Real estate agents need to be able to better show their empathy to Kiwis who are under financial and emotional stress, says one of the industry’s leading figures.
Martin Cooper, who runs Harcourts Cooper & Co on Auckland’s North Shore, says housing market headlines since the start of the Covid-19 crisis have been dramatic, and many Kiwis will be fearful for their employment and their financial position.
Real estate agents typically thrive in one-to-one meetings with buyers and sellers, so how do they connect with people when social distancing is still required, and may be the norm for quite some time?
Cooper says his team used the four-and-a-half week lockdown that ended earlier this week to find ways to bridge the gap.
“The old cliché is ‘better never stops’ and better is required right now. We’re going to have to work harder than we have for a long time to help people,” he says, adding that his agents have been doing a lot of preparation for life at Alert Level 3.
The easing of lockdown restrictions has allowed the real estate industry to start work again. While open homes are still banned, viewings by appointment are permitted, with agents allowed to hold two private viewings a day for properties that are for sale or for rent.
Cooper says Kiwis are all in this together, and the job of his agents is to help people find solutions.
“If we can help sell some of their real estate to relieve a financial burden then we’ll do it to the best and in the most gracious manner that we can,” he says.
Other clients may not be in financial hardship but looking at upgrading and when the market is uncertain customers need the best real estate service available, Cooper says.
Share