With the uptick of COVID cases in Berkshire County, please remember that your actions affect the entire industry – and we beg that you act in the most professional and safest way possible.  We have seen other industries closed at a moment’s notice when local municipalities saw a lack of adherence to strict COVID guidelines.  We cringe to see open house announcements, especially those with FOOD (no!) and no staggered entry, sanitation or tracking policies.  Every REALTOR needs to provide very limited, orchestrated access to a home, enforce mask, no touch and distancing policies to keep all parties safe, and maintain showing logs for tracing.  We have seen REALTORS, sellers, buyers and home professionals all subject to testing, quarantine and COVID tracing when positive results were found.

Also, given the surge, the MLS Board approved reinstituting the March policy that allows agents to enter listings into the MLS that you may not be able to provide in-person showings immediately, as long as a virtual or video tour is available and showing details are explained into the REALTOR-to-REALTOR remarks.  As a reminder, if cooperating agents are only able to view a listing through the virtual tour then in-house buyers must be treated the same, or the listing agent is subject to steep discipline.

As we know, real estate has been deemed an essential business in Massachusetts.  However, professional and responsible business practices must be adhered to so that doesn’t change.  Please refer to the general COVID guidelines NAR published for some good advice.