Homebuying during a pandemic: ‘We felt like we were racing the virus.’

Author: Curbed

Agents as therapists, drive-up closings, and lots and lots of hand washing

When Alex Ingoglia and Brooke Brady, two recently engaged law school graduates from the Midwest, first planned a trip to Atlanta in March to search for the perfect starter home, they didn’t figure they would need an escape plan. But in the age of coronavirus, even something as seemingly pedestrian as touring homes requires a little more planning.

As Ingoglia, 26, sat at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday, March 15, getting ready for a few days of househunting, he couldn’t stop thinking about the new CDC recommendations, the COVID-19 news, and the (later debunked) rumor floating around via text message that the government might institute a nationwide lockdown. To play things safe, he booked return flights for him and Brady, 25, for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, to make sure they wouldn’t get stranded.

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