Many of us are wondering with the current state of the country, how our homeownership dreams will be achieved. Agents across the country are canceling open houses, and no one knows what the market will look like when the pandemic ends. The fact is that most of us are staying at home for an indeterminate amount of time.
Agents typically rely on person-to-person interactions to show listings and close deals. Different government officials throughout the country, however, have issued different orders to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, making open houses or home tours difficult if not impossible or even illegal.One thing is not changing - home shoppers continue to use their phones to shop for houses. Last year 74% of homebuyers found the home they bought on their phone without the aid of a real estate agent. Something that has not changed is the real estate industry, is scheduling showings to physically tour homes is still agent centric, time-consuming, slow and inconvenient.
Virtual Tours
Listing agents encourage sellers to showcase their homes via a produced & pre-recorded virtual tour of their home by a professional videographer.
Similar to professional photography, virtual tours are produced & pre-recorded. This format allows a professional to stage the home and exhibit the positive features of the home and concentrate on what is visually appealing. It, by all means, is a marketing tool for the Seller to generate interest in the home. It is not a fair representation of the actual condition of the home, as discovery is still the buyer’s responsibility during the purchase process.
Live Video Tours
As mentioned before, agents typically rely on person-to-person interactions to show listings and help their clients evaluate the true condition and value of prospective homes. With open houses and in-person home tours becoming more difficult to execute, buyer’s advocacy is even more of a challenge.
As a solution, allowing potential homebuyers to tour via video or a shared presentation is a great way for buyer’s agents to fulfill their advocacy responsibility for their clients. Live Video Tours give prospective buyers the opportunity to stay safely at home while an agent gives a LIVE VIDEO TOUR of a for-sale home they are interested in.
Buyers have the ability to view the tour while the agent uses a camera phone to narrate and walk-through the home while answering questions. Buyers are able to talk with the agent throughout the tour to ask questions and get clarification of what they see.
Ready to start Live Video touring?
HomeTraq provides you with free access to tour homes from the comfort of yours with no obligation and no commitment. Choose from all of the For Sale homes available in the local market. Once you find a home to tour, choose In Person Private Tour or Live Video Tour and choose the date & time. Then sit back and let HomeTraq organize the rest for you.