Trying to find new tenants to fill a vacant property is one of the most important responsibilities of any property manager or rental property owner. It can also be one of the most difficult aspects of being a landlord however, typically requiring both an investment of time and money to be successful. Some property managers choose to utilize different technological options in an attempt to gain an advantage over their competition and save money. One such possible advantage can be found through the use of virtual tours.
Virtual tours allow perspective tenants to view a rental property anytime of the day or night, using immersive photography similar to Google Map’s street view feature. Though they allow self-guided tours which can increase leads and decrease unnecessary showings, virtual tours also require investments in equipment and software that might not be worth the cost. It’s the job of experienced property managers to weigh the costs of virtual tours to decide if they are right for their needs.
Benefits of Virtual Tours
- Optimize listings: Virtual tours can help generate more tenant leads by improving the appeal of a listing. Many renters in today’s markets, especially Millennials, find video tours to be incredibly important in their rental searches.
- No wait time for perspective tenants: Virtual tours are on-demand so interested renters can look at a property the instant they find it. When paired with options such as Tenant Turner—which takes lead calls 24 hours a day seven days a week—virtual tours can create a competitive edge in the rental market.
- Limit unnecessary showings: Virtual tours provide a possible tenant with a lot of information before a showing is scheduled. This means that renters can weed out those properties that won’t work for them before needing to get the property manager involved. Showing properties to tenants that are already engaged with the listing can save time and money.
Drawbacks of Virtual Tours
- Cost: Virtual tours normally require higher end software and more expensive cameras than most professional property managers usually use. That’s an investment that must be considered. While it’s possible to use outside services to create virtual tour videos, those services can also be pricey at anywhere from $150 to $300 per listing.
- Tours that no one sees: Many listing sites don’t have great options for highlighting virtual tours yet. Property managers would need to make sure that their showing scheduler supported video tours and highlighted them effectively before it would make sense to invest in creating something that few will ever see.
- Photography is still important: Even with a good virtual tour, property listings still need to include 11 to 15 high-quality photos, and the photos alone might be enough to gain the interested needed.
While video tours can really help some property managers increase the interest in a specific listing, they are not always worth the investment that is required. Professional property managers like Martin Feinberg must review their goals and costs to decide if virtual tours would work for them.
