Picture this: it’s Sunday afternoon. It’s 1:55 p.m., five minutes before the start of a scheduled open house for a new listing. Prospective buyers are going to be showing up any minute now, yet your REALTOR® has no mints to mask that post-lunch breath, they forgot their business cards back at the office and, what’s this? There’s a giant garlic sauce stain on their pants from that loaded shawarma they just ate. What a disaster.
But it doesn’t have to be their worst nightmare. Thanks to live stream open houses, this may very well be a reality—one in which your REALTOR® can actually thrive by having stinky breath, no business cards and what would have been a deal-breaking stain now no one has to see.
REALTORS® have been forced to adapt and change the way they do business because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With open houses being pushed to the side for the time being, REALTORS® have been successfully relying on hosting live stream open houses on platforms such as Facebook Live and Instagram Live to showcase their listings.
“With all of the physical distancing measures put into place, agents weren’t able to host these events in person and were looking at different methods to get people ‘through the front door,’” says Justin Wah Kan, Associate Director, REALTOR.ca. “Buyers still want to interact with the listing agent—the person who knows the home best—and so we made it a priority to prominently display this new method on REALTOR.ca listings.”
It’s important to note virtual tours and live stream open houses should be done based on local health recommendations and provincial and local regulations.
REALTOR.ca made it easy to advertise live stream open houses earlier this spring by replacing physical open house advertisements with live streaming options and REALTORS® across the country were quick to adapt.
Calgary’s Zee Zebian of RE/MAX House of Real Estate says he first began turning to live stream open houses and virtual tours as health professionals and government officials started suggesting keeping your distance from other people.
“We have to live and work outside the box. Things that make you feel uncomfortable at first may end up being the reasons you excel in your business,” he says. “I wanted to come out looking as if I’m embracing technology, because I know a lot of my millennial clients already do.”
He says while virtual tours were a novel idea 10 years ago, after all the physical distancing restrictions are relaxed, they could remain as the new normal.
“People will get used to it. Once we get back to the way things were, I know myself and a lot of REALTORS® I’ve spoken to will continue to offer this as an important first step in the home buying journey,” he says, adding, “buyers can get a really good sense of what the home offers by touring the home themselves or getting a live, virtual tour.”
For Engel & Volkers Ottawa Central’s Lyne Burton, the art of practicing live stream open houses and virtual tours didn’t begin because of the pandemic; she was already incorporating them as part of her team’s selling strategy for years.
“The reception has been amazing. It’s not like we’re high tech people at all, but this is easy enough to do and the numbers have been growing.”
She says her Instagram Live open houses get about 800 views, but the real victory is on Facebook where 2,000 total views (including live viewers and ones who watched it as a video post later) is not uncommon.
She’s even had buyers submit offers with only having watched a live stream open house.
“I think we’re in a lucky position we can do everything virtually and keep everyone safe,” she says.
And it’s not just about advertising to everyday home buyers. Burton says it’s important to let other REALTORS® in your community know when you’re doing a live stream open house so they can tune in themselves and take that information back to their clients.
“Keeping the dialogue open with your colleagues is more important than ever before. We all have to help each other if we want to be successful.”
Both Burton and Zebian offer up these helpful tips to other REALTORS(R)thinking about starting or improving their live stream open houses:
- Invest in some basic equipment. You don’t need external lighting rigs, hefty tripods or a $5,000 camera, but an updated smartphone with a quality camera (consider a wide-angle lens option to show off more of the room), an external microphone and a gimbal or phone stabilizer will make you look good.
- Practice. Doing a live performance isn’t in everyone’s blood, but it can go a long way in calming the nerves. “Initially, I felt a bit out of my comfort zone, but then got into a groove of it. Envision yourself being with a buyer and focus on what you would tell them,” says Zebian.
- Advertise your live stream open house well before going live. “We advertise on our social media channels a few days before the live stream to help build excitement and get people intrigued about the listing,” Burton says.
- Engage with your audience. They may have questions about room size, flooring, windows… you know, the normal walkabout questions. Pay attention to what your viewers are typing in the comments and respond to them on camera.
- Analyze your post’s performance when you’re done. See what worked, what didn’t, who turned in, and use those numbers to make your next live stream open house even better. Don’t forget to publish your live tour as a video post afterwards for increased views.
Source Article: https://www.realtor.ca/blog/postpage/13878/3195/realtors%C2%AE-embracing-technology-to-boost-their-virtual-business