Real estate agent Alison Whaites questions actions of Zoran Radovanovic in Byron Bay

A Clarence Valley real estate agent has questioned how a man who sparked a Covid-19 lockdown in northern NSW was allowed to inspect property in the first place.

A Clarence Valley real estate agent has questioned why a Covid-positive man couldn’t have viewed properties via video conferencing.

A Clarence Valley real estate agent has labelled the actions of a Covid-positive Sydney man ‘downright un-Australian’ after he triggered a lockdown across parts of Northern NSW.

Zoran Radovanovic, who reportedly left Sydney to inspect real estate in Byron Bay, has since been charged for breaching NSW’s public health orders. Police allege Mr Radovanovic had not been checking in with QR codes throughout his trip.

South Grafton real estate agent Allison Whaites said she’d be very disappointed if the claims were true.

“His actions are downright un-Australian and just plain selfish,” she said.

“It also makes our industry look bad. All real estate agents have to have a Covid-safe plan which requires all clients wear masks and check into the QR code for each property they inspect so, if it’s true, how on earth was he able to inspect properties without a mask or signing in (with) a QR code?”

“For us personally, if we don’t know you, you’re asked to provide a drivers license just so we know you’re not coming from a hotspot area because sadly the QR codes aren’t providing any of that information to businesses or pinging us to let us know that person who just signed in shouldn’t be there.”

Allison Whaites

Ms Whaites said she had already dissuaded five prospective buyers from travelling up to the Clarence Valley from active Sydney hot spots, highlighting that simply visiting one property, especially if infected, could lead to greater ramifications.

“As real estate agents, we see hundreds of people a week and some places can have multiple people viewing just one property,” she said.

“But if I had just one person from a hotspot area, even if they’re not positive, come to inspect a property that has someone living in it, then not only do I have to isolate for 14 days if I walk them through the place, but the people living in that house then have to isolate themselves.

“There’s just no legitimate reason for someone from a hotspot area to come up and view a property in person when it can easily be done over the internet.”

Ms Whaites said she’d already sold Clarence Valley property to four different investors from Sydney without any of them setting foot in the region.

“We did it all over the phone through video conferencing. The only in-person interaction with the property was the local pest and building inspector and the bank valuer,” she said.

Ray White Yamba real estate principal Dan Kelly said that video inspections had also become a regular part of his day.

“There are certainly people from Sydney who are keen to come here but fortunately we’re not seeing them make the trip because they are respecting the restrictions and choosing not to travel,” he said.

“In the last few weeks, we’ve had a lot of auctions and we’re seeing a high number of bidders who are sight-unseen because they too are respecting restrictions during this time.

“I can certainly understand everyone‘s concern because this latest incident happened pretty close to home. But at the same time, we’re a big state, it’s a big industry and it’s been just one idiot to do the wrong thing.”