agents can open, once again, conducting viewings and valuations.
Great news! However, it’s not as simple as turning the sign on the door and carrying on as we were. Estate and letting agents are very keen to get back to work; but, we must remember that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic and preventing the spread of Coronavirus has to be at the forefront of any business considering re-opening.
Here at Harrisons Residential we are taking this very seriously, we are undertaking risk assessments, installing safety measures in our Sittingbourne high street office, even though the office will only be open by appointment only for the time being. We are implementing policies on how we conduct every aspect of our business from market appraisals through to completion of a sale. We are retraining our team to ensure everyone is kept safe and socially distancing rules are adhered too. We will not be opening our doors in any sense until he have everything in place.
All being well, we aim to begin re-starting viewings next week, starting with vacant properties. In response to the current situation, we have implemented a viewing policy, if you wish to view a property that is being marketed by Harrisons we would ask you to read and accept this before you contact us.
The policy can be viewed here.
We have produced a simple infographic explaining how viewings will work for the time being, we thought we would give you a little more detail in this blog.
Stage One – Virtual Viewings
Before we will conduct a physical viewing you will be sent a 360 virtual video tour. This is to try to reduce the number of viewings we physically do. If you are keen on the property but not entirely sure if it’s for you, you will be given the option to have a live video tour with either the vendor or a member of the Harrisons team.
Our aim is to reduce the number of physical viewings we undertake, and thereby reducing the spread. Only proceedable committed buyers will be able to view for the time being.
Stage Two – Physical Viewings
Before we can conduct any physical viewings, we ask that you confirm you have presented no Covid-19 symptoms in the last 14 days. You will need to confirm that you are in a proceedable position – such as, you are a first time buyer, have no dependant sale or that your property is currently under offer. We also ask that you provide us with a copy of your mortgage in principle, if you do not we would be happy to recommend a mortgage advisor to help you with this. We know this is quite a lot just to do attend a viewing, please remember this is designed to keep viewings to a minimum and keep our staff, vendors and you safe.
How the viewing will take place
Before you enter the property the vendors and their pets will vacate, they may have be in the garden, this being the case you will not be able to view the garden entirely in order to maintain social distancing.
Inside, all doors and cupboards will be left open for you to look around without having to touch anything inside the property. Windows will also be open to allow ventilation, so if you are viewing on a chilly day, please remember to bring a jumper!
All Harrisons staff have suitable PPE and will adhere to the two metre social distancing measures. We will provide a sanitising station for you to use before you enter the property. You will be required to bring and wear your own face coverings and gloves.
Currently, we will be discouraging second viewings, again for safety reasons, we will extend the amount of time you can have in the property, we would encourage you to take your time and make sure you have a though look around.
You’d like to offer?
If you express an interest in buying the property, we will arrange for you to have a buyers information pack that is completed by the vendors to ensure you have as much information as possible to in order to make an informed offer.
