Coronavirus outbreak will have a lasting impact on our lives. There’s no way we can deny this statement. From how we work, live, and go by our daily routines one way or another it is going to get affected by this outbreak. The real estate industry is also at stakes and dealers are asking questions about what can they do or how can they prepare for what’s coming ahead?
By acting today and planning from today, real estate dealers can serve and ensure their viability. They need to take action today to deal with what may be considered as permanent changes for the real estate industry after this crisis.
Here are a few things that real estate dealers can work on today to prepare themselves for post-COVID market demands:
- Earning customer respect & trust:
It is an obligation to protect the safety of your consumer and partner at all costs. For this purpose, real estate dealers need to communicate or over-communicate with their consumers and partners at this time. This will build a level of trust and loyalty. Dealers need to fully understand the needs of their tenants.
- Cash management:
Normally, real estate affairs are highly decentralized and decisions that impact cash flow are mostly made on a property level. Considering the current situation, it is suitable that managements start providing more centralized cash flow plans on the property level and company level. The focus should be directed towards creativity so that all cash flow activities do not involve cutting costs. This situation demands to ditch traditional ways and more thinking outside the box.
- Making things digital:
Even before this coronavirus outbreak, the real estate industry was taking baby steps towards digitalizing. But, now it is the demand of the hour and the real estate industry once taking baby steps now requires overnight growth. This transition may not be as smooth as some people may want it to be but, eventually, this had to be done to save the industry. Virtual open house showings, digital sales, and leasing processes targeted and personalized sales are some of the ways to boost up the real estate business and also allow hustle free moving process for the residents.
- Making new policies:
The corresponding policies for cities, states, and federal government post-COVID might not be fully applicable to the real estate industry and while making reductive assumptions about the impact of this outbreak on the economy might be tempting, they might not be fruitful.
Post-COVID the demands of the tenants and consumers are going to vary, even with a single asset. The real estate industry will have to target a wider audience with different needs rather than the one-size-fits-all policy. This one-size-fits-all policy may be easier to implement but, steps will be needed to take the consumer’s safety and demands into consideration.
Just like the financial crisis that took the world by storm in 2008, real estate dealers who thought one step ahead and played well while adapting to the new demands flourished while others faded away in the background. Thus, acting smartly and quickly will determine the fate of real estate firms.
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