How One Apartment Community Hosted an ‘Open House’ Virtual Tour. It was a Huge Success.

Open House. No, that’s not a Covid-19-induced oxymoron. It’s a new and effective method for conducting virtual apartment tours.
Shelter-in-place policies, social distancing and staggered timetables for gradual re-openings of state economies combined with Americans’ hesitancy to join the “current normal” lifestyle have created booming popularity for virtual apartment touring.
The Remy, a LIVEbe community in Lanham, Md., came up with a new way to conduct an ol’ real estate standby: The Open House
The 278-unit, eight-story property welcomed 51 participants at noon last Saturday for its 16-minute recorded tour and had nine applications submitted by 4 p.m. It’s had four more since, says Jaymie Martin, Community Director.
“We recognized during our open house – with so many people participating – that it created a sense of urgency to lease in some of the prospects,” Martin says. “The interaction of the group and our staff created kind of a buzz.
“For some, when they saw the property for the first time and learned that there might be only a few units of a specific floor plan and sensed the enthusiasm from others on the call – it made our property even more enticing.
Martin says the tour, overall, felt comfortable. “It was more like a group conversation – which was good – rather than one-on-one conversations with staff and prospects.”
The Remy had contracted with Realync to do video tours and had been through the production process often, finding it an easy and convenient fit for its overall marketing strategies. Martin pleasantly pointed out that Saturda……