My first listing in the age of coronavirus (and what happened)

In five days there were four offers on my new listing “Horton Brook Cabin”.

In this upended world where every day is a month, my last post two-and-a-half weeks ago appears to have been more of a hunch, while now I have at least some stronger anecdotal evidence to cull from. Last Monday I listed Horton Brook Cabin. I was able to do this because its owners had decamped to Maine, and vacant houses can be photographed by agents within our restricted guidelines. Buyers would not be able to set foot inside, however. So this listing was going to be my canary in the coal mine.

I needed to figure out how to present a listing so comprehensively that someone who has not set foot inside would consider making an offer. Is that even possible? So I set about taking videos (shaky and perhaps overly-long ) of the driveway and area around the entrance. In this case the immediate vicinity is a net plus to the overall setting of the property, but sometimes that’s not the case, and a buyer would want to know what “the neighborhood” is like. I did the same with the interior, being sure to include all the “connector” shots so the flow through the house is clear. And then I walked the grounds, taking in the woods and the spring the provides the house with its water.

The listing went up on two MLSs within 24 hours and agents and buyers were instantly and and insistently eager to “show” it. It was listed at $289,000, so this is a price point that has a huge market. Three agents went to the house, and fortunately the cell service was such that they could offer virtual tours with their clients over their phone, focusing on aspects that interested them. Buyers were given the option, with the sellers’ consent, to walk the grounds and peer inside the windows.

My first offer came in on Wednesday at full price, with a second, over ask, the next day. I set a “best & final” deadline for noon on Friday, and two stragglers, agents with buyers who had not visited the property, joined in the bidding war, for a total of four bidders. The house is selling over the asking price (and the inspection is taking place today, Monday, one week from the day I launched it on our site) with contracts going out today.

Separately, this week I received an offer on a substantially higher-priced listing, also without the buyers entering the house as the owners are in residence. Contract is going out today.

While I still believe the economic fallout has yet to fully reveal itself, the Metro New York market is so vast, I strongly believe that any dampening will be more than compensated for by this new borderline “panic buying”. And I say this because my sister, who has been Upstate for over a month, showed me a listing that surprised me. Do you like that style, I asked, and she said not really, but there’s nothing on the market. I don’t need this to be my dream house, she said. That sums it up. That is a mentality I have never seen before. What was normally an “optional” , kind of fun purchase, has taken on a new hue of necessity and urgency. To everyone I would say hang in there, more listings are coming.

Some sellers will hold off on listing, realizing how lucky they are to have a refuge they are now living in full time. But others will still sell, and for properties that tick a lot of boxes (modern farmhouse style, renovated with great windows, private, lovely grounds), they will be paid a premium.

I’m hopeful we may be allowed to return to showing property by the end of May. We’ll see. But there will be a tsunami of listings then, combined with an avalanche of buyers. How to manage them efficiently will be tricky. Cash buyers will not enjoy discounts in this seller’s market, but they will win bidding wars. (See When do you have enough cash to buy a house.) Advice to buyers: Be prepared: Get your bank pre-approval (we will likely not take you around without it, focusing only on those buyers who show they’re ready to go) or your proof of funds if you’re buying with cash. Do your research, understand the areas and what your priorities are. But don’t panic. And do only buy a house that makes you happy.