If you've ever spent a lazy Sunday browsing real-estate listings, you know the handful that grab your attention. Usually, all it takes are a couple of professional photos and a good description, and that home gets added to your wish list of open houses to visit.
The coronavirus pandemic, as you can imagine, has significantly changed the process of shopping for a home. Open houses have mostly ground to a halt — at least in the way you're used to them.
However, if you're trying to sell your home right now, there are still options for showing off your property in a way that attracts prospective buyers.
Business Insider spoke with real-estate agents and investors who are still moving forward with deals. They highlighted how technology is playing a more prominent role than ever in transforming the traditional open house — and how it might become the new normal in the future.
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Prepare for a longer process
While the home-selling process has certainly slowed because of the coronavirus, brokers and agents still see deals happening right now.
"Deals are still happening but at a different pace and are a bit more complicated," Jill Hertzberg, a real-estate agent with Miami's Jills Zeder Group, said.
The businesses and services affected by the coronavirus, and the rules and regulations on how they can operate, can vary between municipalities and are changing quickly. To stay up to date, check state and local websites — most have dedicated sections on coronavirus updates. Buyers and sellers need to understand that more likely than not, there's potential for hiccups along the way. It can also take longer than usual to close a deal because of unexpected delays.
Hertzberg also said some standard practices, such as inspections or repairs from service providers, might be affected by social-distancing rules, which can cause postponements and delay deals.
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These sorts of bumps in the road can especially hit sellers in condos, where associations often have tighter regulations in place, and as a result, sellers may have to ask for special permission or come up with workarounds.
Having an agent who's aware of local regulations and can communicate those through the process can be a valuable asset when planning to sell.
Provide as much information as possible across multiple channels
"Now more than ever, sellers need to make sure their listings not only stand out as visually alluring but that they are also detailed robustly," Jake Tasharski, a Chicago broker with Compass, said. "Beautifully staged photos and a solid description are a good start but may no longer do the trick in the current market."
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On the listing sites Tasharski uses for his preselling efforts, including the MLS Private Listing Network and Top Agent Network, he also includes links to professionally shot listing videos, floor plans with measurements, and 3D walk-throughs using Matterport, a camera system that can create virtual tours.
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Tasharski uses Matterport to create a walk-through bundle for prospective buyers, including pictures, floor plans, and 3D imagery. A package like this typically costs between $300 and $400 for a two- to four-bedroom condo in Chicago.
Some agents and investors use their own 3D camera. Matterport's Pro2, for example, costs $3,400, in addition to a monthly subscription fee for the service. Others outsource the process to professional real-estate photographers. In that case, creating the walk-throughs is typically priced based on the square footage of the home.
Agents are also focusing on their online presence, which can help drive views to seller's listings.
"Our team is constantly updating and upgrading our website and making sure that we have new content through banner changes, new images, and press activity so that we continue to improve engagement," Hertzberg said. "Lately, we ramped up the energy and time put into our website and social-media channels due to the increased numbers of potential customers that are currently in shelter in place and thus on the internet more than ever. We realize the whole world is changing and moving more to digital."
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Tasharski said Instagram was one area where he has been getting a lot of engagement through hosting live open houses. It allows buyers to ask specific questions and get "shown" answers right away, and it can help more people see listings.
Hertzberg also said her team has been shifting focus to social media, especially Instagram. "We spend a lot of time creating and launching social-media campaigns and new social content," she said, "which drives traffic to our website.
On the Jills Zeder Group Miami Beach Instagram account, Virtual open houses have been featured prominently over Instagram posts, IGTV, and stories over the past month.
Leverage virtual-tour technology
Deniz McDaniel, the CEO of the Memphis, Tennessee, real-estate investment firm Hometown Investment Group, told Business Insider he's been using 3D technology to create walk-throughs for a while but now considers it essential because it allows buyers to get more of the feel of a home.
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McDaniel uses an Insta360 camera, which starts at $465 for a standard real-estate kit and $5,000 for an upgraded option, to capture images. He pairs that with Kuula, an all-in-one virtual 3D platform for real estate. (Here's what one house looks like on the platform.)
Pano2VR, a real-estate software that converts panoramic and 360-degree images into virtual tours, is another popular option for agents and investors.
"We need to be able to see ourselves in the home actually doing things," McDaniel said. "Open the door to the backyard and see the kids pushing each other on the swing, sitting on the front porch watching the sunset — these are all things that we simply cannot do by looking at a photo."
With detailed photos and dollhouse-style renderings, buyers can "walk" through a home, even taking in the view from the living-room windows. "These images are just about as immersive as you can get without being there in person," Tasharski said. "Users have full control of movement and line of sight."
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McDaniel said that offering these virtual tours helped sellers too. Beyond protecting their health by avoiding a lot of people wandering through their homes, it's beneficial for a big practical reason — namely, ease.
"They don't have to live in a 'glasshouse' and keep it spotless 24/7," McDaniel said.
All the experts Business Insider spoke with agreed that in-person open houses were still an important part of the home-selling process. However, leaning on technology, especially virtual open houses, will become increasingly popular and may even continue to be a standard part of listings.
