Virtual apartment tours are most likely an option prospective residents can choose to do. However, the phrase virtual tour is pretty broad and encompasses quite a few meanings these days.
A virtual apartment tour can be anything from creating a pre-recorded video tour that you share with a prospect to hosting a live virtual tour to 3D and 360 virtual tours. It can also involve hiring real estate virtual tour services to create videos for you.
In this instance, we’re going to focus on how to make a virtual apartment tour on your own – the full DIY option. Now, there are plenty of resources – our articles included – that can walk you through step-by-step directions on how to create a virtual tour. However, we’re going to focus on the one, fundamental piece of the puzzle you need to create virtual tours: Yourself.
And, if you’re looking at how to create a virtual apartment tour, there is one major must-have – a virtual touring and leasing platform that is built for multifamily. Here’s why.
Why Built for Multifamily Matters
Why is the number one spot on our virtual apartment tour tips to always use a platform built for multifamily when there are other options? You can absolutely create a video using just your phone’s native video app. You could use Zoom for apartment tours. And yes, you can use FaceTime to walk your prospect through a space.
However, none of those options are built for multifamily, and ultimately, that matters a lot. Think about giving a FaceTime tour. First of all, you’re giving your personal phone number out to a prospect. That can create some privacy issues down the road. Not to mention, as soon as it’s over, there is no recording of the tour for you or the prospect to look back on or review at a later time with someone else. The tour is gone and it is fully reliant on memory.
What if there is a roommate or two, a spouse or family member who couldn’t take the tour at that time? More than likely, you’ll have to schedule a second (or third or fourth) virtual apartment tour when they are free. That, ultimately, takes up additional resources and adds considerable time to the process.
If you’re using a native video app and recording locally on your iPhone or Android, there is no quick editing feature. You’d need a separate editing app. Plus, you would need to take it off your phone or it won’t be cloud-based. It’s adding one or more steps to send the video elsewhere to share it.
Get our step-by-step video instructions on how to create a video tour in 5-7 minutes
Across all of these experiences, there are other major gaps. There is a lack of Fair Housing or WCAG compliance built into the virtual tours. There are no metrics or any data insights available. You can’t really measure if you are giving the best virtual tours without that information.
System Integration
If you are using a built-for multifamily virtual apartment tour platform or virtual apartment tour app, you’ll be able to integrate it into your existing systems and processes. That will make those experiences easier for teams to produce. With the data insights mentioned above, you’ll be able to track how your tours are impacting prospects. With pre-recorded tours, you’ll know if your prospect watched the tour, how many times, or if they shared it. You’ll see all the engagement metrics and be able to follow up accordingly.
Through integration with your lead management system, you’ll be able to track if your virtual apartment tour got a prospect to the finish line faster. Did prospects who took your tour convert at a higher lead-to-lease conversion rate? The insights and the enablements gleaned from a built-for multifamily platform are really what will amp up the virtual tour and virtual leasing efforts.
In the end, when it comes to shooting virtual apartment tours effectively, the number one tip we can give is to use a professional tool built for multifamily real estate. A platform with that distinction equips you as a leasing agent, your community, and your team with a tool that ultimately makes creating and hosting virtual tours very simple, but very professional.
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