Renting an apartment or leasing a condominium is a long-term commitment, so it’s important for prospective residents to get a better understanding of the floor plan, amenities, and community before they sign a contract or lease. Although in-person tours are great, there are a number of factors associated with them that may deter prospects such as using PTO or lunch breaks to schedule a tour, time constraints, and travel. However, virtual tours give your prospects the full tour experience at their convenience.
Below, we’ll discuss some of the many benefits of virtual apartment tours and how they can generate more interest and leads for your property.
Apartment Tours on Their Time
Time is the one commodity that no one seems to have enough of. Asking busy prospects to take time off from their jobs or spend their free time touring your rental properties may persuade them to look elsewhere. Offering prospective renters a virtual tour on your website allows them to experience your property when it’s most convenient for them. Whether it’s late at night, during a coffee break, or even holidays, virtual tours give potential residents an opportunity to explore your space at their leisure.
Explore Multiple Units and Floor Plans
A scheduled tour isn’t always confined to one apartment or unit. Prospective residents may show up interested in a 1-bedroom apartment only to decide to view a two-bedroom option, too. Or maybe they want to compare the ground floor units to the top floor units. That means a 30-minute tour can extend into an hour or two. Virtual tours allow prospects the opportunity to view multiple floor plans, multiple unit locations, and more. They can also take the tours as many times as they wish and compare and contrast the various options to see which one works best for their lifestyle.
Better Views and Greater Perspectives
If prospects have toured multiple apartment communities, it’s sometimes difficult to remember all of the various floor plans, amenities, views, etc. And since live tours have time limits, it’s often difficult for a prospect to picture themselves at home in the unit. Virtual tours let interested renters take a closer look at the available options to see how they may suit their lifestyle. They can truly see if their furniture will work with the layouts if the kitchen has enough space for their needs if they prefer the patio to the balcony, and so much more. Being able to take a closer look at a unit may help potential renters decide whether this is just another apartment or their next home.
Prevents Cancellations During Inclement Weather
Winter isn’t the most ideal time to move, but sometimes it’s necessary due to job relocations, family emergencies, and a variety of other reasons. It’s also not the best season for scheduling tours since many are canceled at the last minute due to inclement weather. Offering virtual apartments tours on your website cuts down on winter tour cancellations and increases the safety of your staff and potential renters since they no longer have to travel on snowy or icy roads. Producing a virtual tour that showcases the property during the spring and summer also attracts more visitors during the winter months as it gives them a picture of the many things they can enjoy in a month or two.
Share the Tour
Including virtual tours options on your website’s homepage or floor plan pages are a great way to increase traffic and leads – but they don’t have to be confined to your site. Include a virtual tour link or embed a virtual tour option in your email campaigns to increase open rates and motivate prospective residents to take more action.
These are just a few of the many ways virtual tours increase interest and leads for your properties, give your prospects a better experience, and allow your leasing managers to optimize their time. If you would like to learn more about incorporating virtual tours into your website marketing, the multifamily marketing experts are ready to help. Contact us today!