How are agents conducting viewings in 2021?

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed many parts of life – some potentially forever – and this has included the way people buy and sell homes.

Much more of the process now happens online, with virtual and video viewings having really stepped up to the plate since March last year, to the point where most agents now see them as a must-have rather than a nice luxury.

Pre-pandemic, virtual viewings before a physical viewing were a rarity. Currently, though, they are a necessity thanks to social distancing measures and Covid protocols.

The property market has been allowed to remain open since the middle of May 2020, even through the two subsequent national lockdowns, but only on the proviso that very strict Covid procedures are adhered to all times.

Agents have very quickly adapted and become adept at carrying out viewings in a Covid-secure way.

Here, we take a look at what the viewing process currently looks like and how this might change as restrictions begin to ease and the vaccine rollout helps to bring normality closer once more.

Viewings in a Covid world

If anyone had said 12 months ago that agents would be conducting viewings while wearing masks and gloves, with deep-cleaning occurring between each viewing and hand sanitiser aplenty, they would have been laughed out the room. But as a result of the pandemic, this has become the reality and the norm very quickly.

Since the property market reopened in May last year, the advice on viewings from the government has largely remained the same.

The advice has been for initial viewings to be carried out virtually wherever possible, with agents encouraged to facilitate this. As a result, the use of virtual viewing technology has soared, from state-of-the-art 3D-style experiences to more rudimentary video viewings taken on iPhones. Either way, they have provided a great way for people to see a home without actually having to visit it in person.

Now, only when buyers are serious about a property should they visit it physically, which has meant there have been fewer opportunistic viewers or those just looking to have a nose around a house without actually having any intention to buy it. The combo of highly motivated sellers and equally motivated buyers has helped to push record number of transactions into the pipeline.

Members of the public who are visiting an agent’s office – a rare occurrence now, but still occasionally necessary – must wear a suitable face covering as described in government guidance, unless they are exempt from this requirement. Any exemption should be confirmed with the agent before arrival.

It’s still the case that viewings should be arranged by appointment only and ‘open house’ viewings are not currently allowed, for obvious reasons.

When viewing properties in person, buyers are asked to avoid touching surfaces wherever possible, as well as washing their hands regularly and/or using hand sanitiser. The seller or agent should provide adequate hand-washing facilities and paper towels.

If purchasers must be accompanied by small children, you as the agent should try to keep them from touching surfaces and ensure they wash their hands regularly.

The guidance also states that all internal doors should be opened during a viewing to improve ventilation, while surfaces such as door handles, kitchen worktops and bannisters – basically anywhere where buyers might put their hands – should be cleaned after each viewing with standard household cleaning products.

The government recommends that sellers vacate their property while viewings are taking place to minimise unnecessary household to household contact. As expected, the guidance also states that anyone involved in any aspect of the home-moving process should practice social distancing in line with public health advice.

Those particularly worried about the risk of infection should speak to you beforehand to see if any extra precautionary measures need to be put in place.

Analysis – what does this mean for agents?

From an agent’s point of view, the whole process has changed considerably – and in many ways for the better. Qualifying applicants more thoroughly, with the virtual viewing being the first barrier, means less time is wasted with apathetic buyers. Viewings can also be more efficient when being managed in carefully selected timeslots, and the virtual viewing followed by in-person viewing structure helps to keep both staff and clients safe while the virus is still a major threat.

There are environmental benefits, too. Fewer viewings mean fewer car journeys taken by both agents and buyers. The absence of open house viewings means there aren’t loads of people visiting a house en masse, which in the winter and early spring months may require the heating being on all day to keep people happy and warm.

With people now much more comfortable with viewing a home online – particularly those from the younger demographics, who increasingly make up the largest share of buyers – this also opens the homes you list to a much wider geographical span. It also helps to prevent pointless or wasted journeys for someone coming from far away. If they know, from the virtual viewing, that the home is not for them, they won’t bother booking an in-person viewing. This has benefits from a time and environmental point of view.

Flexibility is also improved as a result of virtual viewings, with people able to watch them from anywhere and at any time in most cases. At the moment, it will mostly be people watching from home, but as society opens up again there is likely to still be demand from people to carry out initial viewings remotely.

The vast majority of buyers will still want to view the property in-person before committing to a purchase, to get a real feel and taste for the place they may call home, but the earlier parts of the process seem certain to become more digital as a result of the pandemic.

Will the old ways return?

As the vaccine rollout continues, and social distancing measures slowly disappear, long-term there is likely to be less call for face coverings during viewings, and such high levels of hygiene awareness. Things like agents and clients travelling together in cars – currently disallowed – are likely to return too, and open house viewings will in all likelihood come back on the agenda as well.

But some of the things brought on by the pandemic are likely to stick. There is a good chance virtual viewings will continue to be used in the first instance, and more agents will invest greater amounts in this type of technology to enhance the viewing experience. Appointment-only viewings may also continue for some, to provide extra stability and certainty to all parties. 

Improved awareness of public health, and the risks posed of lots of people mixing in a tightly confined, poorly-ventilated space, may also mean that things like keeping open internal doors and windows and cleaning thoroughly between viewings will remain.

While the current more restrictive way of doing things won’t remain forever, and things will become easier and less draconian again, there are also likely to be elements that remain very different about the viewing process, with agents taking the best parts of operating during the pandemic – more streamlined, more targeted, more efficient – into their future ways of working.