The Benefits of Offering Self-Guided Tours
Self-guided tours have gone from a fringe idea to a mainstream feature of the multifamily industry, thanks to people’s ongoing busy lifestyles and the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of multifamily property managers across the country now offer self-guided tours and are reaping the benefits. Here’s why (and how) you should consider adding self-touring to your property.
Prospective Renters Prefer Self-Touring
According to one survey, 61.3% of prospects who booked a tour of a property preferred only a self-guided tour, while only 30.1% booked a tour guided by an associate.
On a self-guided tour, prospects are able to fit a tour into their busy schedules without coordinating with an associate. They can tour at their own pace, focusing on the areas that they care most about rather than following a script. They can tour without feeling pressured, and they can freely discuss what they like and dislike about the unit and the area without worrying about being overheard.
Moreover, self-guided tours are effective. According to the same survey linked above, prospects who chose self-guided tours converted to a lease at nearly double the rate — 9.3% vs. 5% — of those who didn’t.
Self-Touring Saves You Time and Money
Offering self-touring can significantly improve the efficiency of your already-busy staff. First and foremost, it saves time by freeing up the person who would otherwise have to administer tours to attend to other matters. It also allows you to book more tours since you can offer tours during nights and weekends, outside normal leasing office hours. It can even save you money, since you only need to unlock and heat or cool the touring unit when someone is present.
Self-Touring is Safe and Convenient
In addition to the time savings for your staff, self-touring allows your prospects to feel safer and more comfortable while looking around on their own. They can tour at their own pace and on their own time, allowing them to make a decision in a more low-pressure environment.
And with the implementation of modern technology, property owners and managers can rest assured that their properties are safe even while prospects are touring unsupervised. Smart locks, access control software, identity verification, and other features will ensure that your property is secure, even if your staff aren’t conducting the tour themselves.
Key Considerations for Self-Touring
Model Unit
The first question you’ll need to answer is whether to set aside a dedicated model unit for touring or not. There are pros and cons to this approach. On the one hand, you can furnish and decorate the model unit to make it more appealing than an empty unit. On the other, some prospects are wary about touring a unit that isn’t the one they’ll be actually living in.
If you do choose to use a model unit, you can stock it with written guides scattered throughout the unit that answer some of the questions your prospects might otherwise ask of an associate on a guided tour. Which appliances are included, which bike lanes are nearby, whether the floors in every unit are real hardwood, and so on might all be questions worth answering.
If you don’t use a model unit, it’s worth putting together a digital pamphlet that prospects can bring with them and peruse while they tour. It’s important that your prospects feel informed enough after their tour to take the next step.
Security and Access Control
Equipping your multifamily property with smart locks linked to RemoteLock is an excellent way to prepare for self-touring. RemoteLock can generate an access code for the particular unit being toured that’s only valid during the specific window of the tour and expires immediately afterward, ensuring that prospects only access the unit when you want them to.
You’ll be able to see real-time data on whether and when the code is used, gaining full visibility into who’s entering the property and when. And with no keys to hand off, you don’t need to worry about the wrong person showing up to the tour.
For extra security, your RemoteLock account can be integrated with software partners like Power Pro Leasing and Pynwheel. If you set up an account with one of those partners, you can require identity verification steps from prospects like a credit card, drivers license, and even require a photo of them when they arrive at the property.
Smart Thermostats
Another benefit of a RemoteLock integration is the ability to take advantage of RemoteLock’s partnership with Honeywell Home thermostats by Resideo. In addition to the significant cost and energy savings of equipping all your units with smart thermostats, you’ll also be able to take advantage of smart thermostat features for self-touring.
For example, a prospect might book a tour for this Friday at 4:00 p.m. Since the unit is empty, the heat is turned down to a more eco-friendly temperature. But thanks to the integration with RemoteLock and Resideo, the thermostat automatically changes to a more comfortable temperature at 3:00 p.m. so that the unit is warm and inviting when the prospect arrives. After they leave and their entry code expires, the temperature is automatically turned back down to save you money and energy.
Add a Personal Touch
Just because there’s no one present to show your prospects around doesn’t mean you can’t add a human element to a self-tour. Leave a handwritten welcome note from your team in the model unit, or consider adding a small care package to thank prospects for their interest. If the prospective tenant is from out of town — a detail you can gather from the initial booking form—include a few treats from popular local spots.
Small gestures like these can create a lasting impression, showing that you genuinely care about their experience and well-being — sometimes making all the difference in securing a new tenant.
To learn more about self-touring or get started at your property, get in touch with RemoteLock today.
RemoteLock
Universal Access Control
We provide cloud-based, access control software that empowers those in the multifamily, vacation rental, commercial and related industries to remotely manage and control access to any space from anywhere in the world.
