IET Real Estate Los Angeles Blog

The pandemic has made practically every company rethink how they operate in an effort to keep people safe. When Los Angeles was on full lockdown, the real estate industry pivoted to virtual home tours and open houses. Now that social distancing measures have been relaxed, looking at properties in person is possible again, but it's still not safe to go back to business as usual.

At the beginning of July, the Departments of Public Health and Cal/OSHA revised safety guidelines for real estate professionals conducting showings during COVID-19. If you decide to go house hunting (and now's a great time to do so with mortgage rates being historically low) here's what you can expect.

Walk-Ins Not Welcome

Open houses might not be strictly virtual now, but they still need to be regulated by eliminating the ability for the general public to drop-in at their leisure. Cal/OSHA has mandated that open houses have appointment blocks where only one listing agent and one "buying party" are allowed in at a time. The buying party can be more than one individual, but it can't include two separate interested buyers. This is just to limit how many people are in the house at one time so everyone can maintain six-feet of distance from each other.

Any open house signage or ads promoting the open house is required to make mention that either appointments or digital sign-in are required.

Before the open house, you'll be required to sign a PEAD-V form which says that you agree to follow the safety guidelines during the showing. You must also attest that you have no coronavirus symptoms and haven't been exposed in the last two weeks. 

At the Open House 

When you arrive for your appointment time, you're required to be masked up, and as is the listing agent. You'll be required to sanitize your hands before or immediately upon entering, and the listing agent is required to provide sanitizer or wipes inside the home as well. Though commonly touched areas in the home (faucets, light switches, doorknobs, etc) are to be disinfected between every appointment, it's still asked that you limit how much you touch surfaces in the home. 

Good ventilation is a key component in limiting the spread of the virus, so you can expect to see as many windows and doors open as possible throughout the home. 

Buying a Home During the Pandemic

If you're interested in buying a home right now, you can still see houses in person if you feel that a virtual tour isn't enough for you to make an informed decision. If you're curious about how things will go after the open house, you can check out our other article "Can You Still Close on a House During the Pandemic?"

Though it might feel like a bad time to buy or sell a house, if it's something you're considering, now is definitely the right time to go for it. Currently, the market is right for selling, and it might not stay that way. Plus, as we said earlier, it's a great time to buy and lock-in an outstanding mortgage rate. If you're looking to buy or sell your home in the greater East Hollywood or surrounding areas, email us or gives us a call at (323) 412-9060