Many industries are taking a hard hit from the coronavirus pandemic and that includes the housing market. Our Morgan Koziar spoke with a broker and realtor with Perry Wellington Realty about how they’re keeping business alive.

Business doesn’t look quite the same for the real estate industry, but the sale must go on. “We can do web chats, we can do paperwork remotely we’re not allowed to go with someone to show a home we’re not allowed to go with someone to list their home – we’re not allowed to go take photographs so it’s caused a significant restriction on our ability to do real estate,” says Perry Wellington Broker, Adam Conrad. Adam says their agency was ahead of the game when it comes to highlighting homes digitally and now they’re putting those features to use, “we’re very much technology people so we’re very much ahead of the curve so it really just allowed us to put a lot of these things in place and help clients continue to buy homes, buy and sell homes.”

Real Estate Agent, Dawn Pellas says the company will even allow clients to rent out equipment to make 3D virtual tours of their own homes, “no body has to see anybody and the clients are doing all of the work themselves. so it’s a little extra for them, but it gives them the opportunity to market their property.”

Governor Tom Wolf declared real estate a non-life sustaining business, so while agents can’t physically show homes Adam says the business has a way for people to help themselves, “it allows our clients with an android phone if you want to open up this lock box retrieve a key and be able to get the key out of the lock box and they can open the home on their own.”

And they told WTAJ that right now Zillow.com an online real estate data base, has seen a 198 % increase in the number of 3D tours entered into their system from this week, this year vs. this week last year so they say that business has changed and it’s changed forever.