Houses Selling In Sacramento County Despite COVID-19 Lockdown

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It's no easy task selling a house under a stay at home order. The "For Sale" signs are still out and realtors are taking them on but how does that work when no one can go out to actually see their new dream home?

Jonathan Lee with Portfolio Real Estate battles that challenge every day.

"Right now it's hard to take home buyers on private showings. We're not able to drive our clients around Sacramento and show them different neighborhoods," said Lee.

Lee shared the latest numbers from MetroList Services, Inc. which owns and operates the multiple listing service in the Sacramento region. The numbers in Sacramento County actually went up from 879 houses sold in February, to 979 sold in March.

To get around obstacles with a stay at home order, Lee lets potential buyers into the homes online, through virtual tours. After a few clicks, you're able to see the entire house, even spin through each room.

While it seems like an easy fix, several Sacramento realtors who talked with CBS13, have run into legality questions, grappling over if they're even allowed to sell a home during a shelter in place order. Lee says they can.

"Legally we can get pretty much everything done because being a part of the association we're able to use forms which give us the legal document. We're able to send an email and then give them access to e-sign, which enables an electronic signature," said Lee.