COVID-19 & Real Estate FAQs As We Understand Them:

Real estate activities are permissible protected industry under Utah state law. Attached are questions that we have received from clients and customers with the best answers we can give you! We will attempt to update/supplement these FAQs as we hear from our local and national REALTOR® associations and our government leaders. Our hearts go out to everyone who has experienced loss because of COVID-19 during this pandemic, whether it’s the death of a loved one, an eviction or loss of a job.

1) QUESTION: Can REALTORS® conduct in-person listing appointments and property showings?

ANSWER: Yes. Some agents/brokers may personally not want to show homes or visit clients at their homes, and some buyers may not wish to enter properties to see them. We always encourage buyers to look at virtual tours and photos on the internet through www.utahrealestate.com and if we feel comfortable, we can show you homes via Facetime or similar apps.

2) QUESTION: What requirements must be followed at any listing appointment or showing?

ANSWER: a) All real estate activity conducted at a property must be by appointment unless the MLS listing specifically states ‘Go and show and or /keyboxed and vacant, no appointment necessary’; b) No more than four people may be in attendance whenever possible apart from those persons living in the home; c) All persons visiting a property must wear a mask and maintain a six-foot social distance at all times. We ask sellers to open all interior doors and turn on all lights so there is minimum physical contact in the home.

3) QUESTION: Does a rental unit need to be vacant before I can schedule an appointment?

ANSWER: State law requires that tenants in a leased property be given a 24 hour notice to show the property. Tenants, due to COVID-19, can decline a showing. However, a listing brokerage may have made specific arrangements with that tenant during the listing period to accommodate safe showing practices. We will abide by the listing brokerage’s instructions to enter any leased property-always!

4) QUESTION: Is a seller required to allow in-person showings?

ANSWER: No. A seller has the right to elect not to permit an in-person showing or to set up conditions on such showings such as the wearing of masks, gloves, booties and/or the existence of a pre-approval letter from the buyer’s lender. In most cases the seller’s agent will instruct us in advance if we want to show a property that is not an Urban Utah Homes and Estates (UUHE) listing.

5) QUESTION: Do we have to apply for a mortgage in person? And will the mortgage person attend the closing of escrow?

ANSWER: All lenders have on-line applications and websites. Have your real estate professional at UUHE suggest a great lender to help you through the loan process. A good lender will meet buyers at the close of escrow to go over the final paperwork and answer questions before the transaction is recorded. And given COVID-19 worries, the loan officer can live-stream Facetime to call in during the final signing. By law, your REALTOR® or a representative from our brokerage must attend the closing either in person or virtually.

6) QUESTION: What protections do title companies have for clients at the final escrow table?

ANSWER: Each title company has a different in-house safety policy. Once the title company is chosen then they can be contacted to see what they will require (masks) 6-ft. distance, gloves, etc. All monies in a sales transaction are handled by bank wires so checks are very unusual, which eliminates the need to pick up and deposit monies by sellers or buyers to close escrow. They have adopted their own mitigation measures for the protection of their employees and will let us know how to safely close your sale or purchase (or both!) ahead of time. In some cases, documents can be electronically signed, although generally title companies need ‘wet signatures’ as required by law on mortgage documents. The level of complexity of particular transaction may dictate whether attendance in person at a particular closing is required.

7) QUESTION: As a buyer, I want out of my purchase agreement/offer because of my uncertainty about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic. I could lose my job, I could get sick, I’m scared. I know I’m ‘under contract’ with a seller to purchase their home but I really want to stop for now and wait to see what the future brings. Can I back out just because of COVID-19 and not lose any earnest money?

ANSWER: As a general legal matter, there is no right to unilaterally terminate a contract due to a change in circumstances without possibly risking any buyer’s earnest money on deposit-even a really significant change in circumstances. Buyer’s can cancel a Utah Real Estate Purchase contract if a) the home fails to pass buyer’s inspections (‘Buyer’s due diligence), b) if the home does not appraise for the purchase price and c) if the buyer is not approved for the loan. These are generalizations and a simple explanation of the three ‘buyer’s outs’ in a contract. All three (A, B, and C) have specific deadlines agreed to between buyer and seller in the purchase contract and your real estate agent can explain more before you enter into any contract with a seller. The Utah Assn. of REALTORS does have a form that does give buyers/sellers or both to cancel a contract due to COVID-19 but we have not found many people willing to agree to cancelling a contract without financial damages to either party. Again, talk to your agent about this issue.

