How to Host a Virtual Open House

Many states have prohibited in-person open houses and live showings. To help you make the most of these limitations, Ylopo's Realtor-in-Residence Barry Jenkins breaks down his steps for hosting a virtual open house in the video below: 

Step-by-Step Directions

Before the Open House: 

1. Create a Zoom (or other virtual meeting tool) meeting for the time that you would like to host the open house. When you create the meeting, make sure to require registration. (NOTE: in the video Barry goes into detail about he also uses Calendly to schedule the event. See video for details.) 

2. Create a new event on your Facebook Business Page. Use the meeting link as the location of the event. 

3. Run a Facebook ad, post to your social media, and put the details of your open house in your MLS (either in the open house section if permitted, or in the description). You can get creative with how to advertise the open house. 

During the Open House: 

1. Start the meeting, have a video or (ideally) your 3D tour open and ready to start while attendees arrive.

2. Greet people as they come in, ask them to confirm that they can hear you, let them know you're going to wait a couple of minutes to get started. 

3. Take them through the tour telling them the same details that you would in person (talk about the neighborhood, the updates, features you especially like). Remember to take your time since there may be a bit of a lag on the meeting stream. 

4. At the end of the tour, ask for feedback and for questions. Ask if they would like information on similar houses (or if there is something different that they are looking for). 

4. Follow up! Assuming you captured their contact information, set them up on a Listing Alert, send a personal email and text afterward. Barry recommends sending: "Thank you for your time, is there anything that stood out to you about 123 Main St., good or bad?" 

Your goals when giving a virtual open house: 

1. Connect with them 
2. Show your professionalism 
3. Get enough information from them to follow up effectively 

For more strategies and tools to use during this crisis, visit our Coronavirus Resource Page.