The global pandemic has greatly affected the real estate market. It will continue to do so unless the risk is completely mitigated. However, digitization has opened limitless doors of possibilities for the property market to thrive in the face of the epidemic. Thus, hybrid real estate open houses are helping realtors to showcase their properties to prospective buyers who are looking to move.
We know prospects will never buy an estate unless they have actually seen it and are satisfied with the infrastructure. Let’s forget about the pandemic for a moment. Imagine this: what if your potential customer likes a beach house so much that they will give anything to buy it. But unfortunately the beach house is in a different state. Buyers are not finding the time to make that trip to see and close the deal. This is where hybrid real estate open houses jump in.
Let’s see in detail what the fuss is all about, so stick around!
What is a Hybrid Real Estate Open House?
Real estate open house is when a property is available for potential buyers to view at a scheduled time slot. If the house is occupied, normally, the owners request the tenants to vacate the house for viewing.
To follow the lockdown policies due to the global pandemic, hybrid property shows have become the norm. This is why virtual tours play a significant role in the property selling and buying process. Real estate agents offer prospects virtual tours to ensure both satisfaction and safety. Later they meet in person to close the deal.
With the advent of 3D interfaces, making virtual tours is more like an in-person visit. Additionally, it also attracts the right kind of buyers.
Now a million dollar question is …
How do you Organize a Hybrid Property Show?
360-Degree Property View for the Win
A hybrid realty showcase involves you showing a property to a virtual audience. It can be pretty challenging to attract and engage an audience especially when you are hosting a virtual property tour. But to get the best results, make sure to show the available options from different angles — both front and back.
For that, you would need a good 360 degree camera and an expert who can capture the video as is. Through a 360 degree property view, you not only get to attract the attention but also stand out from the crowd. Speaking of, standing out from the crowd always promises high ROI, just so you know. Through 360 views you can showcase all features of your property without leaving any room for misunderstanding.
Choose the Right Platform
Now with so many options available in the market, how can you ensure that the platform you choose is the right one? Fret not. We are here to help. Choosing the right platform can be challenging but not impossible.
Most importantly, a hybrid Property Show hosting platform offers one of the most significant ways through which you can reach your audience without any geographical limitations. They make sure they have all the right tools to accomplish your goals.
The platform should have a virtual networking feature such as public and private chat options. Through a chat feature potential buyers can easily talk to the property owners and ask them all the questions they want. Additionally, the ability to offer virtual tours is yet another important feature you need. Or else the event will lose its meaning. Webinars, lead management, and attendee insights can also come in very handy, depending upon your event’s goals.
Pre-Plan Hybrid Real Estate Open House
If you want to drive as many registrations and hype as possible then you should pre-plan your event. Have a test run at least once or twice to make sure your platform is working as smoothly as anticipated and is free of any technical issues. Individually test all the features because this would allow you to deal with the issues beforehand for a great attendee experience.
As far as the marketing goes, use social media and email marketing to spread the word. It will stir excitement among your potential open house attendees. If you are doing paid advertising, make sure to only reach potential attendees. This will enable you to make the most out of your budget.
Design Event Landing Page
An event landing page is probably one of the most important parts of the entire real estate open house since it helps hosts to drive attendee registrations. It acts as a gateway for potential attendees and urges them to take the next step. Therefore, your landing page should have a simple, and accessible sign-up form to attend the hybrid open house.
In addition, it should quickly introduce your event, what it’s about, the value proposition, and all the details about exhibitors. You can spend a little bit of time educating them about your services. Don’t forget to add some really aspirational images to showcase the available properties.
But keep in mind that your open house landing page should be precise and to the point, steer clear of any redundant information. Last but not least, don’t forget to add value with a thank you page.
Make It Happen!
Your ultimate goal is to deliver a striking open house that entices people to take action on your listings. You should become the talk of the town and for that, you need to deliver the same hybrid experience as you would with completely physical events.
No doubt pulling off a hybrid event requires a whole lot of effort and involves different steps. But if you are using the right platform to nurture your leads, build your conversion funnel, and outreach potential buyers, you might feel a little less overwhelmed than you could have.
Good news! You can make your hybrid real estate open house happen with vFairs, because it is not only way easier to implement but is an all-in-one platform, capable of juggling multiple steps at the same time.
Different Types of Property Shows You Can Host
Hybrid Real Estate Open Houses
Buyers now want to buy without ever stepping foot on the property. Therefore real estate agents may have to do more work to close the deal. This is where hybrid open houses are now becoming all the rage. Digitization enables the real estate industry to integrate more digital components to provide avenues for buyers to be interested in a property.
Hybrid property shows allow the audience to gather in a physical place to view properties, and through a digital format from different geographical locations without having to travel.
Live Virtual Property Shows
Here, real estate agents show a video of the property captured in real-time as the event is happening to its virtual audience i.e. potential buyers. Either you can host a 1:1 session or open it up to anyone interested – it all depends on you being the host or buyer’s demand.
The one main advantage of hosting a live virtual open house is that you can answer buyers’ questions or concerns in real-time and also it offers a customer experience as close to having a physical in-person event.
But if you decide to open up this event to everyone, then you may find it challenging to answer overlapping questions coming from everyone who is viewing.
Pre-Recorded Virtual Realty Showcase
As the name suggests, these videos are recorded in advance to be shared among potential buyers or whomever requests them. Through pre-recorded sessions, you can reach a larger audience and cater to every time zone because it eliminates the need for people to join the open house at a designated time.
Pre-recorded virtual open houses save you the pressure of hosting a live show and give you ample time to practice to get it right. But the downside is that since they are not live physical or live virtual events, they do not offer many means to increase attendee engagement. They also limit attendees with the reduced ability to initiate 1:1 discussions on the spot which can be a turn-off for attendees who need immediate responses.
3D Virtual Tours
Then we have 3D virtual tours. Imagine giving a 3D view to virtual open house attendees. Simple videos do not offer the same immersive experience that 3D virtual tours can. These tours are constructed using 3D representations of the property, where users can actually engage and run up and down the hallways.
Virtual tours also enable virtual visitors to read about home features and view embedded videos. For that, you need an intuitive real estate open house hosting platform that will work seamlessly on any device from anywhere in the world.
Benefits of Hosting a Hybrid Real Estate Open House
- It expands your audience reach. Hosting through a virtual event hosting platform means that people can easily attend and view housing options without any limitations or a need to be physically present at the location.
- Through virtual tours, you can save your buyers the time and effort of coordinating schedules.
- Prerecorded walk-through of the home videos saves you the time and to deliver the same pitch to multiple customers.
- Since you have access to all the attendee’s insights – meaning you can easily filter out non-serious buyers from serious buyers through the conversion funnel and then easily approach them for further information.
See here to learn more about hybrid open houses!
