How the COVID-19 lockdown can help you unlock the door to the property market

If you're looking to buy or sell a property in the near future, you may be looking at our current lock-down status as hugely challenging. At face value, it seems that life under one of the world's strictest lockdown regimes in response to the COVID-19 virus essentially puts your property plans on hold.

Viewing a tough scenario in a positive light

However, if you put this time to positive use, you can actually put yourself in the strongest possible position for when lockdown is unlocked. On the one hand, you are temporarily giving up the ability to attend show houses or have agents bring prospective buyers to your home. On the other hand, however, you are gaining time and being given the opportunity to think long and hard about what you and your family want from your future home, or to make your current home as appealing as possible to the person or family who will become its next owners.

Do your research - and don't rush it

If you're looking to climb onto the property ladder or to step up onto the next rung, now is the time to thoroughly research areas that you are considering investing in. By "thoroughly research", we don't just mean reading the Wikipedia page. Take the time to virtually travel through the area using Google Earth and the street view perspective that's available as part of Google Maps; learn where your nearest shops, schools, restaurants and entertainment hotspots will be. Join groups and follow pages pertaining to the area on social media, and don't be afraid to ask questions - either of people you know who live in the area, or on your social networks. Having more free time than usual means you're able to dive deep into your research, so take as much advantage of this as possible. Research also requires a little thinking, and this is a great time to think about all the features your next home will need to have. Make a list of non-negotiables and another list of nice-to-haves.

Think carefully about what (and where) you can afford

Affordability is an important consideration in any real estate transaction, and it can be daunting to know where to start, but the good news is that Jawitz Properties has got your back. You can use this time at home to make the most of the range of handy calculators offered on our website. These will take the guesswork out of what your bond and transfer costs will be, and give you a clear indication of what you can afford in terms of a bond and monthly bond repayments. While property prices will often be slightly negotiable, you can avoid disappointment by using the filters on our property search page to ensure that you're only seeing properties that fall within your price parameters.

Putting your home on the market? Then put your time at home to good use.

We are currently in the midst of a three-week lockdown period where the entire family is at home. That means that once work is done, evenings and weekends are free for everybody to get stuck into some projects that will help your home show off its best side and help you get that asking price once it's on the market. A trip to the hardware store or DIY outlet is out of the question, but work with what you've got. If you have some paint left over from when you painted the lounge, think of doing some touch-up jobs where needed. Get into the garden and get rid of weeds and anything else that looks unsightly and take the time to declutter your home. Make lists of other projects that can only be taken on once we are unlocked and free to move around again.

You can also use this time to think outside the box about ways to improve your home. Have you ever thought about how your neutral lounge could look with a bold feature wall in Classic Blue, which is the official Pantone Colour of the Year for 2020? Would some well-placed flower beds add some much-needed pops of colour to your garden?

The reality is that, for our own good, we need to find positive ways of thinking about our current lockdown scenario. The Jawitz team continues to work from home during this time, so contact us with any queries you might have about how you can best use this time to get ready to buy or sell property.