It means there are buyers and sellers out there who through no fault of their own were caught in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis as they prepared to buy or sell a home earlier this spring. Many of these home sellers and homebuyers had already bought or sold a home before Covid-19 social distancing measures were introduced. They were either trying to find a place to live because they had sold their own home or they were selling their current home in order to help finance the purchase of their next home. Others may have been selling for financial reasons or due to a family matter. So now these people find themselves needing the assistance of a Realtor. And Realtors are here to serve you. Transactions are continuing to take place and the market is holding up very well by all accounts. Realtors are drawing upon technology to safely and securely assist their clients with marketing strategies that include: virtual Open Houses, electronic feature sheets, virtual staging and photo editing services. All listing and offer forms can be sent to you electronically with only digital signatures required and no face to face interaction. (You do not need any special technology skills to execute the digital signatures, just an email address and an internet connection.) Yes, a prospective Buyer will still need to enter the home to physically see what they are buying but anybody entering the home will be heavily prescreened with all the virtual marketing material and they will only be allowed one visit. And to make sure that both Buyer and Seller are safe my office Johnston & Daniel a Division of Royal Lepage Real Estate Services has created a number of disclosure forms that must be signed , expressly prohibiting anybody who has been travelling or showing Covid-19 symptoms from entering the house. Once an agreement has been reached, real estate lawyers can now prepare and send you the closing documents electronically and you can sign digitally. Funds can then be directed by wire transfer and the keys waiting for you at your new home, inside a lockbox. These measures are safe and secure and arguably a more efficient way to conduct a real estate transaction than pre Covid-19. And Realtors are here to help. But please make no mistake; if you do not have to buy or sell a home right now please wait until the Covid-19 social distancing measures have been lifted. This is the right thing to do. We all must all play our part, stay at home, and allow the front line workers to do their jobs. Stay safe everybody.