One Benefit from Covid-19: Video Tours

General Landlording & Rental Properties
6yFollow

One Benefit from Covid-19: Video Tours

Dave PoeppelmeierBusiness Member
Realtor · Maumee, OH · Member since 2015 · 491 posts · 722 votes

I think we can all agree that Covid-19 had been trying for all of us personally, as well as professionally. As we also know, Black Swan events like this can also force us to change the way we do things, and (spoiler alert) sometimes they work out for the best. 

In my case, residents obviously didn't want people viewing their house during the beginnings of the Covid-19 crisis. For me the big problem was that it was smack in the middle of Student Housing rental season , which here at the University of Toledo is February through May. I had 4 houses changing over for the next school year, and only 1 had students for the next year. But... now I can't show them. How about YouTube Video Tours? Excellent!

The video tours were a hit. The residents only had to let me come in once, I did an 6-8 minute walk through of the whole house, and posted it to an unlisted YouTube account that I sent a link to once someone  requested a showing on Zillow or our website. Prospective Residents (as well as myself) because they didn't have to get off the couch to see the house, and I wasn't running back and forth to the houses to show uninterested people. Those who did love it I would show it to in person, then they put the application in, and done. 

Now that the world has had more experience and acceptance of working remotely, I think these Virtual Tours will carry a lot more weight than they once did. 

Podcast Guest on Show #380
Keller Williams Citywide | Dave Poeppelmeier534 Reviews
WebsiteView Page
3Reply
33 views

Most Popular Reply

Anthony Angotti
Real Estate Agent · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 846 votes
6y

@Dave Poeppelmeier we went the extra step and got a matterport compatible camera. The time savings has been amazing! We have reduced so much wasted time showing apartments to people that either 

A) Don't show up

or

B) Just don't like it once they see the layout. 

It gives us a much higher likelihood of only going to show the property to prospective tenants that actually want the place. 

We also started using it for listings, which saves a lot of aggravation to tenants on tenant occupied properties and homeowners that don't want to leave the house as often for people that aren't going to buy their house anyway. 

2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

11 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Yvonne H.
    Rental Property Investor · Atlanta · Member since 2019 · 23 posts · 27 votes
    6y

    I would like to add to this - I have moved to self-showing the property with a coded key pad for my single family homes.  Many people have expressed worry about doing that on here, but I have had theft even with agents showing the house so it can happen at any time.  There is risk but I feel it is outweighed by the benefits.  

    I have security cameras and a hot-spot for wifi. The entire process from showing to application is all online and remote for me. It is on the market for less than a week and I have received more quality applications than under normal listings with an agent (I usually list with an agent as my rentals are more than an hour away).  Adding the video tour to the listing is like a golden cherry on top.  Thanks so much for sharing this - I think this may be the new future for showings.  

    0Reply
  • Steve Potash
    Investor · Frostburg, MD · Member since 2015 · 46 posts · 26 votes
    6y

    We've been creating video tours also.  For years, I've been wanting to do them, because its hard showing apts while students are currently living in them.  Is anyone else using a software package that does e-lease signing, rent collections, resident portal for maintenace requests, etc, so there's even less face to face.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Brooke Park Drive · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    Record a good video once; and you should be set for many years to come..

    0Reply
  • Christopher B.
    Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2016 · 425 posts · 184 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Steve Potash:

    ...Is anyone else using a software package that does e-lease signing, rent collections, resident portal for maintenace requests, etc, so there's even less face to face.

     Yes, we use TenantCloud, but there are a host of others.  I like them, but they do have some bugs I'm waiting to be fixed.  They continue to develop and improve the platform though, which is nice.  

    1Reply
  • Christopher B.
    Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2016 · 425 posts · 184 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    Record a good video once; and you should be set for many years to come..

     That's right, I do this for pictures, too.  It makes it easy to re-list when the time comes.  

    1Reply
  • Marlen Weber
    Specialist · Plano, TX · Member since 2020 · 2k+ posts · 861 votes
    6y

    Virtual staging has also been of great help during COVID-19. It has been nice to see so many new ways being implemented in the real estate industry to continue business as safe as we know how. 

    1Reply
  • Anthony Angotti
    Real Estate Agent · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 846 votes
    6y

    @Dave Poeppelmeier we went the extra step and got a matterport compatible camera. The time savings has been amazing! We have reduced so much wasted time showing apartments to people that either 

    A) Don't show up

    or

    B) Just don't like it once they see the layout. 

    It gives us a much higher likelihood of only going to show the property to prospective tenants that actually want the place. 

    We also started using it for listings, which saves a lot of aggravation to tenants on tenant occupied properties and homeowners that don't want to leave the house as often for people that aren't going to buy their house anyway. 

    2Reply
  • Maya V.
    Oakland, CA · Member since 2013 · 48 posts · 5 votes
    6y
    HI Dave, can you please elaborate more on how to setup an "UNLISTED" Youtube account for the purpose of video tours? I don't want to use my main account.

    Thanks,
    Maya

    Originally posted by @Dave Poeppelmeier:

    I think we can all agree that Covid-19 had been trying for all of us personally, as well as professionally. As we also know, Black Swan events like this can also force us to change the way we do things, and (spoiler alert) sometimes they work out for the best. 

    In my case, residents obviously didn't want people viewing their house during the beginnings of the Covid-19 crisis. For me the big problem was that it was smack in the middle of Student Housing rental season , which here at the University of Toledo is February through May. I had 4 houses changing over for the next school year, and only 1 had students for the next year. But... now I can't show them. How about YouTube Video Tours? Excellent!

    The video tours were a hit. The residents only had to let me come in once, I did an 6-8 minute walk through of the whole house, and posted it to an unlisted YouTube account that I sent a link to once someone  requested a showing on Zillow or our website. Prospective Residents (as well as myself) because they didn't have to get off the couch to see the house, and I wasn't running back and forth to the houses to show uninterested people. Those who did love it I would show it to in person, then they put the application in, and done. 

    Now that the world has had more experience and acceptance of working remotely, I think these Virtual Tours will carry a lot more weight than they once did.

    0Reply
  • Dave PoeppelmeierBusiness Member
    OP
    Realtor · Maumee, OH · Member since 2015 · 491 posts · 722 votes
    6y

    @Maya V., when you upload a video, you can select settings such as public, unlisted, or private. Unlisted means that it's public but people can't just search for it, they need to know where to go with a link or be a subscriber to your channel. I hope that helps!

    Podcast Guest on Show #380
    Keller Williams Citywide | Dave Poeppelmeier534 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    3Reply
  • Maya V.
    Oakland, CA · Member since 2013 · 48 posts · 5 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Dave Poeppelmeier:

    @Maya V., when you upload a video, you can select settings such as public, unlisted, or private. Unlisted means that it's public but people can't just search for it, they need to know where to go with a link or be a subscriber to your channel. I hope that helps!

    Thank you Dave for the clarification - makes perfect sense.

    0Reply
  • Lois S.
    Investor · Brentwood, CA · Member since 2013 · 195 posts · 52 votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Maya V.:
    Originally posted by @Dave Poeppelmeier:

    @Maya V., when you upload a video, you can select settings such as public, unlisted, or private. Unlisted means that it's public but people can't just search for it, they need to know where to go with a link or be a subscriber to your channel. I hope that helps!

    Thank you Dave for the clarification - makes perfect sense.

    Maya, Now that some months have passed since your post, I'm curious how the use of YouTube video worked out for you.  Thanks.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free