Hosting Virtual Open Houses Without Leaving Your Home

So, everyone, thanks for your time today. My name is Melissa Kwan. I am the VP of Spatio at Home Spotter. So just a little bit of background about me. I started Spatio about five years ago. We were acquired by Homespotter last January. I am originally from Vancouver, lived in New York for a few years, recently moved to Amsterdam, and I am currently on the Big island in Hawaii. Here with me today is my friend and mentor, Keith Robinson from Next Home. So, quick introduction, Keith.

Yeah, so I don't know about mentor. We idea share a lot and we've learned a lot from each other. So if that makes us mutual mentors, I'll take that. It's pretty clever of you to figure out how to have to shelter in place in paradise. Leave that to you. Hi, everyone. My name is Keith Robinson. I'm the Chief Strategy Officer for Next Home. We're a national residential real estate franchisor. We've been around for five years, one of the fastest growing in the nation. I've been in residential real estate leadership for 20 years, which just makes me old. And I've made some mistakes and hopefully we can help you avoid some by telling our thoughts and you can learn from our thinking and the chipped teeth and skin knees throughout the years that we've developed. And this is a new time. Right. Like you and I were chatting before the start, but we've got probably, I don't know, they've probably been doing open houses for more, you know, for 100 years. And we've got 100 years of best practices and how to do an open house on a Sunday afternoon.

And we're still learning.

And we're still learning. Right. We still needed Spatio to come along a few years ago and help us get better at it. Right. And we got three weeks now of virtual open house experience. So this is us just sharing, I think, our thoughts and I've got some ideas on it. And you do, too. And then you're pivoting your tool to support in the new market, which I think is brilliant.

Yeah. So today we're specifically talking about a new concept of virtual open houses and how to do that from your living room. So without actually going to your listing, which is important now, because I think in some states, Keith, and you would know this because Next Home is national, you're not allowed to go into sellers homes to do showings. But in some states you are, right?

Correct. Yeah. It varies not only state to state, but county by county. So the first thing is, has real estate been deemed essential if the Answer to that is, well, is your state on lockdown? Not all. Not even that. It's 100% yet. And then if the answer to the yes, the lockdown question, then it says real estate deemed essential. And if real estate is not deemed essential, then you should not be meeting with clients if it is deemed essential in your state. A county can still apply more strict requirements in a specific county, say, than the state intended. So, for example, this isn't the case, but in New York, in New York City, New York, you probably would have different rules and regs than you would in way upstate New York. So county of New York City, whatever county that happens to be in, could have increased levels of strictness. Whereas if you were in a very rural community in upstate New York, you may not have the same.

So to kick this off, why don't we go back to basics? Why do we do open houses?

Yeah. So there are two primary reasons. Right. One is because our sellers want us to. And it does help to get the. The more you expose the property, the better. Right. So it's not a bad thing, and our sellers like it. But the real primary reason that most of us do open house is to attract new clients. And so when I was thinking about it, it was really trying to think about it through that lens more. The how do I attract new buyers to my business? And then, of course, profiling the listing and the listing that I have a fiduciary responsibility to promote. Right. So I'm going to do that. But I want to do it in a way that also helps is a win for my business, which is attracting more buyer and listing clients.

Yeah. So on to kind of piggyback off of that. Let's talk about what information open house visitors typically buyers really want.