8) QUESTION: My offer to the seller is a cash offer. My finances have changed-I lost my job just after the seller signed my offer. As a buyer, can I terminate the purchase agreement?

ANSWER: If a purchase agreement calls for a cash purchase, it is not contingent upon the purchasers having available cash. Rather, by agreeing to a cash purchase, the purchasers are representing that they have the available funds. Buyers are not excused from performing under the contract if, due to market conditions, they no longer have enough money to close. Rather, under these circumstances, you would be in breach of contract. A seller might let you out of the transaction with no financial penalty if they have a big heart and aren’t suffering a financial penalty themselves, could agree to accept your earnest money to make them feel whole, or could go to court and ask for damages from you.

9) QUESTION: If I own two residences in different parts of the state can I travel to visit and live at them whenever I want?

ANSWER: Yes. The Governor has not restricted travel like this in any way.

10) QUESTION: Since real estate activities are permitted during the pandemic, can a seller hire someone to conduct an estate sale?

ANSWER: Estate sale/liquidators are allowed to sell the personal property of the estate/deceased. They will each
have their own protocols for viewing and purchasing items at a property so it is wise to call in advance to go over their rules prior to hiring such a firm or shopping at an estate sale. Our broker, Babs De Lay is a specialist in selling properties of those that have passed and offers concierge service to clean out the property, liquidate the personal items, work with the family attorney, trustees, appraisers, etc. Babs would be willing to meet/talk to you about any estate in question.

11) QUESTION: Buyers found a few items on the home inspection that was conducted after the home went ‘under contract/sale pending’ that needed to be addressed, such as a broken picture window The buyers will go forward with the sale if the seller agrees to repairs/replacements but due to COVID-19 the window company is behind schedule. If the buyers and sellers agree, can this work done after the purchase has been completed so that the closing can proceed and buyers become the owners.

ANSWER: Yes. Like workers in the real estate industry, work in the construction and building trades are allowed to make repairs and or upgrades to properties (Plumbers, roofers, electricians, painters, carpenters and flooring vendors, etc.). It’s been rough on all small businesses during this pandemic for businesses to keep and find employees and all of us have to be kind and patient to figure out any bumps in the road during a sale.

12) QUESTION: Can my UUHE agent/broker hire professional photographers to shoot my property or do I have to provide them myself?

ANSWER: Yes, professional photographers practicing safe practices are allowed inside properties. We ask that sellers open all interior doors and turn on lights so that they have minimal contact with surfaces, and never show up if they have any symptoms of COVID-19.

13) QUESTION: May local governments (like Utah, Davis or Salt Lake County) preempt the Governor’s Executive Order to be more restrictive than the county where I want to see properties. What rules take precedent? Who do I listen to?

ANSWER: Local health departments, cities and townships may be more restrictive than State rules and regulations. As professionals we attempt to keep up on any changes in those restrictions in practicing real estate sales. We will share any updates with our clients as customers as we learn of them.

14) QUESTION: How has the pandemic changed how YOU as REALTORS® conduct business?

ANSWER: We are still listing homes and selling them and working with buyers. The market hasn’t changed that much: there is still extremely low inventory and buyers often find themselves in a multiple offer situation. Some sellers are moving out of their homes so as not deal with the hassle of showing their home and sanitizing it before and after showings. Some buyers are making offers after only virtually seeing homes that their agent/broker has live streamed the properties to them. Inspections continue once a home is under contract without problems, as those vendors who offer home inspections are committed to do their job safely, including sewer scopes, radon and meth tests, water, mold and allergen tests, and overall roof to foundation general inspections.

