7 Ways to Provide Online Leasing & Tours During the Pandemic

This month marks one year since COVID-19 swept through our nation. The pandemic has changed many aspects of multifamily, one, in particular, being face-to-face tours of the property.

With COVID restrictions still in place across our nation, in-person apartment leasing and tours is still a challenge limited by CDC guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all staff and residents. 

However, that problem is quickly resolved though our digital alternatives making it easy for prospects to safely tour your apartment community from the comfort of their own device without having to physically visit.

Elevate your renters’ leasing experience socially distanced but fully engaged with our adaptive approach consisting of 7 ways to provide online leasing and tours.

Take a look at how these digital marketing solutions allow you to continue offering people a place to call home even in the midst of a global pandemic.

1. Incorporate Virtual Tours on your Website

Virtual tours are a convenient way of allowing prospects to have a 3D tour of your apartment home floor plans from their mobile or desktop device. Potential residents have a 360-degree view of each room with the ability to spin the picture around and look in every direction. This is an easy shift that relies on no human contact or face-to-face interaction, yet is still effective for generating leads.

According to a recent study, 3D tours actually help to generate more leads. The study found that apartment community websites with virtual tours receive 87% more views than with websites without virtual tours. 

Premium photography, such as 3D images, is of the utmost importance within multifamily. High-quality photos of your community that capture the essence of your property are not just recommended, they are necessary to stay competitive in the industry. 

For help on how to get started integrating 3D images and virtual tours to your community website, contact us here !

2. Provide Professional Apartment Walk-Through Tours

A walk-through tour could be your solution if a virtual tour isn’t your apartment community’s style. The difference between a virtual and walk-through tour is a virtual tour is a 360-degree picture while a walk-through tour is a video showing the apartment community and floor plans. 

Depending on your apartment marketing goals, walk-through tours might be your choice. Displaying professionally produced walk-through videos of layouts and amenities gives potential residents the same feel as an actual tour. 

REPLI offers various online tours such as walk-through videos and virtual tours. Click here for more information!

3. Schedule FaceTime or Skype Tours

Another way to provide online tours is utilizing free tools such as FaceTime and Skype. Video chats are a safe method for potential residents to view your apartment community while keeping social distance. 

Simply schedule a video call using your preferred platform and transport your visitors to your apartment community! Provide a tour guide to answer any questions and give feedback along the way. Also, be sure to accommodate and create the same experience as you would any normal in-house tour. 

4. Use Self-Guided Tour as a Safe Alternative

Self-guided tours can be a way to provide an in-person experience while still prioritizing the health and safety of the prospects, residents, and employees. A self-guided tour is where the potential resident would navigate their own route without a guide to direct.

We advise that this should be an alternative if an online tour is not possible. In that case, be sure to take extra precautions before, during, and following the self-guided tour.

5. Promote Apartment Floor Plans on Social Media & Google My Business

Showcase your apartment floor plans and community on your social media channels. You can use social media to display videos and pictures of your apartment community to your followers instead of having prospects physically visit. 

When in doubt, get creative! Go live on Instagram and Facebook or post an IG TV walkthrough video of floor plans so followers and prospects can watch at their own convenience. IG TV is a great social media tool on Instagram to self promote your community by grabbing your follower’s attention for a longer period of time. 

Also, let’s not forget about Google My Business. GMB allows you to actively post & promote pictures of your apartment community. Thoroughly complete your GMB profile and create a posting schedule so your community is actively posting every week. This helps Google and users know who you are and is a great way to generate solid traffic to your website. 

6. Offer Online Leasing

Now more than ever is it crucial for apartment community websites to have online leasing. With users having access to lease online, they are able to customize their home, apply for leasing, and sign all documents within minutes. 



Online leasing allows your apartment community to carry on with business as usual and continue to provide the necessary tools within the midst of such a crisis as COVID-19. 

7. Integrate LeadCapture 

Software such as LeadCapture can be integrated into your website. This allows you to easily display virtual and walk-through tours on your website for potential renters to take advantage of while practicing social distancing. 

If you are only touring by virtual or walk-through videos during this time of social distancing, LeadCapture gives you the ability to alert users on the site and of the online touring option. 

Integrate a LeadCapture solution to seamlessly track all leads and fully optimize your website to generate qualified leads for your apartment community!

Use these 7 ways to provide online leasing and tours to help your apartment community safely and effectively lease apartment homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our team is actively seeking resolutions for apartment communities to the obstacles faced by this pandemic.

Please contact us here for any questions, we’d love to hear from you!

Continue to stay safe and practice social distancing.

We’re in this together!