How Do I Make an Apartment Virtual Tour?
To make a virtual tour, you need to choose software that’s easy to use and produces quality videos (and, you should be able to download it on any device). Next, you’ll want to ensure you stage the unit and check that the lighting is good in the unit. Pro tip: Open the curtains to get more natural light. Lastly, use a stabilizer or wide-angle lens, so you’re video doesn’t turn out shaky!
Continue reading below to learn more about an apartment virtual tour. If you found this information helpful, subscribe to the Realync newsletter to learn more!
Apartment Virtual Tour
In today’s world, technology has impacted just about every industry. Many people now use the internet to start their search for a place to live, particularly when it comes to apartment buildings. In some cases, people are even planning a move across the country or at least state to state to start a new job or go to school, which means they might not be able to get out there in-person to see what living in that new building is going to be like. This is where an apartment virtual tour can be helpful.
For those who might not be familiar with a virtual apartment tour, this term used to describe overly-produced or overly-simplified media types. For example, stitched together slideshows that were nothing more than photos in motion or full production videos that are too artsy and produced to even really see what the property itself looks like. Today though, virtual apartment tours have a different connotation. That connotation typically means using a virtual leasing software, such as Realync, to power either a live video tour or a pre-recorded apartment tour of the actual building. Realync now offer 3D tours via it’s Realync Studios packaging.
Using an actual apartment virtual tour has numerous advantages. There needs to be a 1-to-1 relationship between the prospective renter and the leasing agent or property manager, which a virtual tour provides. This switch has happened because it provides an authentic experience. The goal of an apartment virtual tour is to act as a replacement for an in-person tour. Therefore, this virtual tour needs to provide as many of the benefits of an actual, in-person tour as possible. That is where this switch has taken place. With Realync, prospective residents see a real, authentic space and understand exactly what they will be leasing.
Apartment Virtual Tour Software
In the multifamily real estate business, the residents always need to come first.
Those who are looking to keep their occupancy rates high need to take every step possible to make sure that their needs are met. This is where the virtual tour software from Realync is going to deliver. The major factor that sets Realync’s apartment virtual tour software apart is the authenticity of the product. It makes prospective renters feel like they are actually there.
By providing residents with a one-on-one, customized experience, this is going to help the apartment community make a solid impression on every prospective resident. There are multiple options with this touring software. Buildings can either use a pre-recorded tour and deliver this to a prospective resident. Or, if the schedules align, they can give that individual a live virtual tour using Realync’s software. You can even put at 360-degree click-through video tour up on the website with Realync’s Real360 offering. A simple trip to the reviews page will demonstrate just how much people have fallen in love with the cutting-edge software package provided by Realync and how it has provided incredible leasing success for teams like increased conversion rates, increased sight-unseen leasing, and decreased sales cycles.
Apartment Virtual Walkthrough
Arguably, the most important portion of any apartment community tour is the walkthrough portion.
It is critical to use either a live or a pre-recorded video to showcase all of the important parts of living in a multifamily community. First, the tour needs to take a look at what it will be like to actually live in the apartment. The tour needs to show off the creative features of this living area including storage space, closets, and bathrooms. Small spaces are often overlooked; however, in an apartment, every inch counts. It is also important to take a look at the communal areas. This might include the mailroom, the gym, the lobby, the pool, and even the parking areas. Free virtual tours need to take advantage of these areas.
The key in all of the above though? Personalization. Don’t show the same thing to every single prospect and expect it to convert. Your virtual leasing offering needs to be just as impactful as an in-person tour and, therefore, needs to be personalized to each individual prospect. Ask them what they care most about and what they want to see, then show them that. That’s the power of a live video apartment tour – personalization. Live video tours allow leasing teams to stay at the forefront of the conversation, build the relationship with prospects, show them what they want to see, and, ultimately, close the deal.
The video leasing software from Realync provides virtual tours at a fair, affordable cost. In the past, virtual tours were so expensive that they could only be done once for a model unit. Sadly, the unit on the video doesn’t always accurately showcase what each individual unit is going to be like. In reality, prospective residents do not want to see a virtual representation of the unit. They want to see their actual unit. Realync provides leasing teams with the ability to do exactly that. Furthermore, Realync also provides a map feature that is an absolute game-changer for live tours. This map allows the leasing agent to show not only the entire community but also the local amenities that surround the building, walking or driving distances to work, school, parks, and more. This is a seamless experience that will allow every prospective resident to get an accurate feeling for what living in that building is going to entail.
Apartment Video Tours
In today’s multifamily touring climate, video tours are incredibly important. The video revolution during the past few decades has taken the world by storm and this includes apartments for rent. In the past, cameras used to be incredibly expensive. This drove up the cost of using cameras to provide tours of apartments. Now, everyone has a high-powered camera in their pocket or purse – it’s called their smartphone. In many cases, the quality of these cameras can mirror what some of the most advanced cameras on the market can do. Furthermore, sites such as YouTube and Facebook have everyone watching videos online today. And if you take a second to scroll that content, it’s almost always “shot on an iPhone” anymore. Everyone turns to the internet to find what they’re looking for.
