How have you adapted your showing/viewing process for Covid?

[Madison Guran]

Hi there! Covid-19 has really impacted how property management and buying/selling real estate is taking place. One aspect that I am struggling with is the showing/viewing process. At the moment we are screening prospective tenants and only allowing approved applications to view the property – this is to limit the contact within the units. Through this process, I have found that we are actually finding better/more qualified tenants. However, there is always room for improvement. What ideas/processes have you or your business implemented on this topic? Please post any relevant articles as well! Thanks in advance everyone! :)

[Susannah Vila]

Here’s what I’ve noticed (this is the perspective of someone who runs a self-showings app): 

1.  As soon as the pandemic started, video walkthroughs became the norm. Renters expect to see a link to a video and spend more time on their computers at home before they go look at anything in person. It was crazy how quickly this shifted.
2. People are taking less tours and they're more serious about the ones they do take. We’ve seen this everywhere from NYC to Tampa. Pre-COVID, the average number of showings per renter was roughly 5. Now, it’s closer to 2 - and they’re twice as likely to apply
3. Way less pushback about prescreening from renters. We used to get a few people a day complaining or bouncing because we ask for identity verifications, income, background check, etc. before showings. Now it’s more like one person a week.
   

So, TL/DR, renter behavior has indeed shifted a bit — the question will be if it holds!