DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
Issue link: https://www.southbaydiggs.com/i/1228857
310.427.2414 | ek@itzsold.com | dre #00958114 H as one of the most vital components of your happiness been tampered with in the last few weeks due to COVID-19? Home, after all, has taken on a whole new meaning with the recent shelter-in-place or- ders. Home is now your workplace, your fam- ily's safe haven, your recreation space, your schooling facility, your gym, your place of wor- ship… and virtually everything else. You're no doubt wondering how this crisis has affected its value; is it going up or down? Can you still buy or sell a home right now? There are so many questions being asked right now… and I'd like to share by front- line perspective. The real estate business has not halted… it has changed. We're still experiencing multiple offer scenarios on homes, even in this unprec- edented situation. This is true not just in Man- hattan Beach (recently ranked the #1 place to live in the U.S.), but also in many American cit- ies. Over my 33-year career in real estate, I've built a national network of agents… and all of us are attempting to decipher the current situation so we can keep our many concerned clients in tune with what's happening. The consensus of my network is – first- ly – that we all must do our part to stamp out COVID-19 by respecting local, state and na- tional recommendations. We've immediately set up home offices, canceled all face-to-face gatherings and company meetings, halted all open houses and eliminated physical interac- tion as much as possible. At the same time, our clients are depen- dent on the outcome of how we – as a group – act in order to save their most valuable asset: their home. If a client loses their home or eq- uity (especially when combined with projected economic losses), their entire financial future is at risk. It's our responsibility to find a way to continue meeting the goals of our clients and shift the way we do business. At Kaminsky Real Estate Group, we've im- plemented a contactless buying and selling pro- gram that allows us to continue serving those who need to sell or buy a home while social dis- tancing. Within 48 hours of California's shelter-in- place order, I received a call from a broker whose client was interested in one of my listings. My seller was unwilling to let anyone in the home, so I asked the potential buyer's broker if they had seen the photos and videos of the home on our website (itzsold.com). They had, so I asked if the buyer was willing to submit an offer without physically visiting the home… which they were. The outcome of this case has not been finalized, but it's proof that buyers can still buy – and sellers can still sell – even in this challenging time. I recently listed another home which had not been professionally photographed; in- stead, the owner provided KRG with older im- ages that we distributed to our broker network. Within 24 hours of listing the home, we had a full price offer in-hand from a buyer who was willing to purchase the home based on a drive- by and the owner's photos. It's definitely a new way of doing busi- ness. But, again, it proves that real estate trans- actions are still possible for those needing to buy or sell a home. Thanks to modern technology such as digital documents and signatures, an entire real estate transaction can be completed with- out any human contact. And even if human contact – or a physical signature – is required, maintaining correct social distancing through "clean stations" (sanitized signing stations for physical documents) is possible through our notary and escrow partners. Regarding the South Bay real estate mar- ket in general, do I see a massive downturn about to occur? So far – based on the interest Does Your Home Have a Future? (also, what just happened?) Let's harness the lessons we've learned about community and compassion for the good of our careers, businesses and finances. " Ed Kaminsky | Kaminsky Real Estate Group P R O M O T I O N 228 18th St, Manhattan Beach Our New York buyer didn't physically see this home until after the close of escrow, thanks to our FaceTime video tours and completely digital transaction process. STRAND HILL | CHRISTIE'S INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE LICENSE #01968431. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SQUARE FOOTAGE AND/OR ACREAGE, HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY VARIOUS SOURCES WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE SELLER, PUBLIC RECORDS, THE MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE OR OTHER SOURCES. BROKER HAS NOT AND WILL NOT INVESTIGATE OR VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF THIS INFORMATION.