Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, so many things are starting to turn virtual. Schools, meetings, restaurants, offices, and even rental home tours have turned to technology to adapt quickly during the pandemic. Similarly, modern technology has allowed landlords and tenants to connect while maintaining distance and protecting each other’s health.
Most of the time, technology tends to make things easier. Luckily for landlords, there are many alternative tour options to show off your property, including a video walkthrough tour, a photo gallery tour, interactive floor plan tours, and panoramic tours. However, there are certain things to keep in mind if you are planning to do a virtual tour. Let’s take a look at some of the things you won’t want to miss when virtually showing a tenant your property.
Make Sure Your Technology is Working
Although it has made things much more accessible within the past few years, we all know how technology can sometimes be demanding. Sometimes connections will cut out, camera quality can be questionable, and virtual meetings can be missed accidentally. Because of this, it’s essential to make sure everything is working correctly prior to showing off your property. Running test tours, keeping your software up to date, and getting feedback from others are all great ways to make sure your virtual tour will run smoothly. For example, if you are planning a photo gallery tour, make sure the photos are not blurry and the lighting is excellent so that tenants can get a good idea of what the property looks like.
Along with that, if you are doing a video tour with a tenant, you must have a working wifi network or a strong internet connection. A blurry video or poor camera quality will not be an excellent example to show your future or potential tenants. You want them to clearly see the property and have a good idea of where they may be living.
Good lighting and Well-Lit Spaces
Adequate lighting throughout the home is another crucial aspect of a virtual home tour. Whether you are taking photos or doing a video tour, optimal lighting that shows every area of the home is extremely important. Suppose you don’t have great lighting for pictures or video tours. In that case, you may want to invest in high-quality light structures or a professional camera to capture the property’s beauty accurately.
Similarly, if the property has a lot of natural light, use it to your advantage. Often, natural light creates a bright, warming space that is attractive to potential tenants. Natural light has the ability to capture all areas of your home best. Luckily, many homes these days have larger windows and are using more natural lighting, which should make it easier to accomplish capturing meaningful photos.
Don’t Skip Any Spaces in the Home
Even though your basement may be dark and not the most attractive part of your rental home, you don’t want to skip out on showing any areas of the house to your potential tenants. If you are considering renting a place, you would definitely want to see the basement, so make sure to include that when giving tours of your home. Again, make sure the lighting is adequate and tidy up the space to make it look more attractive before snapping some photos.
Along those lines, you’ll also want to capture the garage as well. A garage is a major part of the home, and renters will most definitely want to get a feel for how big the garage is and what kind of storage it can hold. Although it may not be the best-looking part of your rental property, it’s an essential part, so it’s important that your tenants will get to see it before moving in.
The outside of your home is another vital area that you don’t want to skip out on showing your tenants. For some, the exterior of the home is a determining factor of whether they are going to live there or not. It’s important to be fully transparent and capture all sides of the exterior. Showing the outside of the home should be just as important as touring the inside of the home. Before taking photos or recording a video tour, clean up the exterior. Make sure the lawn is mowed, and any landscaping is cared for to create a welcoming and clean space for tenants to see.
Make Sure Everyone’s on the Same Page
Now that you know the basics of completing a successful virtual tour, you’ll want to make sure everyone on your team is on the same page. For example, is your property manager using the latest technology? It’s easiest to keep up with tenants and maintenance requests if certain software is used to do so. Keep in frequent contact with your management team, your tenants, and other partners to make sure that everyone feels comfortable using technology to communicate.
