Can you really sell luxury home listings online?

Even though the world feels like it’s at a standstill, there are still plenty of luxury homes for sale and buyers who are ready to buy in the luxury real estate market. 

With everyone moving online out of necessity right now, buyers and sellers are both more open to participating in virtual home tours and meetings to keep transactions moving.  If you’ve never done a virtual home tour or you don’t feel quite confident yet, this is the perfect opportunity to add this unique marketing tool to your arsenal.

But don’t be fooled: just because you have a captive audience doesn’t mean your virtual home tour is going to generate leads. 

Making virtual home tours work requires some planning, practice, and exceptional follow-through. But when they’re done correctly, they can be one of the most cost-effective and enjoyable ways to show a luxury listing.

Here are 3 tips to prepare for your virtual home tour to ensure you and your sellers get the best return:

1. Strategic Promotion Is Key 

Before you do anything, spend some time considering how and where you’re going to promote your tour. Even though people likely don’t need as much notice to view a home from the comfort of their own living room than they would if they were to show up in person, they will still need plenty of time and plenty of reminders– with a bigger emphasis on reminders.

Even your best, most interested prospects are likely distracted with other responsibilities and other offers, so giving them plenty of chances to know about your tour is key to staying top of mind.

Aim for promoting no longer than five to seven days out from your planned tour date, and no sooner than two days. With too much time to plan for your tour, your prospects may lose their sense of urgency. But without enough time, they may not have enough time to move their schedule around to attend. 

If you know you’ll be hosting virtual home tours for the next month or so, or if it’s something you want to continue, then it’s important to keep up with your regular social media posts. While it’s tempting to just promote your listings and see the immediate return on your efforts, those regular, valuable posts are what ultimately help new prospects decide whether or not they want to stay for your tour.

As for getting the word out about your virtual home tour, both paid and organic promotion on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin are viable options. If you do opt for paid promotion, you can also use this time as an interesting opportunity to test markets outside of your local market and regular feeder markets.

2. Practice Doesn’t Always Make Perfect (And That’s Okay)

If the idea of filming a live, virtual walk-through with potentially hundreds of people watching is a little intimidating, you’re not alone. Video can take a little bit of getting used to, but the advantage is that your audience doesn’t expect you to be perfect. 

In fact, if you come off as too rehearsed, it may override some of the more likable, human qualities that your clients actually love you for! That said, you don’t have to jump on a virtual home tour for the first time and just hope for the best. The best way to approach a virtual home tour is to do a few practice runs first, watch them back, and readjust your presentation as needed.

Again, you probably won’t get it perfect when it’s time to record, and that’s okay. But going into a virtual showing without any practice might stir up some nerves, so it’s best to try it without the pressure first.

3. Have a Solid Lead Capture System In Place

One of the downsides to hosting a virtual home tour is that it’s a bit more difficult to capture your prospects’ information. Your lead capture strategy will depend on which platform you use to stream your tour, and it’s important to understand exactly how your specific platform does this before you host. 

For example, if you decide to use Zoom to host your tour, your ads and social posts should link to Zoom’s Meeting Registration page to make sure you’re getting participants’ names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Do a quick run-through with your own information to be certain that your lead capture works and that the information you need is delivered to the right place.

Want to take a deeper dive into luxury home marketing strategies?

Our Luxury Livestream event is a 2-day live intensive where you can learn luxury real estate marketing strategies from the top agents and experts in the industry. Attending this online event also gives you access to exclusive membership benefits and done-for-you marketing tools to dominate in the luxury real estate market. Visit our CLHMS Training Options page to learn more!