In this file photo, a Century 21 for-sale sign is seen on a lawn in Toronto, Oct. 12. 2016. The Ontario Real Estate Association is calling for an end to person-to-person contact in home sales.
If you’re planning to buy a home in the next little while, you will likely have to do it sight unseen. Just a few days after the Ontario Real Estate Association urged its members to cancel all open houses, the group is now urging agents to stop all person-to-person business. That includes “open houses, agent and public office hours, and in-person showings, particularity of tenant-occupied homes,” OREA said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.As part of its state of emergency, the Ontario government declared real estate an essential service, allowing home sales to continue. The move was made primarily to allow those who have already bought and need to sell, or those who have already sold and need to buy, to finish their transactions.
But “this does not mean business as usual,” OREA president Sean Morrison said in a statement, urging the real estate industry to “do our part to help limit the spread of“While clients who may decide to host private showings during this time are making the decision for themselves, tenants often have no choice in the matter, putting the health of all those involved at risk.”