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In March of this year, Leicester and Janet Knispel bought a house for $ 1.55 million. USD (approximately EUR 1.41 million) in the state of Florida. Although he already has a new television and car, the family has not yet been in a new home, writes The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Knispels lived in California and was looking for properties to invest in and use together as a vacation home. However, during the quarantine, the family did not want to take risks and fly to inspect the property itself, so the transaction was virtually executed.
“I never thought I would buy something like what I didn’t see. But after looking at the” millions “of photos and videos posted by the broker, I feel like we know the house far and wide,” he told the WSJ.
According to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, last year only 3.5 percent. American buyers purchased the property without first inspecting it. However, an April poll showed 31 percent. The agents belonging to the association sold at least one home, which the client had not physically inspected.
Photo from Shutterstock.com/Miami
Paulius Gebrauskas, co-owner of Baltic Sotheby’s International Realty of Lithuania, 15 minutes He said he had heard about this trend from colleagues in the United States. According to him, such transactions were made by people of the millennium without leaving home.
“Colleagues in Miami and California have confirmed this,” he said.
The videos attracted buyers
The experts in the US real estate market USA They predict that this trend will continue after the crisis, and during this period, both brokers and buyers have gotten used to and mastered the technology.
However, Lithuanian companies are not so optimistic, and only Baltic Sotheby’s International Realty claims that virtual surveys have brought them tangible benefits. Buyers were said to be interested and encouraged to buy specially made videos.
“The first two inspections were done by video, but as far as I know they still arrived at the scene. But the decision-making was surprisingly quick. Those who saw the video did a virtual review, making a decision after a visit. In the past , there were no virtual inspections, no one requested them, and now they just wanted us to film, call from the scene and show it, “said P. Gebrauskas.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Paulius Gebrauskas
Admittedly, in the end, before approving the deal, the buyers still wanted to visit the house they planned to buy.
“Buying real estate without leaving your home is a very new thing, plus it’s a lot of money, and you won’t be able to pay it back later, so you want to look around.
Also, some people simply did not know the neighborhood. For example, we had buyers who bought a house in Vilnius, even though they live elsewhere. Therefore, they became familiar with the surroundings, to see what everything around them looks like, “explained P. Gebrauskas.
Baltic Sotheby’s International Realty / Luxury property in Lithuania
According to him, the material presented in the virtual space was more interesting for young people, and older relatives requested live inspections.
“During the decision, they involve their parents and other older family members in the meeting. They want to come to the place and see, “he said.
Virtual technology has not worked
However, Justinas Šavelskis, director of home sales for real estate development company Eika, is skeptical about virtual inspections. He assured that he was happy with the achievements of the American riders, but Lithuania did not reflect these trends.
“This is definitely not the case in Lithuania. We have also shown both virtual programs and chats through Viber, Messenger, Zoom, most of those applications. But people, even if they were in a position to see them virtually, still did not dare making a decision without staying alive. So we are waiting for the quarantine to be relaxed so we can invite them and allow them to stay in those specifically selected apartments, “he explained.
Photo by Eika / Justinas Šavelskis
According to J.Šavelskis, Lithuanians are very restricted. Even young high-income people want to come and stay in the home they are going to buy.
“I congratulate the Americans, but we really haven’t lived in Lithuania until then,” he said.
Živilė Gerulaitienė, broker for the Capital Klaipėda real estate agency, also supported her. According to her, although they began to switch to video surveillance as soon as the quarantine began, they did not work.
“Only one person took advantage of our office, but only a small one-room bottle deal was made. But still that man came to see him live. I did both videos and a” live “inspection when I go, film and comment. , but no, it did not work for us, “said the interlocutor.
Capital Photo / Živilė Gerulaitienė
According to Ž.Gerulaitienė, the fact that Lithuanians did not like virtual inspections was determined not only by the lack of habit of using technologies when buying a home. But also the fact that property acquisition is often emotionally based.
“A person wants to come, smell, see, feel, fit, not fit. You don’t just rely on visual information, you need emotions, “he said.
Suitable for drawing apartments and for rent
True, Andželika Čiūtienė, sales manager of the real estate development company Citus 15 minutes He assured that when buying a raffle house, live meetings are not necessary. It is enough for people to become familiar with the future home by looking at visualizations and other visual material.
“But of course, looking around the place, exploring the neighborhood, the environment is very important, so most of the time shoppers wanted to do it.” During quarantine, we offered every opportunity to virtually familiarize ourselves with the projects and had several sales completely without any physical contact and inspection, ”he said.
Other photos / Andželika Čiūtienė
However, according to A.Čiūtienė, Lithuania is not so large that it would be necessary to fly from one edge to the other, where the risk of infection is increasing and restrictions have been reduced after a short time. For this reason, getting to the place and looking around is much easier.
It is true that although virtual inspections have not taken over sales, leasing transactions are carried out in this way.
Photo for Ober-Haus / Antanas Kišūnas
Antanas Kišūnas, Head of the Housing Department at Ober-Haus, explained that such inspections are suitable for consumer-oriented people and that they do not place much emphasis on the place of residence.
“It is valued by those who rent for a short time or for a very good price. Those who rent more expensive properties, if they are Lithuanians, still want to see it and the virtual inspection does not always work. And foreigners are suitable for virtual inspection and many of them sign contracts remotely, ”he said.
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