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Hello everyone. This is the keeping it real

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in real estate show and I'm your host,

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Kathy Blakey. I'm a realtor

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with century 21 a marketer,

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entrepreneur and nature enthusiast.

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In this podcast series, I'm going

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to take you on a journey as we explore topics

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in real estate, including the market mortgages,

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common inspection issues, sustainable

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future and more. Are you a homeowner or future homeowner?

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Do you like saving money, enjoy healthy

0:31

living? Then this podcast series

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may be for you. Stay tuned

0:35

as we go deep into these topics and

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don't forget, subscribe, like and share.

0:43

Welcome to this special edition of buying

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and selling virtually. As of this recording,

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we have "stay at home orders" related to

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the COVID 19 pandemic. In

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some States, we're conducting limited

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real estate activities for those

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who truly need to buy and sell.

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This special edition is dedicated

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to tips for buying and selling virtually.

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Most of us have bought and sold real estate

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the traditional way ... viewing photos,

1:13

scheduling appointments, and going and looking

1:15

at home after home until we find the right

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one. Recently, we've

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also been able to use more

1:22

virtual tools, 3d tours,

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photographs, video, and aerial views.

1:27

All of these tools have significantly

1:30

increased our ability to do

1:33

preliminary home shopping online

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. During this

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pandemic, for those who truly

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need to move, we can

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to take that to a whole new level as

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an extension of what tools are in

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place and making the best use

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of those. In

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today's episode, I'm going to be covering five

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key topics and

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the first three are going to have to deal with

1:58

buyers and then the next two have

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to do with sellers. So

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for buyers , we are going to be focusing on three

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topics: visually shopping,

2:08

informational shopping and exploratory

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shopping. So for visual shopping,

2:14

this is using Google earth photos

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as provided by the listing, virtual

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tours, 3d tours, even

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FaceTime and zoom. All

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these video tours that you

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can see what's going on with

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the property and take

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a look if this is the type of home that will meet

2:32

your needs. Also, floor plans

2:35

to the extent that they're available are also

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helpful. So

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when you're using these tools, you want to look at Google

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earth, you want to see what's around your home, your

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potential home. Take a look at yard

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sizes in shopping for homes.

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I find buyers w ill go

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to a home in person and learn

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something about that home that really they may

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have already been able to find out online

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just by pulling up the aerial view and

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taking a look at the surroundings.

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So for some of the things that you're going to be looking

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for in the visual

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tools, you'll want to make

3:09

yourself a wants and needs checklist

3:11

so that you know what's important to you. Sometimes

3:14

cabinet color may be important type

3:17

of flooring, maybe important whether

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the home has updates or not. The

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yard view, whether it has a deck.

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All of these things can be determined

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by looking at the photos. Sometimes

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it's difficult to determine the room size

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from the photos because of the wide angle lenses

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and the photographs being taken

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to showcase as much of the property

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as possible. What you can do to overcome

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that is take a measurement

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of a room size within your existing

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living space and then

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compare that to the multiple listing service

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or what other service that

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you have for the listing where it has the room size

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is listed and if they're not available, you

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can ask your agent for those dimensions

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to help identify if the

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home is going to be big enough space for

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whether it's the master bedroom, the kitchen,

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the primary living area. A common

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concern is whether the furniture will

4:12

fit, so these again can all be done

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through visual. The

4:17

next topic is going to be using the

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information available, so

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there's going to be a variety of sources of

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information and let's start

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with the seller's disclosure.

4:28

Carefully review the seller's disclosure.

4:31

That will give you insight to the

4:33

type of systems. Tell you if there've

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been any issues with the systems,

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can tell you if the age of the systems

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as well as other common topics

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like water intrusion

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problems with the roof, anything.

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It's going to help you to rule

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out whether this is a home for you or not.

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Using the information that's available.

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Also, the listing detail can

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tell you the types of systems,

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again contained within it. It can tell you

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room sizes, it can tell

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you lots of things

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that you may want to know. You'd

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be surprised when buyers

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are going on a tour and

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looking at multiple homes all in one day

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and only to find out that several

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of those homes, you know didn't

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meet the minimum requirements of their

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wants and needs to begin with. So

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knowing what your wants needs are ruling

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out the homes, you by process

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of elimination based on the information that's

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available is one really good way

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during this virtual touring

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to help identify a home that's going to be good

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or not good for you. Another source

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is going to be public records. Not

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all counties have the same level of information

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available electronically on public records,

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but to the extent that your County does utilize

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it, you may find out when the

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systems have been updated maybe before the current

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owner own the property. By

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taking a look back into public records, you

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can see when permits have

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been issued and we'll give

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you some more insight as well. So

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the next topic is exploratory.

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We talked about using the visual

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aids that are currently available through

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maps, Google earth, virtual tours,

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photographs, all that is currently available.

