Greenwich Real Estate Report: March 27 – April 3, 2020

“Coronavirus Special” – Some houses are move-in ready. This house is live-in ready. It comes with all furniture, kitchen appliances, washer & dryer, dishes, silverware, TVs, pool table, beds, linens, lawn equipment and even a car. Everything you need to enjoy living in your own house in Greenwich.

The house was designed by an award winning architect with lots of custom features. The first floor has high ceilings and two fireplaces. You have a Costco closet just off the 2-car garages and 5 bedrooms upstairs. You have town water, gas and sewer and are close to both public and private schools. Tomney is a quiet side street, but near downtown, the train and I-95. If you don’t want the time and hassle of arranging movers and buying lots of new items, this house is ready for you now.

Things are changing rapidly each week. Three weeks ago, in a matter of two days, more than 60 people inquired about securing 1-2 week rentals which is next to impossible to find in Greenwich at any time. The following week, some of those same people as well as an additional 100+ people reached out inquiring about 1-2 month rentals.

On Thursday night, Governor Lamont announced that short term rentals, 31 days or less, are no longer permitted in CT at this time.

Week three has shifted people’s thoughts and most are now asking for 2-6 month rental periods. While most recently, several people have started asking for 6-12 month rentals. Many have shared that they were planning to move out of the city eventually and now they’re deciding to move earlier than expected due to the Coronavirus.

Some sellers have decided to offer their homes for rent now since it may be difficult to sell in the immediate future. Rental properties are receiving multiple offers and landlords are accepting offers within a few days of listing them.

The listing above is being marketed as a “Coronavirus special” because the current owner is willing to leave all of his furnishings as well as linens, kitchenware and even his car! Yes, a car comes with this house! The goal is to enable a family to move in quickly and easily with only their personal belongings.

The question that remains to be answered is, will people purchase a home based on photos and videos alone? That seems highly unlikely but I do suspect that searches will be narrowed and more homes will now be ruled out based on photos and videos.

Therefore, it’s more important than ever that Realtors provide high quality yet realistic photos, accurate floor plans and virtual tours of their listings for potential buyers to review in detail.

Buyers will likely decide on a home purchase faster than they had in the past or at least it may feel that way to real estate agents because their clients may end up doing more online research from home before deciding on a handful of homes to see in person. Those who are willing to go out looking now are, or should be, very serious buyers who are ready to make an offer right away and close quickly. This shift could easily last through the fall market, and perhaps even into next spring, if not change the way many people purchase homes altogether.

This week’s highlights in Greenwich real estate:

  • 21 new to market listings
  • 9 sold properties
  • 4 price reductions
  • 8 accepted offers

Stefanie Lacoff is a licensed real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties in Greenwich, CT. Text/call: 203-536-9403 email: [email protected]

stefanielacoff.bhhsneproperties.com