Like with every other industry worldwide, Boston real estate is now on pause. Many downtown Boston real estate offices announced that it will be suspending broker tours and open houses for at least the next three weeks.
Should the Mayor mandate that agents put their Open Houses on hold, to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus?
Will the Governor Baker add open houses to the list of events the state has banned, which include most gatherings of more than 50 people?
In other parts of the country, the local MLS has suspended the feature of Open Houses on broker listings. Below is an excerpt from the Seattle Times on some measures taken place in regards to Open Houses:
Monday afternoon (MLS) disabled features in its online home listing database that allow brokers to “input, search, or view … open house information,” according to an email sent to agents — eliminating agents’ most effective tool to find and advertise upcoming open houses. The group also removed existing open house listings.
Regardless of what the Mayor (and MLS) will do, I think downtown real estate brokers and FSBO should all acknowledge the gravity of the coronavirus situation and voluntarily suspend Open Houses at least in the short-term
This is not to say, we should halt private showings. Yet in these trying times, we all must take safety precautions and if we all work together we will get through this.
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