Mid May 2020 will be recorded in American History textbooks as the beginning of a new economic era. Apartment communities began closing doors to prospects while maintenance, bill payment, mortgage payments, salaries and many other expenses and duties continued. 

It was necessary to immediately implement methods for continuing to lease apartments during social distancing which was a challenge for both the management staff and prospects. The industry turned to technology and service providers were quick to respond. 

There are basically four types of unattended or digital tours. 

1. Prerecorded commercial video tours created by professional videography, drone or Matterport camera

2. Interactive live tours using FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, Google Duo, Facebook, and audio appointments

3. Prerecorded walking video tours created by the frontline team

4. Self-guided tours whereby a prospect visits a property by appointment and pre-qualification. 80% of self-guided tours are implemented with keyless entry. 60% of single-family rental property is currently toured using this method. 

We created a method of gauging what type of tours were preferred and how well they were received. The results were better than expected: leasing continued with positive interaction from prospects. The results of the case study are provided below.