Taking Precautions While in Your Home
Like so many other businesses, I’ve spent the past few weeks adjusting to the shifting realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this brief post I am sharing a summary of the information I provided my friends in the Santa Fe real estate industry last week as well as my current staging clients.
While the Governor of New Mexico imposed a “stay-at-home” rule for the COVID-19 crisis on March 23rd, it does not presently include the Real Estate industry. Therefore brokers, title companies, and related services have been classified as essential, which means that home staging, as a “related service”, can continue to be offered. As of now, DeMarais HOME STAGING + DESIGN is conducting business, even though it appears different from a few weeks ago.
Presently, I am offering occupied staging and interior design projects as video chats, with vacant staging projects considered on a case-by-case basis. The move-out of currently active vacant home staging projects requires strict, but necessary, protocols which I have provided to all current clients with a move-out pending.
I arrived at such protocols based upon information from the CDC, risk management advisors, and leaders in the home staging and insurance industries. They are intended to protect everyone while staging a property during this unprecedented time. A few examples include:
We are disinfecting every surface which we come into contact with, from light switches to countertops, upon entering and exiting any home. And we’ve expanded that same protocol to every step in the journey from our warehouse door to a home, wiping down everything from steering wheels to hand trucks and gas pumps!
We are wearing gloves at all times and arriving in separate vehicles to ensure the best possible social distancing.
We are working with real estate agents, brokers and property owners to ensure a minimum 24-36 hour period of vacancy surrounds the work we do in a home.
And much more… if you’d like a complete breakdown of all the measures in place for vacant home staging jobs please don’t hesitate to contact me to request a copy.
I am already seeing a slow-down in real estate activity over the past month with an increase in interest for virtual consultations about home improvements like remodels, paint color consultation, and interior decor plans— all of which I’m thrilled to help with.
And I keep reminding myself that all things are subject to change; there will be a return to normalcy in the future. Until then, the advice I offered in March about prepping a home for summer sale would be helpful to anyone thinking of selling in the future, or who are just wanting to enjoy their newly-expanded time at home a bit more.
Be well and take good care of those you love and the neighbors that surround you.