The Corona Virus has put a Lehigh Valley Home Buyer in a weird situation. (also Home sellers but that's a whole separate topic)
With the shelter-in-place order, a Lehigh Valley home buyer can still purchase a home but can't go inside to view the interior.
A Home Buyer has to make a decision based on pictures, virtual tours and possibly having the seller Skype them providing an on-line tour of the property.
Based on this, a buyer CAN actively have their agent do all the paperwork (remotely) to write up an offer. The seller can accept/counter/reject and depending on negotiations the property can go under agreement. The paperwork can all be done on-line with electronic signatures. You can definitely purchase a home contractually without meeting with anyone and breaking the rules (laws?).
But, how do you handle the rest of a typical home purchase during the Corona Virus?
Home Buyer Inspections: A typical purchase involves the buyer having a home inspection or other inspections (water, septic, radon...etc).
Municipal Inspections: Depending on the municipality, there may be a "city" inspection for the sale of a property/home. With a municipal inspection, all issues they find have to be fixed by either the current home owner or in the future by the buyer (there are timelines).
Mortgage: If the buyer is getting a mortgage an appraisal needs to be done. An appraiser typically goes to the home, goes inside, looks at the complete house and takes measurements and layout details. This allows the appraiser/bank to determine how much a home is worth.
Inspectors and Appraisers aren't allowed to physically go into a home during the shelter-in-place.
With this in mind, an offer can still be written to make the purchase contingent by pushing the dates on closing, inspections, appraisals into the future (maybe the end of May or into June).
Is the Home Seller going to be willing to wait or will they want the Buyer to purchase the home as-is?
Every situation is unique based on what the Home Buyer is willing to accept versus what options the home seller has. Can the Buyer wait? Can the Seller wait?
Visit www.lehighvalleyhomesonline.com for all of your real estate information.
