AN UPDATE

We haven’t written directly on the real estate industry and the issues we face, since March 20, approximately one hundred years ago. Cheri and I talked this week and agreed we should say something more about where we find ourselves as realtors, and what we think about that place.

As you may know, the provision of real estate services has been deemed an essential service by the Ontario government. Open houses are banned, but the listing and showing of houses can continue, albeit with a few new protocols in place - the completion of a health disclosure form, and some guidelines around personal distancing and the use of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.  But lots of real estate photographers have already shut up shop. Same thing for home inspectors. As our governing bodies are keen to point out, this is not business as usual.

Our reading of all this is that the essential services designation was given to realtors primarily so that they could shepherd over the finish line deals that were already in progress. And also to help those in a genuinely serious bind - people relocating imminently for work, or who sold their home right before the crisis and now need desperately to find somewhere new to live; those who have lost work and need to sell before the bank steps in. So yes, there are situations. And we shouldn’t be too quick to judge when we see a For Sale sign pop up on the neighbour’s lawn. However — and it’s a huge however — it was not meant as a green light for some vaguely modified version of business as usual. The much skinnier Whig Real Estate section last week is a sign that most people are taking the situation seriously and staying home, delaying their business. The first two weeks of April have seen a 70% drop-off in new business in Kingston. And that’s absolutely as it should be.

The president of the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association (KAREA), though, was blunt in his frustration last week when he wrote: “Unfortunately, we continue to see Members not following the request to end all non-essential activities. Enough is enough. Please stop all non-essential real estate business.” The bolding is his and we agree with the sentiment entirely. To do otherwise is reckless.

So where does that leave us?

Well, if the government can’t be more precise in its direction, then we will all have to draw our own lines. For Cheri and me that means respecting the social contract we have with our community. And not taking advantage. There are asymptomatic carriers out there, lots of them probably, and you put one of those in a galley kitchen with you and you’re asking for trouble. No amount of hand sanitizer will change that equation.

We’ve talked in recent weeks to all of our seller clients, and almost everyone who wants to list a house this season is prepared to wait for the crisis to ease. We’re grateful for their patience and appreciative of our shared outlooks. It’s nerve-racking for everyone involved, we get that, but we also all believe it’s the right way to go.

Our buyers are anxious too, and understandably. But it’s a weird sort of thrill to see how much common ground we have with them in our response to this virus. People are putting their plans on hold.

We’ve said from the outset that realtors shouldn’t be immune to the hardships facing most of our friends and neighbours. A tub of Clorox wipes and a cheerful grin, a snazzy Don’t Worry, Be Happy speech, is not an acceptable workaround. And so Cheri and I will only work in situations where there is a clear and urgent need to find a house or to sell one. Right now that means we have a grand total of one client wanting to look at a house or two, whereas we are normally out working with dozens of people at this time of year. (With any luck, that fact alone will give pause to anyone considering listing their house in the middle of this thing; there just isn’t a big pool of buyers out there.)

We’re staying in touch with everyone else, of course, and fielding questions and researching value, laying groundwork for a resumption of business. We’re actually putting in some pretty serious time. In other words, we’re planning hard for the Monday morning in the not too distant future when we can go to the office again and maybe even risk a trip to the shared photocopier (and what a sight we’ll be, all slouching along opposite walls in our home-made masks).

What I’m trying to say, in essence, is that we’re there for you, and are facing this situation as best we can figure out how, but always in a way that prioritizes our collective health and safety. That means we can’t actually see most of you right now. But it means we’re thinking of you more than ever.

Stay safe.

Mark and Cheri