Yeah. So my first year in the business, I did a ton of open house. Now, granted, that was a long time ago, but my first year in the business, I did a lot of open house. And what I discovered was that especially the buyers that I wanted to connect the most deeply with, they were really looking for access to information they you wanted. That buyer that was getting started didn't have an agent, but was sacrificing their Sunday to go look at property in town. And we're trying to make some sort of love connection with the real estate agent to learn more about the next steps in the process. That was the perfect buyer lead that I was looking for from an open house. So what they really are looking for, I think, is information. And what they're really trying to figure out is they're really starting to dive into their market intelligence and really understanding what neighborhoods mean, what and what property styles mean, what. And yes, they've done that virtually to a high degree through the portals and online. But now it's time to enter into the fray and, and physically see and touch this thing that they're thinking about buying. And so buyers across the board, I think, are looking for information. And so back in the stone age, when I was doing open houses and dinosaurs roam the earth, I used to put together a report of comparably priced properties and comparable price ranges in diverse neighborhoods throughout my city. And I would keep one at the property and I put a big stamp on it, do not remove. And I would show them the report and offer to email it to them if they were interested in receiving it. Now I can use a slip tool like Spatio to provide more detailed information, but what they really want is access to information so that they can start to consume it in a different way. Because they've been consuming it through a computer screen, they've been consuming it at a distance, and now they're just trying to find someone to help them distill all this information down. They've gone as far as they can go online, and now they need a human being to help them sort of suss through all this data.

Yeah. So based on that, what should a virtual open house really look like? I like how you went back to the basics to think about, okay, who is that ideal customer? What information do they actually want, and how do I deliver it to them in another way? And that's what this is really about. Right. So when you told me about this new concept that you thought about that any agent can do without leaving their home, I immediately thought, our customers need to know this, people need to know this. And more important now than ever, I think you need to stay active. Right. I think doing business and sales is like going to the gym. You know, it's super hard to get started. You got to keep going, you got to keep the momentum. And if you sit there for a couple months, it's really hard to get going again. So what I love about this concept is you can do it now. And you know, it's. Anybody can do something like this.

Right.

So I've kind of, I've made a slide on your concept and your presentation concept. Would you like to, you know, tell people a little bit more about it?

Yeah. I'll walk everyone through this, and the first thing to remember is I don't know exactly what virtual open house is. Going to look like in two months. I know it won't look exactly like what's on this slide in front of you. And that's okay. It's an evolutionary process of best practices. And the real key to it is getting started right to your point. Like, you've got to take action. You've got to get the ball rolling and try things and try things that fail and take those pieces out and try things that really work and plug more of those in. So this is my concept. I have seen people running around town doing Facebook lives from their listings. That's not a bad idea. Just make sure you have some capture, which we're going to talk about a little later, some sort of lead capture tool. But if you think about what I tried to replicate was what the buyer does those first few Sundays, they go out on their own and they put on their jacket and they leave the safety and security of their own home to go out into the wild and actually look at some properties and talk to real estate agents and have an experience. What does the buyer do? They want to go see three or four different properties in comparable price ranges, comparable neighborhoods in different areas of the city. And so obviously I'm going to profile my listing and then I'm going to find comparable listings in other areas. Get permission, if they aren't your listings, get permission from other agents to use their listing. But they should be willing to. This is free marketing that you're doing for their home. So it shouldn't be too hard to get buy in from your peers in the industry, especially once you get good at explaining it. But the concept is basically you're going to create an experience for them. Like they drove around to go to three or four different open houses that day. You're just the person that's presenting each of those three or four houses. So the first step in the process, and it would be a zoom meeting or a webinar where the first thing you would do is do a general market update. You pull some macro stats that you've got for the nation and then more importantly, you pull some local statistics that you have for your local market. And this is your opportunity to answer the question of how's the market and sort of dazzle them with your market intellect and your knowledge about what's going on in your local marketplace. So first step, local market update. And this could be as sophisticated as a video or as unsophisticated as some stats that you glean out. Then you want to profile the first community. So what is it about the community that makes it special, that makes it unique. I'm doing this from Discovery Bay, California and I could talk about how it's a water based community. A lot of boating, a lot of recreation. It was a master planned community that was built in the 80s. Smaller lots, but smaller lots if you're on the water, bigger lots if you aren't. But it's got that sort of boater feel to it because so many people enjoy the outdoors and the water. Right. So I'm going to profile the community first and explain to them the features and benefits of that particular community. Then I'm going to profile a specific property and this is some of the stuff that we always do. It's, that's a 4, 3, 3200 square foot. Don't miss the views from the upstairs entertaining area. It's amazing. Right. And we'll give you real examples of this in just a minute. Then you profile the second community and the second property and then you repeat as needed. So what I'm really trying to do is just imagine you taking them to three or four properties like that first time they went out ever to go look at houses on their own before they found an agent. That's what I wanted to replicate because I believe the reason that they do that is because they're trying to see a cross section of property. And so it's not just about profiling my listing, it's about exposing them to more of the market.

