We know that despite – and in many cases because of – the current Covid-19 pandemic, people need to move home. With this need comes a lot of concern around the possible risks of finding and moving into a new property or selling your home. To help give you confidence in your next move, we want to let you know about the new safety measures that we’ve put in place and the changes that we’ve made to the way we we do things.
For all of our clients…
- We make sure that we are available to answer your questions whenever you need us in a way that is most convenient for you – whether that be by email, phone, text, or Whatsapp video call.
- Our valuations and viewings have gone virtual, so you can have your property appraised or wander through your next potential living space – all from the comfort of your home.
If you’re looking to rent…
- We’re now producing recorded virtual tours for every property. We’ve been trying this for over a month now and the feedback has been fantastic! These are recorded and narrated by one of our consultants to give you a detailed walk-through of a property of interest. They can be watched and re-watched as many times as you wish from wherever you are, saving you the time and hassle of traveling to an in-person viewing and trying to retain all of the details under pressure. Virtual tours make it easy to compare properties of interest. In many cases already they’ve allowed applicants to successfully rent a property from start to finish without ever needing to meet with someone in person!
- We’re happy to answer any questions that you have beyond the tour, and we’re doing our very best to continue to improve these tours so that they include absolutely everything that you need to see and hear.
- We are only showing properties once they have been vacated and cleaned to our standards. We are working with our landlords to take advantage of the time in between tenancies to make sure that property maintenance is up to date.
- All key handovers during check-ins and check-outs are completed by our clerks using strict social distancing measures and all necessary personal protective equipment. Keys are sanitised every single time they exchange ownership.
- We’re working with you to conduct right to rent checks either virtually or at a distance without passing physical documentation back and forth.
“It’s surprisingly easy to be honest. I wouldn’t have believed someone if they told me that”
Click here to see two of our new tenants talking with us about their recent move. They reveal their reasons for moving during the pandemic, their frustrations with other agencies leaving them in the lurch, and why moving with Paramount was “the best experience [they’ve] had moving in this country for sure.”
If your property is managed by us…
- We are answering all emergency callouts and are completing works that are deemed to be safe to carry out under current government guidelines.
- Before we attend any property, we ask a series of questions to determine whether there is any risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the previous 14 days.
- All of our contractors wear the necessary personal protective equipment and observe strict social distancing guidelines. Tenants often decide to step out if it’s possible when a contractor attends their property, or we ask that they remain in a separate room during the duration of our maintenance visit.
- Property Managers are using Whatsapp video calling in place of property visits. A video call also helps them to get a good picture of any issue that may be occurring at the property.
If you're buying or selling…
- We recognise that home buyers prefer to view a property in person before you make your decision. To reduce the number of physical viewings wherever possible, we first make sure that you have the opportunity to see a virtual tour of the property. This way you can have many of your questions and points of interest addressed virtually before your appointment.
- Before an appointment, we ask a series of questions to determine whether there is any risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the previous 14 days.
- We ask anyone who will be at the property during the appointment to wear gloves, a mask, and use hand sanitiser whenever appropriate, and to follow social distancing rules. We also ask that prospective buyers do not touch anything during their viewing.
- During an appointment, we ask that the seller leave the property or step out into the garden.
- We wear personal protective equipment and sanitise all surfaces that may be exposed to contact before and after every appointment. We open the property for a prospective buyer and wait outside whenever possible.
- We have every property professionally cleaned to our standards before new owners move in.
As a company we will not rush to get back into the office and our old ways of doing things. We have learned a lot in the last couple of months about what can be done for our clients to improve the process of moving home. The benefit of being an independent agency is that we have the agility to adapt quickly and change direction to accommodate the changing needs of our clients. We’ve realised that many of the changes that we’ve made during this pandemic (and are continuing to make) will actually benefit our clients going forward, getting rid of time wasted viewing properties that were never going to make the cut, or time wasted traveling to appointments that can be attended using technology from wherever is most convenient for you.
If you have a suggestion for how we can improve to make your next moving experience even better, we would love to hear it. We’re going forward with you in mind.
