Miami real estate experts are hoping coronavirus will be a short-term disruption

We asked various Miami-Dade real estate industry experts how the coronavirus has impacted their business. Here’s what they had to say:

“Virtual tours have stepped up. Digital platforms have been used before and now we use them more. The advantage is that the client still has the contact with you. But nothing replaces live.”

— ELOY CARMENATE, DOUGLAS ELLIMAN

“Miami has become a city where every month is a good month. Before we would have the snowbirds and the South Americans in the winter and then the spring would be a kind of slow time. But now the market is 12 months, 24 hours a day. I work with luxury real estate, so maybe it’s a bit different. But I think we will have pent-up demand, because this virus isn’t specific to Miami. The United States has a very robust economy and we will bounce back from this.”

— ALICIA CERVERA LAMADRID, CERVERA REAL ESTATE

“Every time that we’ve had a hurricane, the economy has been disrupted. But once we get past it there’s always a short-term economic boom. People come out and start spending money. When we get to the other side of this virus, we should see a good rebound, just like a hurricane.”

— GEORGE JALIL, FIRST SERVICE REALTY

“Some people might be looking at today as an opportunity, thinking that sellers might be more motivated. I expected it to slow down much more dramatically. It has not happened. It may happen, but it has not happened yet. The main difference now is that nobody shakes hands anymore.”

— JEFF MORR, MIAMI MASTER BROKERS FORUM CHAIR

“People are sitting at home with WiFi and seeing what is out there, especially with the low interest rates. A lot of condos are restricting virtual tours because the condo associations do not want Realtors coming into units. This becomes an advantage for single-family home tours.”

— INES HEGEDUS-GARCIA, AVANTI WAY

“People are hunkering down. But even today, I have gotten multiple client calls. I landed a listing today, and I listed a property on Sunday. So people are still looking to buy and sell property. 31 years ago on Easter Sunday I got a call from someone to buy a house that day. Right now, it’s a similar situation. If someone calls you, they are for real, because they have an immediate need or want.”

— ANTHONY ASKOWITZ, RE/MAX ADVANCE REALTY

“I saw a big drop off in the middle of last week. Before that I had one of my busiest months this year. Then it did drop off significantly starting Wednesday. That came as no surprise. Once things shake out a bit and we know what the new reality is, there will be pent-up demand and people will be eager to get back into the market.”

— TERE SHELTON BERNACE, SHELTON AND STEWART REALTORS

“We are in unchartered waters. Despite the challenges, we are having we are still having closings, from $1.5 million to $5 million. There’s a mix of local and domestic buyers. Out-of-state buyers are mostly coming from California and New York. None of the three closings were international.”

— DANNY HERTZBERG, THE JILLS ZEDER GROUP REAL ESTATE

“We’re getting ready this week to sort our listings so you can find the ones that have videos, not just photos. We are going to put a lot of our extra time in enhancing our individual marketing. We’re going to be back in business. We’re still in business. The virus has made us resort to other methods to delivering our business, but it certainly hasn’t closed us.”

— RON SHUFFIELD, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES EWM REALTY

This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 4:26 PM.