Realtors association: No more open houses, use tech instead

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors has asked agents to no longer hold open houses to stem the coronavirus threat.

WARWICK — The spring open house has moved online.

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors on Saturday called upon 5,000 Realtors working in the state to stop holding open houses until further notice to help stop the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus.

Open houses, a staple of the weekend for prospective buyers, should be moved online using new technologies including virtual tours using video, the association said.

“We need to be community leaders and do all that we can to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further,” said the association president, Shannon Buss, in a statement.

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Last week, Buss spoke to Providence Business News about how the pandemic has changed residential real estate sales. She said then that many agents had already started moving away from open houses, in part because sellers are no longer comfortable with having multiple people coming through their homes.

Although Realtors will still receive requests from sellers for home tours, whether through open houses or private showings, “it’s our job to educate them about tools [such as] virtual tours that are available through [the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service], said Chris Whitten, MLS president.

Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.

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