The Day the Music Stopped….
The day the Music stopped… Coronavirus Style…
So here we are, early March 2020, trundling along nicely, listings coming in, sales being made, ah just another day at the office….
As we moved towards mid-march, the level of concern with this new global virus called covid 19, with cases and deaths globally growing at an alarming rate, and no known vaccine, it quickly became obvious that we in New Zealand would not be immune to this spreading Coronavirus Pandemic.
On Monday the 16th March, with daily dosing’s of ever increasing concern and cases, I made the decision to suspend all Open Homes and, after advising our vendors of this, we moved to inspections by appointment only, and the use of hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and personal distancing, a move that was widely applauded by our vendors.
The Coronavirus accelerated and strengthened daily, and on Saturday the 21st March, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlined NZ’s 4 stage alert system – levels 1 through to level 4, with level 4 being total lockdown, all cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. to be closed immediately. She announced that as of that day, the 21st, we were in level 2 – with business and life permitted, but with precautions.
On Monday 23rd, faced with continued dangerous growth of the virus, the PM announced that we would immediately move to level 3, and with the giving of 48 hours’ notice, that we would move to level 4 at 11.59 pm on Wednesday 25th March for a period of 4 weeks.
And at that time, the music stopped.
All businesses, apart from essential services are now closed and we are virtually confined to our homes, with the recommendation that one person per “Bubble “ be permitted to venture out for essentials, food, basics etc.
From a personal perspective, Real Estate sales, like most other businesses, is now essentially in a Holding pattern – waiting it out….
We are now at the mid stage of the 4-week period, cooling our heels, but doing our bit to stop this unseen monster in its tracks – and save lives, and get businesses and life back to some sense of normality.
As time goes on, there is an apparent and growing sentiment emerging on social media that when we all come out of this, it will be a time to support our home grown local kiwi companies, to support them in these hard times and keep our locals safe, and keep our cash, yes, our cash – circulating in and supporting, our local economy.
And Real Estate is no different – in our local market we are dominated by the overseas franchises and Corporate s, who charge you like wounded bulls, and then send a chunk of your cash back to their homes overseas…
Netzone Real Estate – our Founder, Art Rolfe, Matamata born, Hamilton raised, over 40 years Experience in all facets of Real Estate… you can’t get more local than that – and we’re totally Independent…
” I don’t need to pay an Aussi or American Franchisor to tell me how to run a NZ Real Estate Company “
So what’s in it for you? – well with our lower commission rate including all marketing delivering savings of 30% on average compared to the Franchises and Corporate s when you sell your Home with Netzone, you receive the best “bottom line” return in your account….. bit of a win/win I reckon….
Art Rolfe AREINZ
Founder and Director
Netzone Real Estate Ltd.
True Blue local Independent Agents.
