Scroll, swipe, save. Scroll, swipe, save. In a digital age, this is the way we hunt for everything from outfits and home decor to potential love interests. So, why change up the formula when it comes to looking for real estate?

Sure, your tentative residents may get a kick out of envisioning life in a new space while simultaneously filling their online shopping carts with outfits for date night in their new neighborhood. But virtual tours aren’t only popular among apartment hunters. For real estate property owners, they represent the opportunity to:

• Optimize productivity
• Reach a more targeted audience
• Fill more units

And that’s just for starters. Let’s take a look at the five biggest virtual tour advantages and property management solutions for owners and operators in the real estate industry.

1. It’s a time saver

Perhaps the biggest advantage of taking your property tours virtual is the time it’ll save you. Between the hours spent traveling from property to property, waiting around for prospective residentstenants, and preparing properties for viewing, in-person tours can be a time-consuming business.

Virtual tours eliminate all of that. Gone are the days of scheduling appointments and coordinating with prospective residents. When you take your showings online, your future residents can check out the property whenever they want, from the comfort of their home computer or mobile device.

Alfred partners with Tour 24 to streamline the leasing process for property teams, which have seen closing rates of 47%. This initiative “allowed the leasing team when busy to have an alternative option for prospects so they don’t feel like we don’t have time for them,” we learned from a Greystar General Manager.

2. It’s a penny saver

Time isn’t the only thing you’ll stand to save by going virtual. Virtual showings can also save you money. Here’s how:

• Transportation costs – You’ll see the most immediate savings where your transportation costs are concerned—things like fuel, vehicle wear and tear, and other expenses associated with frequent travel. With virtual tours, you can say goodbye to the slog of getting from one showing to another and cut back on those associated expenses.
• Improved productivity – Time and resources saved by going virtual can be redirected to other, more pressing concerns in your office. When your team doesn’t have to be out showing properties, they’ll be able to spend more time on things like tracking data to better understand resident needs and improve resident retention.

3. It’s convenient

The convenience of virtual tours—both for you as the property owner and for your prospective residents—can’t be overstated.

For your future residents, finding an apartment with an apartment amenities list doesn’t get any easier than scrolling through options on their phones or taking online tours of apartment amenities from their laptops.

And for you, virtual tours eliminate the need to clean and ready each unit before a showing—a virtual space is always ready for a potential client.

4. It’s more efficient

Another brag-worthy element to virtual property tours? It streamlines the apartment viewing process for you and your prospective resident. With virtual tours, you can:

• Show multiple properties – Simply by navigating to different listings, you can show multiple properties to prospective renters during a single meeting.
• Retain a personal touch – Build a rapport with tentative residents without having to meet in person. Use a video chat feature, for example, to interface with renters and answer their questions.
• Multimedia options – Easily incorporate floor plans, still images, rental applications, and more into your virtual tour.

5. It’s good for your brand

Offering virtual reality tours might be the best digital marketing for apartments that you can get without actually advertising. This is because virtual tours live on the internet, where everything has the chance to become the next big thing.

But even if your property doesn’t become a viral sensation, you’ll find that offering virtual tours can still help you reach prospective residents. Here’s how:

• Greater website traffic – Virtual reality tours are likely to attract more online traffic to your real estate website. This is because websites with VR technology like virtual tours tend to receive more backlinks, or links on other sites, that point back to yours. When it comes to gaining visibility in search engine results, that’s usually a point in your favor.
• Social media shares – Listings with virtual tours can be easily shared with friends, family, and acquaintances on social media. Even if a property isn’t an ideal fit for your intended renter, your listing may appeal to someone else they’re connected to on social media.

Say hello to a new way of living

Finding new residents for your rental property can be a little like fishing—once you’ve hooked them with an eye-catching virtual tour, you’ve got to reel them in. The way to do that is by offering unique amenities they won’t find anywhere else.

Need helpful ways to organize your life? Meet Alfred, the app-based, human-powered personal assistant service that’s changing the future of living.

When you partner with us, your residents gain access to our virtual concierge and network of resident services and daily tasks on behalf of your residents.

On top of these convenient luxury concierge services, your residents get access to a bevy of bonus perks, like:

• Free access to virtual events, like cooking classes and workouts
• Exclusive deals and discounts with Alfred’s growing list of local and national partners
• Neighborly forum and local business connections

With Alfred, you offer your residents the most valuable amenity of all—time to do what they love, while we handle the rest.

Step into the future of living with Alfred. Join our network of premier partners today.

Sources: 

Designblendz.com. The Top 10 Benefits of Virtual House Tours. https://www.designblendz.com/blog/top-10-benefits-of-virtual-house-tours 

My360propetyvirtualrealtors.com. How Virtual Tours Can Affect Your SEO. https://my360propertyvirtualtours.com/how-virtual-tours-can-affect-your-seo/