There are plenty of apartment tour checklists with helpful, detailed tips on how to give an apartment tour. These lists provide insight for both in-person and virtual tour experiences. However, in the world of virtual apartment tours, there are some foundational aspects to check off first that are going to get more leases signed.

The key thing to remember throughout each step of your virtual tour is to do exactly what you would do for an in-person apartment tour. Cross all the same t’s and dot all the same i’s – with one critical caveat. Personalize it.

At each step, personalize every virtual tour to each individual prospect. While this may seem obvious, far too often, leasing teams view a virtual tour as a one-size-fits-all solution. But that’s far from effective. They need to be even more personalized than in-person tours.

Many of these apartment viewing checklist items can be used for both in-person and virtual tours. For this apartment tour checklist, we’ll look at each step and provide a few key ways to personalize each tour in ways that will see leads turn into signed leases more efficiently than before.

Before the Tour Begins

The virtual apartment checklist should begin before the prospect even takes a more formal tour. It starts with the leasing agent doing the work in advance to understand what the prospect is looking for. You should know:

  • What’s on their “what to look for when renting an apartment” list?
  • What does this prospect need and want?
  • What are their priorities for a new home?

Find out all of those drivers and questions, including their timeline, before the tour begins.

From there, you’ll be able to design the tour experience for them as an individual. Send information in advance so they can preview the property. Send a vIdeo playlist personalized with units and floor plans, even the specific amenities, that fit their needs. That allows prospects to come into the tour experience at a different decision point than coming in cold.

During the Tour Experience

The main virtual apartment tour tip here is to show prospects what they want and need to see. The tour experience allows an opportunity for leasing agents to build the relationship and answer questions throughout the process. That creates a fully streamlined, efficient, and catered experience overall.

During the tour, either pre-recorded video or live virtual tour, call out what you know is important to them. If you find out that they really like the outdoors, show them the patio space or the balcony and other outdoor spaces. Rather than spending a ton of time on closet space, point out how the floor-to-ceiling windows let in natural light. Take the time to personalize the experience to them and you’ll see the payoff.

After the tour

When the apartment tour is over, send a follow-up. While you may think that’s simple apartment viewing etiquette, it occasionally falls off the virtual apartment tour checklist. This follow-up should be a catered follow-up that doesn’t just send blanket next steps. There should be a specific call to action for that individual prospect. That can include recapping what you viewed and talked about. Make sure you’ve addressed their apartment questions checklist if there were questions not answered during the tour or that came up after.

Next, layout what the recommended next steps are and in what time frame, including the timing for what you’ll reach back out or hope to hear from them. But, again, keep in mind this individual prospect. What do they want the next step to be? What is their timeframe? Did they mention they’ll be traveling in the next week or so? Consider that in your follow up timing. In addition, now that they’ve had their virtual tour, they may want an in-person tour. Great! Send them a link to your calendar to schedule at their convenience.

Consider all the parts of their individual prospect journey and use the follow-up to guide that journey along, as well as remove any additional barriers, to get to the signed lease stage.

How do we know the impact of checking off these foundational aspects first before getting to the detailed to-dos? Because we’ve proven it.

The Realync virtual leasing solution shows how a built-for multifamily video leasing solution consistently increases lead-to-lease conversion rates – at times even doubling it. Take the leads your property gets, integrate virtual leasing effectively into your existing processes, use this checklist for your tours, and take more of those leads to signed leases.

Get In Touch!

Close more leases, market more effectively, engage with residents and, as always, keep it real. Do you have a question or suggestion or want to learn more about what you read? Email us at contact@realync.com. We’d love to hear from you!