Without sounding too much like a Realtor, the answer is yes, it is a good time to sell your home.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way real estate is being sold and new precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been implemented to protect buyers and sellers.

The real estate industry has also adopted certain practices to minimize interactions in order to help homeowners buy and sell homes at this time. 

While the industry and its practices have changed, the current Santa Clara market remains very active.  (Read our Monthly Market Report on Santa Clara).

We are currently experiencing low inventory and historically low-interest rates.  Initially this helped to stabilize the market, but currently it has contributed to a hot seller’s market, where home values have increased substantially.  

Demand for homes is also healthy, as buyers who are living in apartments or small spaces look to take advantage of favorable interest rates to upgrade to a larger home.

Initially, when COVID-19 cases began to rise and shelter in place rules were enacted, the housing market slowed considerably.

Many buyers hit pause on their home search for the time being due to all the uncertainty.

However, with low mortgage rates and renewed confidence in the market, buyers have returned. In many cases, COVID-19 has prompted many buyers who were renting smaller apartments into the market.

As of right now, the Santa Clara housing market is very active with home buyers.

The best way to find out how much your home can sell for in this market is to contact a local real estate professional.

For convenience, you can use online home value estimation sites that provide recent sales comparables and trends.  We recommend our tool, HTTP://HomeValues.us for accurate online estimates.

Since our market changes rapidly and Santa Clara is such a diverse area, to get an accurate estimate for your home you must factor in its condition, floor plan, and location—therefore its best to call a real estate professional who knows your area.

As Real Estate professionals we want to be safe, and we want to make sure the people we are in contact with are safe.  Besides distancing, wearing masks, and sanitizing our hands between meetings and showings, we are utilizing tools to limit interactions with clients.

Prior to home meetings, we have an initial phone or video conference calls.  Here we discuss the seller’s needs, their situation, and offer advice or consult on the home selling process and the current market conditions.

In-person meetings at the home are important to assess the condition of the home.  As agents, a large part of marketing the home deals with the home’s condition and how it appeals to buyers.  During in-person meetings, all precautions such as wearing masks, avoiding contact, and proper distancing should be followed. 

Any meetings should be postponed if either party is experiencing any feelings of illness or have been around someone who has been feeling ill or diagnosed with COVID-19 until the proper times or tests have been performed concluding a negative result.

In order to show homes in the current environment as agents, we are using a variety of tools to showcase our listings and minimize visits.

These technologies include 3D self navigable tours and video walkthroughs, 2D floor plans, virtual open houses, property websites with comprehensive photoshoots, and video tours.

In-person showings are necessary for serious buyers, and we are taking several precautions to protect all parties.

• Restrict physical showings to only serious buyers — who are qualified and have reviewed the property virtual tours and information.
• Require that buyers sign a COVID declaration form, which indicates to the best of their knowledge, they’re not sick and have not been exposed to the virus.
• Limit the number of people who can come through the home. 
• Providing PPE to visitors.

Serious buyers still like to visit the homes in person before making a purchase decision. There will also be visits by inspectors and potentially appraisers— so selling a home without showings is still not realistic.

We understand this and are focusing on what we can do to minimize unnecessary showings and protect home occupants and visitors by following recommended safe practices.

Preparation when selling is always helpful and can save you time and thousands of dollars. 

The best way to prepare is to contact a real estate professional.  The real estate professional will help you assess your home selling goals and objectives, and design the best plan to achieve them.

The preliminary meetings can be virtual, and any onsite home meetings should be done with all the necessary precautions mentioned above.

Initial consultations and meetings will help you to understand the current market, get a better idea of your home value, and understand the home selling process. 

Afterward, you should have a clearer picture of what work if any needs to be done, the costs, and time frames.

As Santa Clara specialists, our home selling service the Complete Selling Solution is designed for this purpose. For more information contact us or download our Complete Selling Solution Guide.