![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/cottage_country.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto:\u00a0daniel baylis<\/a>\u00a0\/ Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n With many of us working remotely right now as a result of the pandemic, a home with more space and privacy is a tantalizing prospect. It\u2019s also a fantasy that\u2019s got a higher number of urbanite house hunters inquiring about cottage country properties.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t take much for us to explode,\u201d said Max Hahne, License Partner and Private Office Advisor at Engel & V\u00f6lkers Collingwood Muskoka. \u201cYou get 6.5 million people in the GTA and 200 of them pick up the phone and say, \u2018Hey, what have you got?\u2019 We\u2019re on overload.\u201d<\/p>\n\n While most segments of the resale market have experienced substantial declines in sales<\/a> this spring, Hahne said that he\u2019s seen a rise in buyer inquiries since Easter in the rural areas he services. The demographics of interested buyers vary widely, from couples looking to accelerate their plans to retire, to those who\u2019ve been able to secure remote employment that enables them to work from home outside of a downtown office. Fewer of these purchasers are casually looking \u2014 some of the calls Hahne has been receiving are from potential buyers making roadside calls from outside of his properties with printed MLS sheets in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore we were getting phone calls and emails, and now we\u2019re getting physical calls from people sitting outside of property, calling off my sign, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve got a property on the Fourth Line here. Can you tell us about it?\u2019\u2019 said Hahne.<\/p>\n Online, Hahne said that buyer attention has also been growing. In early March, the brokerage listed a two-storey, five-bedroom property just off of the shore of Wasaga Beach, 943 Shore Lane<\/a>. During a Facebook Live virtual open house, the detached residence racked up 35 live viewers, followed by over 800 views by the end of the weekend and one offer. Now, every Friday, Hahne says he plans to host a virtual open house.<\/p>\n