I did a couple of things last week for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdown started. First, I went into our Crescent City Living office on Magazine Street. There were never more than three of us in there at one time, but, damn, it felt good to get that team feeling again. The camaraderie recharged the batteries. While I was there, somebody called the office wanting to see a double that needs renovation. I showed it to him, and while that property was already under contract and about to close, I now have a new buyer who’s looking for an interesting project. All good.
Saturday afternoon, I held my first open house in a loooooooooonnnnnggggg time. I’ll admit to being uncertain if it was time yet for an in-person open house, but protocols were in place, masks and hand sanitizer were available, and the house was vacant. We even provided a box of new pens, so people could sign in and take the pen with them. We seem to now be in a stage of managing risk, and I was comfortable with the risk being low enough to go for it.
Office time and an open house as two big welcome steps forward. Keep on with your bad self, 2020!
That new buyer told me Tuesday that his son tested positive yesterday for COVID-19. Fortunately, we safely distanced when I showed him the property, and he hadn’t been with his son for a good while before we met. I didn’t think I needed a wake-up call, but I got one just the same.
And that open house? Maybe it wasn’t time yet. We had no visitors. Bagel. I’d be curious to hear if you’d visit an open house, or if you think that’s too risky just yet. Please feel free to comment and let me know. I’d truly like to hear your thoughts about this. Whether managing a home search or just our daily lives during a pandemic, we are all in this together.
One of my biggest misconceptions when I was younger was that life progresses in a straight, steady line. Parents will age one year for every 365 days that pass, for example. It’s a line on a graph that keeps that same angle. Oh, naive, young Dave. You have so much to learn. Those lines will jump, dart, flatten, and circle back with a twist. So it will be with this pandemic.
