Moving During the Pandemic? You Need This Checklist.

Checklist: Before you move

Make sure moving is allowed in your area or building

Not sure if you can move? According to the American Moving & Storage Association, moving has been deemed an "essential service" by the federal government.

Still, while moving is legal in the big picture, it might not be allowed for your specific circumstances. For instance, some apartment buildings in New York City are not allowing residents to move during the current shelter-in-place order. So check with your local and state governments (and your HOA or condo board, if applicable) before scheduling any move.

Choose car travel over air travel

"In order to be safe and to protect others from possible exposure to the coronavirus, drive instead of fly for your long-distance move," advises Ali Wenzke, author of "The Art of Happy Moving."

It may take longer for you to arrive at your new home, but driving is better for the safety of everyone.

Carefully research your movers

Hiring movers should always be a process that involves careful research before signing a contract. Now that missive is even more important. So is using professional movers rather than a cheaper man-with-a-van option, which could involve unknown rental equipment and multiple trips to get everything moved.

These days, many companies have transitioned to contactless moving, which means customers leave their homes while the crew comes in to pack up and load the truck. Many movers are also using video chat technology to see customers’ homes and offer quotes.

At Bellhops, a company that provides moving services in 30 states, “the customer provides instructions and takes a video and sends it to us,” says Luke Marklin, the company’s CEO. “We do a FaceTime walk-through when we arrive and a final FaceTime walk-through to show them the truck and the house, then repeat that process for the unload.”

Make sure to ask all prospective movers about their COVID-19 policies and practices, and make sure to ask the following:

• Do you provide virtual or digital estimates?

• Are the trucks and movers equipped with hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves?

• Will the truck transporting your furniture and boxes be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before your belongings are packed inside?

• Will all equipment—such as hand trucks and sound blankets—be cleaned before your move?

• How often are high-touch surfaces in the trucks sanitized?

• What is your cancellation/rescheduling policy?

• How are the movers ensuring employees aren't sick? This could include taking their temperature on the day of the move and asking if anyone in their household is ill or experiencing symptoms.

These best practices don't just apply to the movers but to you as well.

"We advise that anyone who is planning to move right now to get gloves and masks to wear during the move," says Rachmany.

Decluttering? Call ahead if you plan to donate

Moving is a natural time to sort through your closets and set aside items to donate. This unusual time period doesn't have to be an exception to this.

But if you plan to drop off old housewares, clothing, and other items at your neighborhood Goodwill or Salvation Army, call ahead—not all stores are open or accepting donations right now, and you may need to take additional steps to sanitize donated items.

Keep reading on Realtor.com for your Post-Move Checklist.

Ready to look for new digs? We’d love to help!

Related Links:
Would you buy a home sight-unseen?
Listing + Selling Your Property During a COVID Stay-at-Home Order

Real Estate Showings Allowed on a Limited Basis in Some Areas

Although things update and change on an almost constant basis, Real Estate professionals are now allowed to show SOME properties in SOME areas.

West + Main agents are taking every precaution to keep themselves, their clients, and our communities safe and healthy while accommodating showing requests according to State, County and City guidelines, which are various.

If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

West + Main Homes, Inc. Expands into Oklahoma Through Strategic Partnership

West + Main Homes, Inc. Expands into Oklahoma Through Strategic Partnership

West + Main Homes is looking forward to helping clients buy and sell property in the Greater Oklahoma City area through a strategic partnership with the locally-owned boutique brokerage Dwell Urban Real Estate.

"We have been following West + Main's journey since the day they opened, and their team has been so amazing as we reached out for resources and worked to build our own company in Oklahoma. Those conversations evolved and we couldn't be more thrilled to be joining the West + Main family," said OKC CEO Jarred Smith. "Our agents and their clients will have access to the team, tools, strategies, coaching and branding that have made West + Main such a fast-growing success story, and we truly believe that we will be stronger, together!"

"As our executive team has spent time with Jarred and Mary over the last year, it was an easy decision to choose OKC as our first expansion market through this partnership," said West + Main CEO Stacie Staub. "They have such an affinity for both beautiful branding and amazing customer service, which gives us the confidence to grow into the Oklahoma real estate scene with them, and we couldn't be more excited."

About West + Main Homes, Inc.

West + Main is an independently owned and operated boutique Real Estate concept specializing in residential property marketing and sales, established in February 2017 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

A much-needed, fresh update on the traditional Real Estate brokerage, the team at West + Main Homes has created a culture that celebrates collaboration, thoughtful + intentional design, and excellent service.

”Our team is carefully curated. Local experts who know both the Real Estate process as well as the unique communities, neighborhoods, and homes in the areas that we serve fill our roster. We aren't trying to be the biggest brokerage in the world - but we do make it our mission to treat every client with the same level of care. Whether you are in the market to purchase your first special starter home, looking to sell part of your investment portfolio, or want to build your dream home, we are here to help."

Visit westandmain.co for more information.

About Dwell Urban Real Estate, now known as West + Main Homes:

West + Main Homes is enmeshed in the Oklahoma City real estate market. With a team of experienced Real Estate agents led by co-founders Mary Hatch and Jarred Smith, West + Main Homes serves homebuyers, sellers, developers + investors from OKC's most popular city neighborhoods to Norman, Edmond and beyond.