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We have informational, which is information

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it's currently available through the listing and through

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the disclosures. And what I think

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the next phase is for any

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home that you're seriously considering is

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exploratory. So during this

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environment where we need to transact

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as much virtually as possible,

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we may be taking this to a whole nother level

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where we're creating custom questionnaires

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for the sellers, things that aren't available

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through the standard photographs,

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things that are important to you to know about

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a home, like the slope of the yard.

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And that's not always going to be available

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on a standard seller's disclosure.

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But it's something that you may be important

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for you to know and you may also

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consider having your realtor

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or the seller create a

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custom video for

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the types of questions you have. For instance,

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you may want to see

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what the basement walls look like. You

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may want to know whether there's an eagerness

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window in the lowest level.

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There are things that are not necessarily going

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to be available in the standard photographs

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or on the seller's disclosure, but

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are important to you. So

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exploratory would be the next level.

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It may be asking for an audio

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of the floors. You know, having

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someone walk through the property and

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have the audio turned on so you can know whether

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the floor squeak, if that is an issue

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for you. Maybe it's an older

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home and you're not sure if the

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floors are level asking those kinds

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of questions. Probably

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the biggest hurdle to overcome

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virtually is going to

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be the other senses like

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smell that's going to be

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subjective. Many homeowners

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who have been living in their home and may not even know

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that they're to smell. What do you do about

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that? You can use your questionnaire

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to ask if they have any pets. You

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can ask if there's been any water

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damage which could indicate you know, mold

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or mildew. And then

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the next level from there might be

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to have an air quality test as

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part of your standard agreement if you

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choose to move forward with any

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offering on the property. So I'm

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sure there's a lot of considerations

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for anyone who is thinking about purchasing

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a home. Virtually. It is

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done, it's done through relocation,

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through military relocation site

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on scene . It has been done

8:51

while before COBIT 19 and

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it's just a matter of getting and all parties

8:56

being transparent. And that's

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going to be key for both buyers and sellers.

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If you are a home seller who

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needs to sell your home during this time

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and you're considering putting it on the market,

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there are some things that you can do to

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help facilitate this. And so

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as I mentioned, transparency is key.

9:19

Providing as much information as you

9:21

possibly can for a potential

9:23

buyer, filling out your disclosures

9:25

thoroughly, accurately and

9:28

come up comprehensive information. You may

9:30

even take it to the next level, which

9:32

is providing a

9:35

home inspection prior to listing. That

9:37

may even include an air quality

9:40

test just to give that extra comfort level

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to the buyer to know that you

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know some things that maybe they weren't able to

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use their senses for, that you've provided

9:50

a clean air quality test, providing

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a list of upgrades that you've

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done which is above and

9:57

beyond what a seller's disclosure may be

9:59

asking you for. And then if there

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are any issues, you know, taking the extra

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time to document those to give

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the comfort. The

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next item for sellers is flexibility,

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either allowing or participating

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in custom videos, taking

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it to the next level virtually to allow

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for things that you don't normally take

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a photograph of to be photographed.

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Questionnaires from buyers being responsive

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and transparent and

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these are the types of things that will help buyers

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get comfortable with your home and

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provide for the ability for

10:35

real estate to still be conducted virtually

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through this pandemic. For those who

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do need to buy or sell, thanks

10:44

for listening in today. Just wanted to

10:46

provide as some information for

10:49

anyone who is in need of buying

10:51

and selling, that you know that there

10:53

are things that can be done. We all

10:55

need to think outside of the box and

10:58

realize that this is not the

11:01

normal transaction. This is not

11:03

the normal traditional way

11:05

of buying and selling, but it can be

11:07

done and it can be done through

11:09

creative means as well. As

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you know, again, just continue to

11:13

say it, transparency

11:15

and flexibility, both buyers

11:18

and sellers to get through this time

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and we as agents also

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need to be responsive, transparent,

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and flexible and creative.

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So if you have further questions, contact

11:31

your realtor. If you do not have

11:33

a realtor and you are in

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Delaware, Maryland or Pennsylvania, feel

11:38

free to contact me and stay safe.

11:42

Thanks for tuning into this episode of

11:44

keeping it real in real estate with Kathy

11:46

wakey as your host. For more information

11:48

on this episode or others, visit

11:51

w w w keeping

11:53

it real info.com

11:56

there you can find information about becoming a guest

11:58

speaker, episode notes and contact

12:01

information for the guest speakers. You

12:03

can also connect with me on social media by

12:06

using the key terms. Kathy

12:08

Blakey, realtor, find me on Facebook,

12:10

Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube.

12:13

If you'd like to subscribe to this podcast, you

12:15

can find it on iTunes, Google play,

12:17

Spotify, and more. Thanks for listening.

12:21

As a disclaimer, this show is not intended to be

12:23

a replacement for professional advice for specific

12:26

issues related to your real estate transaction.

12:28

Please consult with your qualified realtor, mortgage

12:30

broker, home inspector, or real estate attorney.

12:32

Thank you.

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[inaudible] .