HOUSTON — (Realty News Report) — The HAR.com website, which carries listings of thousands of homes for sale across Texas, has suspended the display notices of open house events due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Most of the national real estate franchises and many large brokerage firms have either cancelled all in-person open houses or are strongly encouraging their agents not to hold them. Realtors are urged to utilize virtual open houses and video tours to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“HAR is committed to doing its part to ensure that our Realtor members and real estate consumers are not unnecessarily putting themselves at risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus,” said HAR Chairman John Nugent. “We appreciate that many folks want to continue conducting real estate business, but HAR, along with the Austin Board of Realtors, believes this is the most responsible and health-conscious way to operate at this time,” he added.
As California, Pennsylvania and New York have all issued orders for most of their populations to stay home, many Realtors in Texas will continue to provide services remotely. HAR has tools in place, such as online transaction management, e-signatures, an Internet-based Multiple Listing Service, and all of the tools available on HAR.com and its associated mobile app.
For those involved in the sale or purchase of a home, Texas Realtors has just published the COVID-19 Addendum. This document provides for a 30-day extension of the closing date in a residential sales contract if the closing cannot occur due to a voluntary or mandatory COVID-19 quarantine or closure.
In an effort to ease the financial burden on its subscribers during this challenging time, HAR is waiving third quarter Multiple Listing Service fees for most realty firms.
March 23, 2020 Realty News Report Copyright 2020
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