Well, when you're talking about starting with a market update, you can also start with, hey, this is who I am. I am the area expert. I almost see this as a digital resume. Right. Like I always tell people, you know, everyone that comes into your open house is a potential customer. So how are you putting your best foot forward? Right. Like I've been to some open houses where I don't get any attention and somewhere, you know, I get treated like I could be a real customer.

Right.

It's like going into a car dealership as well. Right. Like, and you remember the people that, you know, give you the attention.

Yep.

So like I really see this as. Okay. If someone is to meet you for the first time, which sometimes they are. Right. In this scenario, how are you going to behave and present yourself in this interview? Yeah, that might not even be them. Right. It might be their friend or their siblings or, you know, their next door neighbor that's, you know, looking to buy or sell. And that's what I really love about this is you're not just here to sell that property. You are in right now. Like, because it's digital, it's giving you a little bit of extra time to introduce yourself as the expert of the area or whatever it might be and then be able to introduce your knowledge of the market and then the community that you're selling, which you typically don't have that much time to do. Right inside the open house. Right. Either they're shuffling through or maybe another party's coming in and your time is split. Right. And that's really, I think, what's compelling about the introduction of this presentation.

There's a couple good questions from the audience. First one, Laurie asks, is this just for the listing agent to host? The theory is that you have your listing that's sort of the anchor tenant, for lack of a better analogy. The reason, the compelling reason for you to do this. But in actuality, I don't think there's. So long as you get permission, you need to get permission from the agent to profile their listing. But if you've got friends in the office that have a few great listings that are similar properties at similar price points in different neighborhoods, you don't actually have to be the listing agent at all. So long as you have permission, you could have no listing and do this virtual open house concept on two or three properties without any listings.

Well, there's lots of. Our customers will host open houses for other listing agents. Yeah, it's really exactly the same.

Another question. Is it okay to ask the owners to pay for a professional video in this time of crisis? That's an interesting question. I think it's okay to ask. I will tell you the views expressed or not the views of Melissa Kwan Spasio or any of their affiliates, nor Next Home. This is crazy Uncle Keith's opinion. If you feel like a video is what it takes to properly market your listing in today's environment, we do get paid not only for our expertise, but also for our marketing skill. And I think it could probably be our. In my opinion, if I thought that's what it took, I wouldn't ask them to pay for it. I would just do it. Because if that's what it took to properly sell a property in this environment, I would take care of it. Good question.

Also, I mean, Keith, it doesn't have to be perfect, right? Like, to your point is it's just about doing it, you know, like how, you know, we're not going to be experts at webinars or Facebook Live right away. We've had a few weeks of this. You know, I'm fairly new to Webinars. Like I went to a second slide and I didn't know how to go back to the first slide in the beginning, you know, and that's. It's totally fine, you know, like it's just do your best and be you, you know, like if it's too perfect, like it almost feels a little bit too artificial.

Yeah, maybe let's walk them through because we got a few samples from one of my agents and he is definitely the after picture. Right. Like he is a guy who really has. He was doing all of this before it was cool and before it was necessary.

