The Deeds Office may be open to process sales at level 4 of lockdown restrictions once it can become compliant with the relevant Health and Safety regulations, but this will not be of any use if there are no new sales to process, says regional director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, Adrian Goslett.
According to Goslett, without real estate services being able to operate, very few new sales, if any at all, will be lodged at the Deeds Office.
“There is only so much a real estate agent can do remotely if they are not allowed to access a home. To start, homeowners will need to take their own listing photos and videos if real estate agents are unable to operate. While a real estate professional can guide homeowners in this endeavour, it is unlikely that the seller will have the necessary equipment and/or skills to capture the home in a way that makes it appealing to buyers. Even with high-quality professional photographs and virtual tours, closing a sale where the buyer never steps foot into the home is a difficult endeavour. The chances of closing a sale are even lower if all you have to market the home are a few low-quality photos or videos taken by a homeowner,” Goslett explains in a statement.
The statement goes on to say that while real estate agents are innovating the way they market homes, they need access to the property at least once in order to take footage of the home for marketing purposes.
“What’s more, most buyers still want to experience a home with all their senses at least once before they make such a big financial commitment.”
This is why Goslett proposes that, if real estate services were allowed to operate, real estate agents should be allowed to take only willing and serious buyers to view the home with the permission of the seller, the statement reads.
The number of viewings per day would be limited at level four of lockdown restrictions and the home would be required to be sanitized between viewings.
“For argument purposes, if a seller succeeds in lining up a willing buyer through purely digital means under the current restrictions, attorneys may technically proceed with the registration and transfer process. South African law requires certain documents; such as an offer to purchase, to be signed in ink which means the agent needs the hard copies of the contracts to be couriered to the various parties.
“Under level 4 restrictions, postal services and courier services for all products are allowed. Previously, under level 5 restrictions, the paperwork was emailed, printed out & signed, scanned and returned via email, with the promise that these papers would be signed in person once the lockdown restrictions had eased to a point where this was allowed.
“Beyond this, both parties are only able to move homes until 7 June if they have entered a new lease agreement before or during the lockdown period: or if the transfer of immovable property occurred before the lockdown period. Any new buyers and sellers will need to wait until the lockdown restrictions ease to a level in which moving homes is again allowed. Either the seller will need to delay the transfer until such a point when the buyer is able to take occupation of the home, or the seller would have to be willing to pay occupational rent if the transfer goes through before lockdown restrictions allow the parties to move homes.”
Altogether, says the statement, the amount of hurdles a seller would need to overcome to conclude a successful sale without the help of real estate services and its various subsidiaries means that very few sales, if any at all, will be concluded at this level of lockdown restrictions.
“The impact to the South African economy would be detrimental if real estate is not allowed to operate during level 4 of lockdown. We understand that the risks to the economy need to be carefully balanced against the risks of containing this disease. For this reason, we have formulated the safety measures required to enable real estate to start trading again in a way that addresses the health and safety concerns of all citizens. We commit to working with the government to formulate the necessary operational restrictions so that real estate services can be reintroduced in a responsible way. We cannot stress the importance of this matter enough and implore government to reconsider their classification of the real estate industry so that we can help inject some much-needed liquidity into the economy,” Goslett concludes.
