GREENSBORO, N.C. —
New technology is changing the way people buy and sell their homes.
Melissa Greer is a realtor for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Yost & Little Realty in Greensboro. She said 25 percent of her listings are bought without the person ever seeing the home until they close. She said it's something she never thought she would see in her nearly 40 years as a real estate agent.
“We do things like 3D Matterport tours, where you can do virtual walk-throughs of a house,” Greer said. “We do that on all our listings, professional photography, drones. Everything that can show a buyer exactly what they need to see if they have to make a decision to purchase it before they see it.”
Greer said travel restrictions and social distancing sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted how homes are sold. She said though services like Zillow and Realtor.com have become more popular, she still recommends consumers align themselves with an agent who can help navigate the home buying process for them.
“There's so much experience,” Greer said. “Local realtors know the market; they know the neighborhood. They know intricate things and when you get to know a client you can think of things that even if they tell you they want a certain thing, I would say 50 percent of the time they buy something that they didn't want originally. It has something that wasn't on their checklist or they buy it without something that they thought they needed."
Greer also recommends using apps like FaceTime and Zoom if you are unable to meet with a realtor in person.