REAL estate agents are taking a range of precautionary measures to minimise the impact of the coronavirus within the industry.
Home opens were a key place to start, with many handing out gloves, having hand sanitiser available and limiting the number of people in the home at one time.
Limnios Property Group chief executive James Limnios said the agency was conducting home opens for sales and rentals by appointment only and required anyone attending an appointment to sanitise their hands and refrain from touching any light switches and hard surfaces.
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READ NOWThere was a strict no handshaking policy.
Property managers would also wear gloves and masks (where available) when conducting their routine inspections and property condition reports.
Mr Limnios said if there was a strict quarantine period it would not affect the business as it was set up to be able to work remotely.
Reiwa has asked their members to follow the Department of Health’s guidelines and observe simple health and hygiene precautions.
“Generally, property home open times are spaced out so it’s not common to have a large crowd at the same time,” their statement said.
“Therefore we recommend taking simple common sense health precautions including:
- Keep a safe distance
- No hand shaking
- Use hand washing/hand sanitiser and other health recommendations
The institute said with most property listings on reiwa.com having a large amount of photos and videos available, prospective buyers or tenants could narrow down their search online before having to attend numerous home opens.
Agents could also do private viewings for people who were interested, and could check beforehand that attendees had not been exposed to countries that were in the high-risk category and provide hand sanitiser for when they visited the home.
Reiwa said the WA Department of Health website could provide more advice on helping prevent the spread of coronavirus.