WILLOWICK, Ohio — She’s searching for a new home, without leaving her living room.
"Houses are going extremely fast, we looked at a few and if you don’t move fast enough they’re gone,” said Quiana Sherrills.
Sherrills is a first time home buyer from Willowick and because of the threat of the coronavirus she’s choosing to stay home and get a tour of her potential new property through a live video chat.
"I’m able to go on her site and see the rooms, and places where I’m questioning the space, beyond what I can see with a still picture then I ask her to walk into that space and maybe do some measuring,” she said.
Angela Thompson is the owner of Monument Real Estate and Sherrills' agent.
She says the amount of folks buying and selling their homes isn’t slowing down as the mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low.
"We have been moving along pretty steadily but we have been making changes,” said Thompson.
The biggest change is the live video home tours and those are popping up all over.
Realtors are also much more diligent about cleaning.
"We’re carrying our Lysol wipes and gloves, making sure we’re wiping down lock boxes any surfaces that we may come in contact with,” said Thompson.
This new virtual real estate world isn’t just helping the buyer, Thompson says she does most aspects of her job either online or over video now.
"Listing appointments, normally we would go into a sellers home and kind of help them to get their home ready and prepared for sale,” she said.
But now those are done over video, as well as buyer consultations, open houses and even home inspections are virtual now.
"I just look at it as whatever I have to do to make sure that I’m there for them, that’s what I’m going to do,” said Thompson.
And she’s done it for Sherrills', who is pretty sure she’s found her dream home without ever stepping foot inside.
"She’s really made it really seamless for me,” said Sherrills.
