Now more than ever the world is turning to digital solutions and the real estate industry is following suit. As consumers are getting accustomed to doing everything online, it’s important that investors and property managers allow renters to experience the home search process virtually.
But this doesn’t mean that the human interaction piece of real estate is being replaced, it just means that offering both in-person and technology-based touchpoints for your prospective tenants is the new winning recipe in the rental market. One major way technology has benefited the house-hunting process is through virtual tours.
When done properly, virtual tours can give your property a big advantage over others in the rental market. Check out some benefits of offering a virtual tour of your rental property:
- Creates a Bigger Pool of Prospective Tenants
- Reduces Number of Showings
- Lowers Vacancy Rates
- Helps Properties Stand Out on Listing Sites
Creates a Bigger Pool of Prospective Tenants
With a traditional listing, your rental property can drum up good interest from potential renters in the local market. But what if you had the ability to expand that interest from beyond the local market to pretty much anywhere in the world? Well, that’s what a virtual tour can do for your rental property!
When done properly and using the right technology, virtual tours can take people on a full 3-D, immersive tour through the home. This can show them whether your property is the right fit for them or not. It can particularly help broaden the tenant pool with people moving to your city from out of town.
If your rental property is in a city with a great job market or is a very desirable place to live, there will be people from all around looking to move there. These potential tenants may not be considering your property based on a traditional listing (unless they plan to fly out and tour homes in person.) But with a virtual tour available, they can freely view your property without ever having to get on a plane.
Reduces Number of Showings
One of the most time-consuming tasks with renting out a property is showing it to all interested renters. As mentioned earlier, virtual tours can take the place of in-person tours. This is especially helpful because it reduces the time you spend showing the property. The other added benefit is that it helps filter out the less interested renters. If a potential tenant takes the virtual tour and doesn’t think your property is the right fit, then it saves you an in-person tour that would’ve been for someone not interested in the property.
Lowers Vacancy Rates
Every day that your property sits vacant is a day it isn’t making you money. It can be tricky to minimize the vacancy time between tenants when you’re trying the show the property while a tenant is still living there.
One powerful way to use virtual tours to your benefit is by making a high-quality one with the home staged, and then re-use it every time you need to list the property for rent. With the ability to re-use them, you can have a virtual tour of your home available for prospective renters well before the existing tenant moves out. This allows you to start building a lead list and find new tenants quickly, lowering your vacancy rate in the process.
Helps Properties Stand Out on Listing Sites
Home listing sites like Zillow and Redfin are becoming increasingly popular with renters seeking out a place to live. It’s critical that your property stands out on these sites if you want to attract high-quality tenants.
The good news for you is that the bar isn’t very high when it comes to listings on these sites. More times than not the pictures provided in listings don’t show the viewer the whole house, making it difficult to get a good feel for a home. By simply providing a full home virtual tour (in addition to high-quality photos), your property will stand out from the competition.
Zillow allows you to build a virtual tour of your property within the app. This could be a useful option if you’re on a tight timeline and need to produce one quickly. However, it’s a much better option to have a professional virtual tour created that can be used for years to come.
Final Thoughts
Technology is rapidly moving the real estate industry online. This move can benefit you or put you at a disadvantage depending on how you respond. Renters are becoming more tech-savvy and are expecting more from online property listings. Adding a virtual tour to your rental property has many benefits that will help your property stand out from all the others and attract the tenants you want in your property.
It’s important not to take any shortcuts with your online listing. Your property will be competing against professionally managed rentals that show extremely well online. It’s crucial that yours does the same. Take the guesswork out of online listings and consider hiring a property management company with experience in using the latest technology to manage your property for you.
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