The #1 question people ask me about real estate is …will housing prices go up or down in 2021? Followed by, “Should we buy or sell?”  To me, the answers are easy. During the last 10 years Utah has had more growth per capita than any other state. Basically, more folks are moving here than leaving, and sans a pandemic, we are low in overall inventory of rentals, affordable housing, condos, homes, multi-plexes, mansions. Add on COVID19 with people wanting to (or being encouraged to) stay home makes for less properties available to buy. We REALTORS® sold more homes in the state than 2019 and we sold them for more money, too. Our National Association of REALTORS® has us at @10% over 2019 with Summit County, Wasatch, and Cashe Counties up over 50% over the previous year.I know that on December 31st of 2020 I was still frantically trying to find some buyers a home in their price range.  Just for shits and giggles I pulled up ALL residential properties for sale in Salt Lake County (homes, townhomes, condos, twin homes, mobile homes) in any price range. In recent years there would have been a few thousand homes for sale at the end of the year. There were 634 homes for sale-total.  To put that number in perspective, certainly there are more than 634 people/families looking for a place to buy as a home or investment right now, and there are almost 10,000 REALTOR® members in the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS® trying to help many of them. Now you understand why homes are flying off the market with multiple offers in hours or just a few days!Not only is it extremely tough for buyers to find a home right now, but it’s also just as tough for real estate agents to make a living, too. Luckily, most members are only part timers, and fact is, 10% of the members sell about 90% of the listings. If you’re thinking of changing careers to become a real estate agent let me lay some facts on you. First, Real Estate School costs around $600 for the required 120 hours of classes you need to take to take the State test. Once you pass the test it’s a few hundred bucks to get your license in order with the State, and twice that to join the Board of REALTORS® and another $50 or so each month for MLS fees. Then you’ll need cards, an ad budget and keyboxes.  Some brokerages might offer to pay much of the costs if you sign away your soul to work for them for a period until you pay the man off.Bottom line-prices on all properties are going to go up in 2021. I’m being conservative and predict a 10% jump in values in the next 12 months. DON’T stop looking because you think the market will loosen up, it won’t!

I just watched the most recent Sir David Attenborough documentary “A Life on Our Planet.” It is so depressing that I almost wanted to step in front of a UTA bus. We’re killing our planet faster and faster and most of us humans aren’t doing anything to stop the pollution and destruction of wilderness, oceans, and species. Corporate greed has reduced the rainforests in Borneo by over 50% to cut down the jungle and replace it with palm oil plantations, thus tragically reducing habitat for the great Orangutans and other wildlife. Given the numbers of tigers, elephants, rhinos falling so quickly we will soon be living in a Sci-fi world where the remaining mammals on this planet will only be seen in Zoos. Ugh. Did you know that Liberty Park was home of the first Zoo in Utah? Back in the late 1800’s a plot of land was dedicated as Liberty Park (after earlier names of “Locust Patch, Forest Park and Mill Farm”. A zoo was established on the site in the early 1900’s and featured cages and enclosures of monkeys, a wild deer, and smattering of wild birds. School kids gathered donations of pennies and nickels and helped buy an elephant from a traveling circus named “Princess Alice”. She soon had a son named “Prince Utah” but accidently killed him when she rolled over on him in their sleep. Locals reported they could see tears come from her eyes and hear mournful cries for weeks in her sadness. In the 1930’s she was known to escape and run through Sugar House and Liberty Wells yards sporting laundry lines and attached clothing she broke through on her wanderings. Alice was called a vandal in local papers for her misdeeds and the need for a larger zoo space away from homes became quickly apparent.Enter the Hogle Family of Utah who donated a large parcel of land at the mouth of Emigration Canyon for the new zoo. A zoological society was formed to gather more donations for enclosures and infrastructure, and during the depression sold flowers to the public to pay for animal feed. Times were harsh and the Zoo was cut off from its fresh water supply for a $195 bill. For about 10 more years the place struggled, but our community rallied with donations and volunteers and saved the zoo, despite someone sneaking in, shooting and killing the polar bear just for fun. Princess Alice died in 1953 one of the zoo’s directors (Gerald deBary) was fatally bitten by a puff adder in 1964.This past week the chairman of the board of Hogle Zoo passed at age 83. James “Jim” Hogle had served on the board for 46 years. He worked tirelessly to find funding for the place and in the 1980s Salt Lake County (rather than the City) took over funding the operating expenses of the place. In the past 20 years or so Hogle helped create very successful money -makers like “Boo at the Zoo” for Halloween and holiday “Zoo Lights” and lobbied to get voters to help fund the place. Thank you to ALL the Hogles, and especially Jim. May your work to save the world’s animals continue.  www.hoglezoo.org (open daily during Covid)