When the province deemed real estate an essential service due to the coronavirus, it was recommended that realtors stop doing open houses.
Realtor Colleen Koehler said that when Ontario Premier Doug Ford kiboshed gatherings of five or more, that essentially put an end to open houses altogether.
Koehler, head of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors, says people in the profession have begun looking for creative ways — including virtual tours — to show homes without people actually going in them.
She says that instead of taking clients into a home, the agent will go in, film the house, and take questions in real-time. Toronto realtor Melanie Piche seconded the notion, saying that realtors have begun to use technology to their