WHITEFISH BAY, Wis.  (SPECTRUM NEWS) - At the first signs of spring, houses for sale start to flood the market.  That's not the case right now if you're looking to buy in Wisconsin.

Carly Roth and her husband just closed on a house in Whitefish Bay.  "There was definitely a sense of urgency, I think, building up to this," Carly said. The Roth's also had to sell their home. "We put an offer in and got an accepted offer in January. Thankfully nobody backed out," Carly told us.

She says going through this process now, would not be an option. "We would have tabled the discussion of buying a home had we not already been so far along in the process."

That uncertainty is what Shar Borg, a realtor for 15 years, is seeing a lot of in the market right now.  Which Borg told us has lead to fewer options if people are looking to buy.  "A lot of sellers are pausing and not putting their houses on the market so there's a lack of inventory."

Some of those decision revolve around safety.  Borg recommends sellers, before a showing, turn all the lights on and open closet doors.  That will limit what a buyer might touch. "You're used to seeing those little booties for your shoes, now you might see plastic gloves by the front door.  Buyers are being encouraged to please put those on."

The new tools of the trade these days for Borg are a mask and gloves.  She wears them every time she goes into a home.

Borg did point out if you don't have to list your house right now there's nothing wrong with taking a step back.  "Maybe just give it a little time.  A week, two weeks is really not going to make that much of a difference."

She is still seeing competitive offers on some of the homes up for sale.  One of her houses just went on the market and showings are already scheduled. 

If you are in the market to buy there are some protections out there, but it's up to individual brokers to decide what to offer clients.