"It's simple: we live, work and play in the Urban Core. We’ll help you find your historical dream house, downtown loft with a view or hip new abode in one of Oklahoma City’s up and coming districts., the forever house with space to grow, or that right now spot in the perfect school district. We can also help you into that first investment property or to retire out of that portfolio you’ve worked so hard to build. We have you covered Oklahoma, it’s not where you live it’s how you live!"

Visit westandmainok.com to search for homes in Oklahoma.

For further information please contact:
Stacie Staub
hello@westandmainhomes.com
720-299-6635
westandmain.co 

Home purchase applications rise as coronavirus slowdown begins to thaw

States are beginning to relax virus protocols, people are looking to buy, according to Housing Wire.

With a growing number of states indicating over the last week that they are moving toward relaxing the social distancing protocols put in place to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, it appears that the real estate market may be beginning to thaw.

In recent weeks, home purchase applications have declined sharply as people simply weren’t applying for mortgages, either because they couldn’t go see a home they might want to buy or because they could no longer afford it due to the coronavirus’ impact on the economy.

But that trend may be reversing, as new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that home purchase mortgage applications recently rose to the highest level in nearly a month.

Beyond that, the largest states in the U.S. all saw an increase in purchase applications, lending more credence to the thought that the market may be waking back up.

“The news in this week’s release is that purchase applications, still recovering from a five-year low, increased 12% last week to the strongest level in almost a month,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.

“The 10 largest states had increases in purchase activity, which is potentially a sign of the start of an upturn in the pandemic-delayed spring home-buying season, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions slowly ease in various markets,” Kan added. “California and Washington continued to show increases in purchase activity, with New York seeing a significant gain after declines in five of the last six weeks.”

Overall, the volume of mortgage applications did drop 3.3% in the week ending April 24, 2020, but the drop was restricted to refinance applications.

According to the MBA, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

The Refinance Index dropped 7% from the previous week but was still 218% higher than the same week one year ago, a product of near-record lows in interest rates.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 12% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 13% compared with the previous week but was 20% lower than the same week one year ago, although comparing April 2019 to April 2020 is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.

Given the state of the economy over the last two months, an uptick in home purchase application is a positive sign, according to Kan.

“Contributing to the uptick in purchase applications was that mortgage rates fell to another record low in MBA’s survey, with the 30-year fixed rate decreasing to 3.43%,” Kan said. “However, refinance activity declined 7%, as rates for refinances likely remained higher than those for purchase loans. Lenders are still working through pipelines at capacity, and observed changes in credit availability for refinance loans have also in turn impacted rates.”

The decline in refi activity is also seen in the share of total mortgage applications, as the share of refis fell from 75.4% in the previous week to 71.6% in this week’s report.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of this week’s mortgage application data:

• The Federal Housing Administration’s share of mortgage apps rose to 10.5% from 10.3% in the previous week.

• The Department of Veterans Affairs’ share of applications fell from 13.8% to 13.3%.

• The Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications increased from 0.4% to 0.5%.

• Mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) fell to 3.43% from 3.45% the week before.

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $510,400) fell to 3.72% from 3.81%.

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased from 3.33% to 3.39%.

• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased from 3.03% to 2.98%.

• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs remained at 3.29%.

Note: All the interest rates mentioned above were for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratio, meaning the borrower had a down payment of 20%.

Thinking you should probably figure out how to tackle home ownership? We’re here for you.

Related Links:
Would you buy a home sight-unseen?
Listing + Selling Your Property During a COVID Stay-at-Home Order

Pets a Significant Influence on Today’s Homebuyers, NAR Data Shows

Homebuyer and sellers have more than themselves to think about.

For a large number of Americans, pets are also part of real estate decisions— NAR found that over half (63 percent) of households are home to pet companions, with 3 percent planning to get one. According to a new report from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR)—2020 Animal House: Pets in the Home Buying and Selling Process—four in 10 U.S. households (43 percent) would be willing to move to better accommodate their pets, showing just how much of a priority furry family members can be.

Pets factor into buying decisions for many. NAR’s report found that 18 percent of respondents said the most important neighborhood factor when purchasing a home is that the property be convenient to a vet or have enough outdoor space for their pet.

REALTORS® have noticed a growing trend of clients with pets. Twenty-two percent said between 51 and 75 percent of their clients have a pet, companion animal or service animal, and another 22 percent of REALTORS® said that percentage is between 26 and 50.

Pet factors that contribute to home-buying decisions? For 68 percent of members, clients responded strongly to animal policy in their respective communities. Additionally, for their buyers, finding a home with a fenced yard was an important feature, said 49 percent of members.

Pets also influence selling decisions, but in a different way. According to 78 percent of members, clients routinely took their pets out of the home during showings. Meanwhile, 72 and 70 percent of members, respectively, said their clients replaced items damaged by their pets and cleaned their home to remove any lingering smells.

The current state of the world could mean an even larger pet presence in the future.

“As households in the U.S. pursue comfort, companionship and home entertainment, animal shelters were cleared out in many cities,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR vice president of demographics and behavioral insights. “These pet adoptions could lead to future home sales as families seek to accommodate the best living spaces for their four-legged family members.”

Ready to look for new digs for your furry friend? We’d love to help!

Related Links:
Would you buy a home sight-unseen?
Listing + Selling Your Property During a COVID Stay-at-Home Order