Prospective home buyers from locked-down metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire are allowed to travel into regional towns — including Shepparton — for house inspections by private appointment.
But Kevin Hicks Real Estate owner Kevin Hicks said strict protocols were in place to ensure the community was protected from COVID-19, in accordance with guidelines clarified by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
“Only in certain cases they're allowed to come — they're not turning up unannounced,” he said.
“They have to be looking at a property that would be their primary residence — they can't look at investment properties.
“They need to have written authorisation from the agent to the purchaser that they are allowed to come.
“And in the initial contact, we're scrutinising the inquiry and asking where they've been and if they're in quarantine.
“We're asking all the questions they would get if they were getting dental work.”
Mr Hicks said lockdown residents were only permitted to attend online auctions and private viewings, which would involve sanitation of the premises before and afterwards.
“And we still offer virtual tours where buyers can go online and view the property,” he said.
Open houses and auctions can proceed outside lockdown areas for up to 20 regional Victorian residents, and Mr Hicks said precautions were in place to ensure all participants were registered and socially distancing.
“We can do open homes at this stage (for residents of regional Victoria), but they're basically by private appointment,” he said.
“We can do registered auctions for up to 20, but we make sure we have enough room.
“And we're being careful with (sanitising) procedure again, even at the Shepparton and Numurkah offices.”
REIV president Leah Calnan said housing was an essential service, and she was "relieved" people could travel from locked-down suburbs into regional Victoria and vice versa to inspect a potential primary property.
“The state government has confirmed to the REIV that the process of obtaining property will carry on; a buyer from Wodonga can travel to Melbourne to privately inspect a unit in St Kilda, while a person from Footscray can do the same in Ballarat,” she said.
“The risk of COVID-19 remains strong, and real estate agents will be undertaking strict protocols to ensure that a person from outside a zone is able to inspect a property privately and safely.”