The Story so Far
Omicron, the newest and latest variant of COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly throughout the world, and Ontario is no exception. With total cases reaching close to 1 million, the government has decided to take preventative action. On January 5th, 2022 at 12:01 AM, the Government of Ontario has returned to a modified version of Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen.
Essentially, we are in lockdown again and will continue to be for at least 21 days.
How Does this Affect Real Estate?
Due to this, a bunch of non-essential services are temporarily being closed or limited. Dining-in is now no longer available and public gatherings have been reduced. For real estate, that means two big changes:
- Open Houses are no longer permitted, &
- Viewings are by appointment only
Anything Else We Should Know?
There have been changes to real estate that happened back in 2020, during the beginning of COVID-19. To refresh, here are the typical restrictions during a viewing:
- All entrants must wear a mask or face covering at all times
- Maximum 2 persons allowed to accompany the Realtor during a viewing
- Limit any physical touching of property to a minimum
Written by: Nathaniel Chim, Realtor on 01/06/22
