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The Real Estate Agent's Guide: How to Do a Virtual Open House

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The Real Estate Agent's Guide: How to Do a Virtual Open House

 

Do you want a convenient way of hosting open houses without needing to drive out to the location? It may be time to consider 3D virtual tours. These tours enable buyers to view a home and get a good idea of its size and layout without needing to step foot inside the location.

Even better, virtual tours come with a number of additional benefits that can serve you well long-term, such as the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors as well as boost the quality of your website. 

With this in mind, read on for our top tips and tricks on how to do a virtual open house the right way!  

Benefits of Real Estate Virtual Open Houses 

You will first want to know why the investment and time it takes to create virtual open houses is worth it. Here are some of the top benefits you will enjoy: 

Website Perks 

If you host virtual tours on your website, you will enjoy a boost in traffic on your website thanks to interested buyers who take a look. Since it will take them more than a few seconds to scroll down the web page as well as take a look at the 3D tours you offer, your website will also see a decrease in the bounce rate. 

A virtual open house can also increase the number of backlinks you receive. Other websites may want to link to your tours. People may post them on their social media accounts to share with friends and family. 

Engaged Visitors

One of the hardest parts about being a successful realtor is gaining a strong network of contacts. 3D tours can help with this because of their interactive nature. Visitors need to click on aspects of the tour in order to progress from room to room. 

On a website like Hommati, when potential clients view your 3D tour, they can see your profile with your email address, and they can reach out to you if they are interested in knowing more about the property. 

Added Convenience

An important aspect of virtual tours is that they provide a convenient way for buyers to look for homes without needing to drive out to the location. You will not have to waste your time scheduling tours, only to find that the buyer does not like the layout or size of a particular home. 

3D tours enable them to get a good feel of the layout and space of a home far more than regular photos. Although they will still request a walkthrough, a virtual real estate open house can help weed out the truly interested from the buyers who are just looking.

Competitive Advantage

Many realtors have not adopted 3D tour technology into the marketing of their listings. This can help you differentiate yourself from competitors, as it shows home sellers that you are willing to go above and beyond when it comes to the marketing of their property.

When working with a company like Hommati, you have access to technology like the 3D tours that not many other real estate websites have adopted into their business plans.

How to Do a Virtual Open House for Real Estate 

Now that you know some of the main benefits of 3D virtual tours, you may be wondering how to begin the process. You will be surprised to learn that adding virtual tours to your workflow and marketing strategy is easy and stress-free. Here are our simple steps: 

Find Your Platform

When it comes to 3D tours, your first step is to find the right platform or photographer to do the job. If you are tempted to do the job yourself, know that it will require the purchase of equipment that may cost thousands of dollars. You will also need to take time to learn how to operate the equipment, edit and stitch the images together to create a 3D tour, and post it online. 

For this reason, we recommend finding a professional platform that can do the work for you. The best service providers will create the virtual open house for you as well as host it on a website. This is where a company like Hommati comes in, because they have professional photographers who know how to use the proper equipment and are equipped with the knowledge to make each 3D tour stand out. All you will have to do is fill in the information for the property as well as show the link to prospective buyers. 

Promote the Tour

You will want to begin marketing the tour even before it has been posted online. If you have active social media accounts, we recommend beginning there. Create graphics that announce the date and time when you will be posting the tour. If you do not have a current mailing list, consider creating one for an attractive landing page in order to collect email addresses and names. 

Even if buyers are not interested in the property, broadening your network will be valuable in the future. You will be able to market upcoming properties to people who were previously interested in moving. 

Companies like Hommati also have a team that specializes in promoting listings on social media. They will work to make sure each post is directed towards the buyer demographics. If a house is in a young neighborhood with ample space to grow a family, then they will use hashtags on their posts that appeal to your families looking for their forever homes. 

Prepping the Property

Before a professional comes to capture photos of the property, it is important that you do your own prep work to make sure the property is presented in its best light. Work with the homeowner on tidying the home so that any personal items are tucked away. Your goal is to make the home as bare as possible so that buyers have an easier time imagining it as their own home. 

Here is a brief list of some of the items you will want to hide away: 

  • Fridge magnets
  • Piles of clutter
  • Children's toys
  • Pet toys, beds, and dishes
  • Family photos

Aim to have all table surfaces and floors bare before the photographer arrives. You will also want to turn on all lights and turn off fans so that the moving blades are not blurry in the final tour.

You may also want to consider having the home professionally cleaned once it has been tidied and decluttered. Although dirt, grime, and dust will not be as noticeable in 3D tours or photos, you and the sellers will be ready for any scheduled in-person open houses. 

Follow Up

Virtual tours often attract a lot of attention. They are essentially 24/7 open houses that continue to run even while you are sleeping. For this reason, make sure you are following up with buyers who have reached out to you. Be sure to contact them through the method they first used to find you—whether that be a phone call, email, or text. 

You will also find that you might receive more sign-ups to your mailing list than normal now that you have a virtual tour. These are people may not interested in purchasing right away, but they were most likely impressed by the tour and want to see more in the future. 

For your upcoming tours, make sure to set up updates for the people on this mailing list. You will have more eyes on your future virtual tours in the future. 

Repurpose Content

One of the best parts about virtual tours is that you will be able to use the content you receive for a variety of applications. Take screenshots of the tour and use them to keep your social media accounts updated. You can also create blog posts with screenshots of the virtual tour to break up the text. 

If you typically work with older clients, take some time to create a how-to video that shows you using the virtual tour. Show visitors how to navigate the tour and how to contact you afterward if they are interested in an in-person open house.

Not only will this help people navigate the tours with confidence, but your how-to video may also be referenced by other realtors who will provide you good backlinks back to your site. 

How to Do a Virtual Open House: The Stress-Free Way

When it comes to how to do a 3D virtual open house tour, we recommend leaving it to the professionals. Contractors who use technology such as Matterport or digital SLR cameras need to spend thousands of dollars on their equipment. Afterward, there is also extensive training involved in order to consistently provide high-quality images of properties. Companies like Hommati have the knowledge and equipment to create professional 3D virtual tours for their clients. 

Once you have found your provider, promoting the tour as well as prepping the home is your next priority. Work with the homeowner on cutting down on clutter as well as keeping table surfaces as bare as possible. If there are pets or children in the home, make sure to put away all their items before the photographer comes. 

Ready to market all your listings consistently and with the newest technology? Take a look at our innovative solutions today!