Yesterday afternoon, following the measures announced in Parliament and having taken advice from our industry body we have made the decision to make our office in Chipstead Valley Road a locked office with immediate affect.
We still have members of the team working remotely, however we have made the decision to keep as many of our team in the office as is safe to do so to facilitate virtual viewings, viewings and valuations which will not be affected and will continue as per our COVID process that was introduced in May.
However if you would like to come into the office there will be changes:
· You will need to make an appointment. We are required to keep a log of any visitors to the office, for a period of 21 days following the visit. This means that walk in appointments can no longer be accommodated.
· Similarly, as we have reduced staff numbers in the office at any one time, the office may not be staffed at all times. This has been the case since we re-opened in May. Staff working remotely are still able to answer office calls and have full access to our computers, so even when team members are not in the office we are still fully functional.
· If you do make an appointment to come into the office (we would rather come to your home), we request that you wear a mask and sanitise your hands upon entry. All team members who are in the office at that time will also wear a mask during your appointment.
Putting our clients and employees safety at the front of everything we do
Even before the start of lockdown, we have put our clients and employees safety at the forefront of everything we do. We take non compliance very seriously.
When we were allowed to open our offices and start conducting valuations and viewings, we followed the government guidance and continued conducting virtual viewings in the first instance (we had started this process successfully during lockdown).
In recent weeks we have had some buyers question why we are doing video tours still when no other agent is. The simple answer is, that we are following government and NAEA (our industry regulator – more on them below) guidance. Although the government guidance was updated on 29th August it still stipulates: “Agents should strongly encourage clients to view properties virtually in the first instance and then only physically inspect properties which they have a strong interest in.”
By conducting virtual viewings we are:
1) Reducing contact between our team and clients
2) Reducing the number of people who enter our clients homes
3) Reducing the risk of transmission of any illness
4) Remaining compliant
We are proud of what we have achieved in the past 6 months with our virtual viewings, which according to people viewing properties through us is very different to anyone else.
So, how are our Video Tours/Virtual Viewings so different?
1) These are true video tours and are at no extra cost to our clients. They are not a string of still photos made into a slideshow. Nor are they a 3D photo tour.
2) We book individual zoom appointments for each viewing so that we can talk a potential buyer through the property and answer any questions that they may have. We’ve done over 500 of them in the past 6 months, so we are becoming experts.
3) By booking zoom appointments for each first viewing it enables us to:
· Register the potential buyer, so that we have all their details, in the same way that we would register them as if they were physically viewing the house. This provides all our sellers with the re-assurance of knowing we have a record of everyone who has seen the inside of their house and gives us complete control over who views.
· It allows also immediate feedback as at the end of the video, the potential buyer is asked for feedback and asked if they would like to have a physical viewing of the property.
· Rewind pause, re-play. As each video is generally under 10 minutes, buyers have time to view again, rewind and ask as many questions as they want. It provides a very open forum.
· Treat it like a physical first viewing. Once the viewing is complete the potential buyer has no access to the video, in the same way that when they view your house, once they have left that’s it. They need to make an appointment to view again.
4) We do not upload videos to the portals and NEVER WILL, nor do we send any potential viewers a link for them to view at another time. We believe that by doing this it compromises your security:
· By uploading a video of your property to the portals, your agent will have no control over who sees the inside of you house
· By sending out a link to the video of your house, your agent has no control over who this link is forwarded to, meaning no one has control over who sees the inside of your house.
By booking a zoom appointment we have complete control of the above at all times.
We have seen other versions of online viewings presented in many different ways, but we remain certain that a 1:1 zoom video tour remains the best option for our vendors and buyers.
Who is our Industry Body?
There is no compulsory membership of a central regulatory body.
However, Walter & Mair choose to be a member of both the NAEA and ARLA (both part of the Propertymark Group). Our membership means that we have to adhere to their strict membership code but this membership is entirely voluntary on our behalf, and costly. We are the only Independent agent in Coulsdon and Purley who are members of both bodies.
Where can I find the government guidance on moving house during the pandemic?
This guidance was first published in March when the restrictions were introduced and was last updated on 29th August. We expect it to be updated soon.
