Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Your smartphone, your laptop, and even your car could all potentially be carrying germs from the coronavirus. As such, it’s important for us to regularly disinfect any areas that are frequently touched in order to avoid spreading the virus.
For real estate professionals that means paying careful attention, not just to our gadgets but other things such as your client’s housekeys. To help, Homesnap, a real estate search portal, spoke with medical expert Amanda Nemecz to understand the best way to keep our technology and other everyday objects clean and coronavirus-free.
“Soap and water are one of the most effective weapons in keeping germs and viruses at bay,” Nemecz told Homesnap. “We advise people not to share screens and devices, and to wipe down frequently used items with soap or antibacterial cleaners, especially if others have been in contact with them.”
Homesnap offered some tips for keeping gadgets and surfaces clean. Smartphones should be disinfected at least two times a day. To properly kill the virus on your device, use a disinfectant solution with at least 55% isopropyl alcohol, Homesnap said.
“Apple and Google have both confirmed that it is OK to use wipes that contain 70% isopropyl alcohol and it will not damage the phone.”
Laptops can be kept clean with the same solution, and should also be carefully wiped down at least twice a day. It’s also possible to use an antibacterial alcohol wipe such as Clorox or Lysol that contains at least 55% isopropyl alcohol. To clean the keyboard, you can use a lightly dampened Q-Tip to clean in between each key.
Cars are a bigger challenge, but we should limit our focus to carefully cleaning the parts of it that we touch often, including the door handles, steering wheel, the gear shift, seat belt buckles, indicators, radio controls and basically anything around the dash. Mirrors too, if you have a habit of adjusting them frequently. Homesnap advises to wipe down those surfaces every time you return to the car after being outside. A similar alcohol based disinfectant can be used, or failing that, good old soap and water is also effective.
“Soap and water remains one of the most highly effective solutions to fight viruses and germs regardless if it has antibacterial properties or not,” Homesnap said.
As for the house keys and car keys, these can be cleaned with soap and water or antibacterial wipes, ideally at least once a day. Keep your keys in your pocket or bag when out in public. Similar to washing your hands, wiping down the surface for at least 20 seconds allows the soap time to fully break down the virus or germs.
