What Stage 3 Means For Your Real Estate Experience

Simcoe County, along with much of the province, has entered Stage 3 of Ontario’s reopening plan. Real estate, and any link in the real estate chain, has operated as an essential service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but like any business we’ve made necessary changes to ensure the immediate and continued health and safety of our clients. With the market in Simcoe County getting hotter by the day, here’s a look at what Stage 3 means for your real estate experience.

Office Visits

All six of our office locations are once again open to the public. Complying with the Simcoe Muskoka Health Unit’s directive, masks are worn by all staff who work in the public spaces of our offices and masks will always be made available to clients and visitors. During appointments, your Faris Team Realtor^® will respect your level of comfort when it comes to wearing a mask while social distancing is maintained.

Open Houses

Open houses have long been a staple of the real estate experience, but when Stay Home came into effect, the industry listened. In lieu of a tangible home viewing, Faris Team recreated the open house experience by hosting virtual showings through professional home tours. Since Stage 2, buyers and sellers have become more comfortable requesting appointment-based, in-person showings, and now that gathering limits have increased to 50 people, open houses are technically permitted to resume.

We continue to work towards what’s best for our clients, and are not yet hosting open houses, but if resumed, the “new normal” of open houses will include physical distancing and other key measures to keep all parties safe. For example, leaving doors open and lights on during a showing is now standard practise, as these efforts minimize multiple people touching high-traffic surfaces.

Consistent with recommendations put forth by OREA, the Ontario Real Estate Association, despite groups of 50 being permitted in Stage 3, one group of two people at a time, plus their Realtor^®, will more realistically be the target number of people in a home at any given time. Consider the new open house model like a string of private showings, but without the formal appointment. Those waiting to see the home must either keep six feet apart from each other outside the property while in queue or may wait in their cars. Clear timelines will be respected to ensure all buying clients get a chance to view the home during the allotted open house timeframe.

Virtual Options

Despite the green light to host open houses, digital tools and private showings have more than satisfied clients these past few months, and we anticipate this trend will continue. Virtual Realtor^® appointments, home tours, and consultations with mortgage brokers, lawyers and stagers will remain an option alongside in-person visits. Your comfort level is of the upmost importance, and we recognize that what you choose today may change tomorrow. We’re happy to serve you in any format and are prepared to do so with excellence.

Client Appreciation

We’ve missed seeing our forever clients at our annual events, but trust we’ll be able to resume in-person activities as soon as it’s safe. We’re finding ways to express our appreciation for our clients this fall, so keep an eye out for announcements!

To celebrate the Grand Opening of our new Alliston location at 117 Young Street, we’re hosting a virtual contest with five $250 Local Business prize packs up for grabs! Enter by visiting our Facebook Page until August 11.

Our commitment to give back to the communities we serve remains unchanged. In lieu of hosting in-person events we’ve donated allotted budgets to our charity partners, and continue to support important local fundraisers including Georgian Bay General Hospital’s Power of Giving Virtual Gala for which we are a presenting sponsor. Your business also empowers our local charities. Through our Faris Cares program, $100 of each home sale is donated to the Barrie Food Bank, Georgian Bay General Hospital, My Sister’s Place (Alliston), The Lighthouse (Orillia) and Collingwood G&M Hospital.

Stress-Free Real Estate

Faris Team goes full out for you^®, not only because real estate has remained an essential service throughout the pandemic, but because providing the best real estate experience in the world has always been our mission. We understand that families need and desire to reach their real estate goals, and we’re committed to making that experience stress-free.

• We can connect you with trusted referrals, everything from our in-house mortgage broker to a reliable local carpenter.

• Our proven marketing system sells your home faster, and for more.

• Our Best Experience Guarantee means you can cancel your agreement anytime at no cost to you.

• FarisVIP allows you to see properties before they hit the market.

• We continue to provide weekly market updates for Barrie and area, Orillia and area, and Collingwood, Midland and area, so you have the most accurate picture of real estate trends across Simcoe County.

Want to know what this means for you as you consider buying or selling a home? We’re here to help.

Call us today at 1.888.918.6570, send us an email or book an appointment.

There’s absolutely NO OBLIGATION. Consultations with our team of experts are FREE.

While the information contained in this site has been presented with all due care, Faris Team assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.