In March 2020, real estate agents sat on the edge of their seat as a pandemic seemingly crushed our industry.
Very few people would have guessed that only six months later we would experience one of the most severe housing shortages our country has seen in decades.
A home shortage creates a great market for people selling their homes, but it poses a variety of challenges for buyers — across many different price points. But here we stand, working to keep up with demand. Homes stay on the market for days, if not hours.
Real estate agents have always been resourceful, but our tools and skills are taking on new meaning in this environment in which distance is part of our new normal.
What we’ve experienced is unlike anything we could have dreamed. Homebuyers are feeling pressure to make decisions quickly, and many are making an offer without ever seeing the home in person. The experience is leading them to ask smarter questions, and they are demanding the expertise of real estate agents to simplify the process.
Across the country, how regulations are enacted in our industry vary greatly. Here in Knoxville, showings just after the pandemic were permitted, but many people were not interested in allowing buyers into their homes. Open Houses were also suspended for a couple months, causing real estate professionals to lean more on technology and media to show homes to buyers in the market. This all led to an increase in demand for most real estate agents as sellers turned to us to help navigate a more fast-paced sales environment.
Prior to this pandemic, helping a customer purchase a home