How to Tackle COVID-19 As a Prospective Home Buyer
Perhaps you — like many prospective home buyers — were rearing into 2020 excited to finally sign the closing papers on your dream home. While the world battles COVID-19, the real estate market in Los Angeles remains active and bustling, so it’s still a good time to begin searching for your new home. As long as you have the right real estate agent on your side, it’s perfectly possible to still tour and buy a home despite the ongoing economic crisis. Here are the best tips to move forward successfully!
Lock in your interest rates
As the economy faces recession and many face precarious financial situations, there’s one silver lining: interest rates. When the Federal Reserve rate slashed to nearly zero in mid March, mortgage loan interest rates dropped to three-year lows. If you’re ready to buy during COVID-19, you may be able to secure a very desirable interest rate.
Securing a mortgage loan at the moment might take longer than usual thanks to the recent economic upheaval, but it’s still entirely possible. Talk to your real estate agent for information on how to make this process easier.
Alternatives to in-person appraisals
Since proper social distancing guidelines limit in-person meetings, the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) has offered alternatives to in-person appraisals. On-site inspections with an appraiser will no longer be required. Instead, the FDHA has offered two alternatives: desktop and hybrid appraisals.
Both methods require sufficient research and reporting to determine the home’s value and condition. A desktop appraisal can be done completely at the appraiser's own desk by utilizing market research and competitive analysis. A hybrid appraisal uses those same tools, as well as photographs of the exterior and interior, someone’s else’s interior inspection notes, drive-bys of the property, and virtual tours.
How to tour a house during coronavirus
The safest way to tour a home during this COVID-19 crisis is virtually. Real estate agents have developed top-of-the-line virtual tours, so you’ll be able to tour the home as you normally would — only you can do so from the comfort of your couch.
There are three main types of remote tours sellers are offering: pre-recorder virtual tours, 3D interactive tours, and virtual open houses. Pre-recorded virtual tours are pre-packaged videos that show the home in a specific order, while 3D interactive tours are a series of 360-degree images that allow the viewer to tour the home in their own order, spend as much time in a specific area as desired, and revist rooms as much as they want. Virtual open houses, on the other hand, usually include an agent who can answer questions in real time and take requests to view certain areas longer than others.
Despite all the new tools out there, it’s still understandable to be wary as a buyer trying to navigate the real estate waters during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a seasoned real estate agent in the saturated Los Angeles market, I can happily help you tackle your home buying process seamlessly, so talk to me today!