As technology advanced, live video has become incredibly popular through the internet as well as a preferred means for experiencing anything from learning a new skill to touring properties. Think about sites such as TikTok, Periscope, and even the addition of Facebook live. Streaming services are the future of video and the real estate industry needs to keep up. This is where Realync is delivering. There remains no other live video tour solution for real estate besides the Realync video leasing solution. Video needs to be real and unfiltered when it comes to real estate video tours. That is the current expectation of prospective residents. Realync delivers that live virtual touring experience for communities who are looking to fill vacant units and find loyal residents. This is because Realync delivers a product that meets and exceeds the expectations of prospective residents.
3D Apartment Tour
3D technology is still used in virtual tours today. 3D technology still plays a major role in the renter journey. The reality is that a 3D apartment tour is most commonly placed on websites to give prospective renters a look and feel for the apartment floorplans. A 3D virtual apartment tour can be expensive to create—training, equipment, money, and more. That’s why Realync added Real360, making it multifamily’s complete virtual solution.
3D luxury apartment tours simply lead residents to want more. What does the apartment look like? What does the pool like look? Do they have a dog park? For these prospects, 3D virtual tours of apartments should be paired up with video tours or a live video tour function. This will provide prospects options and appeal to the touring preferences. 3D house tours apartments + video tours = a winning leasing strategy.
Even though video tours don’t sound as impressive as 3D technology, it wins because video is providing residents with an accurate and authentic representation of their exact unit that they could be living in versus just a model or other similar floor plan. That’s the power of multifamily video tours. Video is flexible enough to show the actual unit instead of a virtual representation and that is what has made Realync so popular amongst multifamily owners and managers.
VR Apartment Tours
Another popular technology that used to be applied to the world of multifamily real estate is virtual reality. The idea of using technology to completely immerse someone in a virtual world sounds great in theory; however, this is a piece of technology that is left better suited to the world of video games. People tried to use VR apartment tours as a way to provide someone a virtual environment that shows them what living in the building might be like. While this idea seemed impressive at the time, it doesn’t provide an accurate representation of the living area and never really took off. Too often, residents would show up at the building and end up being disappointed following the results of the virtual tour.
Therefore, this technology quickly faded out of the real estate area. This technology has other applications elsewhere; however, providing an actual tour for a resident using a pre-recorded video or a live video is simply better. In the end, residents simply do not want a CGI tour of their unit. They want to see the actual unit. Residents want to plan out how they are going to use every foot of the apartment and want to see exactly how it stands at that point in time. And that is something VR tours cannot provide.
Studio Apartment Virtual Tour
When someone is trying to provide a tour of a studio apartment to a prospective resident, it is critical to make this space feel as roomy as possible. A studio apartment virtual tour needs to leverage every possible detail. For example, bringing in as much light as possible during the virtual tour studio apartment is going to make the space feel larger. Think about opening the blinds to bring in some added natural light or adding a wide angle lens to your smartphone when capturing the video tour of the space. During the modern apartment virtual tour, be sure to sweep from left to right as well. We call this the stand and pan! By doing this slowly, the space is going to feel larger and the video tour will very effectively capture the entire space.
When conducting this tour, start in the entry to capture the front door and unit number. Then, slowly walk into the unit. Ideally, the unit will already be lit up and prepped (take note…prep your space!). In a studio, pan from left to right slowly. Discuss the various parts of the unit including the kitchen, dining area, living area separately to make the unit sound larger. Then, if there is a patio, capture the outdoor view as well. This is a major selling point. This will make the studio apartment feel as large as possible.
Ready to Get Real?
Accelerate Leasing
![icon]()
Speed Up Lease Up
by providing construction updates and showcase your space without having to do hard hat tours.
![icon]()
PRE-LEASE OCCUPIED UNITS
by ‘showing’ them without having to physically tour the space by sending pre-recorded videos.
![icon]()
CONVERT A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF YOUR LEADS INTO LEASES
when you receive notifications when prospects are viewing videos to cater your follow up.
![icon]()
SPEND LESS TIME TO CLOSE EACH LEASE
by removing roadblocks and barriers in the leasing process.
![icon]()
INCREASE SIGHT-UNSEEN LEASING
by making it a breeze for out-of-market leads to choose your community.
Improve Community Engagement
![icon]()
PROMOTE YOUR PROGRAMS BETTER
via pre-recorded videos by linking via social media or internal apps.
![icon]()
DECREASE MAINTENANCE REQUESTS
by creating maintenance videos.
![icon]()
REINFORCE COMMUNITY RULES
by receiving notifications when residents are viewing videos to know who has seen a message and who hasn’t.
![icon]()
REDUCE REPETITIVE QUESTIONS
because consumers retain 10% of a message when reading it via text, but 90% of a message when viewed in a video.
More Than Software
![icon]()
Virtual Training
is available for every property utilizing Realync.
![icon]()
Make your video efforts consistent
with one set, standardized process and platform.
![icon]()
TRACK ENGAGEMENT And Usage
across your entire portfolio.
![icon]()
Partner with the Realync Team
to create a personalized training program to be rolled out across all properties.
![icon]()
Are you Ready to Get Real?
Talk with us today to see how Realync’s platform can 4X your lead-to-lease conversion!
Request a Demo
