Now more than ever, leasing teams need to meet prospective residents where they are in their leasing journey. A well-done virtual live tour will do the trick. Your prospective resident should experience a personalized and authentic tour regardless if it’s virtual or in person. It’s not new when we say a leasing agent should be ready and available to answer any and all questions. But are you asking the right questions when you are virtually touring a prospect?
While the idea of going live may sound intimidating, we assure you it isn’t. With a little practice, and our guidance, you’ll be a pro in no time. Here are some of our best tips and tricks to help you give your best virtual live tour for your multifamily property.
Take Yourself on the Tour
Well before your virtual live tour begins, take yourself on the tour. Know the path you want to walk, ensure you’re hitting all the parts of the property this prospect will want to see. Then, walk through that tour path and make sure everything looks the way it should. Make sure all the doors you need to open are unlocked. There’s nothing seamless about trying to balance holding your phone while fumbling with keys.
Make sure lights are turned on, window shades are open, and there isn’t a piece of trash in the hallway. Oh, don’t forget to shut the toilet lids! Just double-check and make sure everything is prepped and staged exactly the way you want before the live tour starts.
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Another key aspect when considering how to make a virtual tour is connectivity. When you’re doing your walkthrough, make sure you have Wifi or LTE connectivity throughout the tour path. If you can avoid a dropped signal, obviously you’ll want to avoid a dropped signal. In essence, you are looking to keep the experience as seamless and polished as possible.
Technology Matters
The number one tip we can offer to help you and your team give the best virtual live tour is to have an actual live video leasing touring platform built for multifamily. While it may seem easier to just use FaceTime or Zoom or Skype – or even Facebook Live – that’s not what will get you the best overall result.
Having a built-for-multifamily live video leasing platform for real estate has substantial benefits. First off, there are scheduling capabilities that can eliminate much of the back and forth around when calendars are open.
Then, with a virtual leasing platform, there are functions and tools available while the live tour is taking place. Realync, for example, has an integrated map and chat functionality. For virtual open houses where there are multiple participants, there’s the ability to mute the attendees who are anonymous from each other. That helps keep the live tour clean, polished, and more professional.
One other benefit ties back to our first tip about Wifi and LTE connectivity. Not only does Realync have superior video streaming quality, but it’s also more efficient from a signal standpoint. However, Realync has also built-in tools where the hose can pause the live stream if needed. For example, if the leasing agent host is going up an elevator or down a staircase or even just transitioning from one room to the next. They can pause any time to keep the live stream connection on but just paused for a clean transition. Then, they turn it back on and hop back in.
If the connection is lost, participants can receive a message letting them know the signal is lost but the host will be right back. That’s not something you can get with FaceTime. The Realync app will automatically rejoin and get the live stream back up as soon as possible. The attendee message notifies tour participants that it’s paused due to a dropped signal on the tour end and the host will return. That way, they’ll stay on and won’t think you’ve left, leaving the tour live stream themselves. All of that messaging is there and automatic to make sure everyone can connect and stay on the tour.
Saved to the Cloud
Another benefit of giving a live tour with the right virtual tour software is that it automatically saves to the cloud. That means that, even after the tour is done, it’s not just…done. Neither you nor your prospect will have to rely on the memory for all the tour details. If you use FaceTime or Facebook or Instagram Live or any of those other types of tools, you won’t have those same capabilities as you do with a virtual leasing platform. You’ll be able to review the virtual tour and send a link to your prospective residents. They can then go back, rewatch whenever they are able. Or they can share with a partner, parent, or roommate who couldn’t attend. That’s going to help move the lead-to-lease process along quickly and more efficiently.
Hosting a virtual live tour in 2021 is a must for multifamily. With a built-for-multifamily virtual leasing platform like Realync, you can host live tours with ease, creating a seamless, effective experience for prospects and leasing agents alike.
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!
