Real estate: Covid homebuying tactic that has changed real estate forever

The pandemic has played a key role in creating a real estate market across the country we have never seen before and likely never will again.

But as we hopefully put the worst of Covid-19 behind us, with Sydney out of lockdown on Monday for what residents are being told is the last time, and Melbourne set to follow suit, some major components of the way things have become, will remain.

Ray Ellis, chief executive of First National, Australia’s third largest real estate agency, believes buyers and sellers’ willingness to ingratiate themselves with easier and expedited ways of transacting have change property in the country forever.

A major part of that is the eagerness of property intenders to buy their new home ‘sight unseen’.

That’s right, Covid-19 has turned what was a ‘no-go’ buying tactic into a smart move that could give you the edge in purchasing your next home.

According to Mr Ellis, First National has witnessed a five-fold explosion in homebuyers not physically touring a property before purchase – a new state of play that is set to stay.

“Pre-Covid, if we were selling 20 houses in a certain suburb, maybe one of those might have been sight-unseen,” he said.

“But now we are selling four or five a month that way.”

“People just don’t want to miss out. When that new home is about family happiness or a key lifestyle driver, buyers are comfortable buying it without physically walking through it. Everyone has re-evaluated what is most important to them and if they find a house that fits the bill they are going after it.”