Yeah. So what we do have is some sample videos and resources that we'll send out as a follow up. And then we've got a few slides here from Brad which we can talk through.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll talk through these. So he happens to have. This is Almaden or Almaden Valley in the greater San Jose area. San Jose, California. And he's got a whole video that he had professionally produced about this area because he does a lot of business there. And he really took that and had it very well produced. And I think that's great and someday you might want to do that. But don't wait to do that. You could get some interesting photos of what the city looks like or this neighborhood looks like and just tell the story. Right. You already know how to tell the story about a community. You do it every day in your real business. When you have an out of town buyer that comes into town, you and you've got to explain each one of these communities. You can talk about the features, the benefits, the pros, the cons and everything else. So don't wait to get your video, your community video created for each one of these. Just start and do bullet points and some pretty pictures and you're off to the races. Just talk about it. But you want to give the community update and talk about sort of like I did before, the features and benefits of the home. And I'm actually going to clean out a few questions if that's right because I might have stepped on myself a little right now. We agents are not allowed to hire photographers. We do need to ask clients to pay for it. That could be true in your area. Maybe you reimburse at the close and the seller is the one that does the contract. I'm just saying that in my opinion, Keith Robinson. I wouldn't have them pay for it if I thought that's what they needed. And Debbie actually says exactly that. So. Great comment. Debbie, a couple questions on Do I really need to ask permission to discuss a property as publicly available, available data? My answer to that is I'm not. I know you do. In California, where I have a license for real estate. I'm not sure about every state in the country, but I do think it's the polite thing to do. So I probably would anyway. But Tiana, you might not need to. So you can look into that for your local association. You may not need to, but I.

Would say a good marketing, right, like they might want to promote this or join them kind of in a co marketing effort for the presentation as well.

So you now are profiling the community. Eventually. If it's a community, you profile a lot. You may want to get a professionally done video, but you've now shown that you really understand the intricacies. It's fun if you can get little historical fun facts about a neighborhood or a community. If you know who the developer is and the different models, the more information you can pack into this community section, again, the more you differentiate yourself from other people that they talk to. And then after the community, you're gonna profile the property. And again, Brad Gill has everything, right? He already does a matterport.

He really does.

He already does a video tour. He's already doing all. And if you aren't doing any of this, it's okay, you're going to want to start to add some of these in. But that doesn't mean you have to wait to do this because worst case, you could take the beautiful professional photos that you had done and just do a slideshow. Don't do a slideshow like you do a walkthrough where you sort of say, this is a bedroom. Most people can wrap their mind around what a bedroom looks like, unless it's a really killer master suite with these crazy views out into the backyard or into the hillside behind it or whatever. So pick the 3, 4, 5 real key features of the property and highlight those photos and again, just communicate it about it.

Yeah, and you can always send out more information as a follow up. And that's really the goal here, is to pique their interest so that they can come back and ask for more information. Right. So I think that brings us kind of into the next topic is you're doing these virtual open houses, you're doing these virtual tours. Make sure there is some way that you are using to capture the information of interested parties, just as you would when you're doing a physical open house. Right. You're like when you're doing an open house, you're not going to let people freely walk in and out without engaging with you, learning more about them, signing in, offering something in return. And then you can take these interest parties and follow up. Because frankly, if I start a Facebook Live or a webinar, a zoom, I've got 50 or 100 people watching. I want to find the five to 10 people who are really interested, who want more information from me about this property or just the area, and I want to follow up with them. Those become my most likely customers. So I'm seeing a lot of agents that are more forward thinking. Even three weeks ago, they're like, hey, the world is shifting. Yeah, I'm immediately going to go to Facebook Live. But I will say that I haven't seen a lot of people ask for something.

Yeah, I've seen this too. A lot. I've got 5,000 Facebook friends and 4,982 of them are real estate agents across the country.

Yeah, especially you.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of Facebook Live virtual open house walkthroughs. And I'm not saying those are bad. I'm not implying that that's the wrong thing to do. But getting 1000 views of you walking through a home doesn't translate to more business for you. Now, it's good for that listing, so I'm not saying you shouldn't. There's no should. It's good to promote that listing, and that's not a bad thing. But remember, if you're gonna do all that work, why not have some potential buyer capture for your business as well, for the furtherance of your business? So if your new virtual open house consists of hitting the Facebook Live button and running around that house like a crazy person and showing everybody the house, that's cool. Start there. Nothing wrong with that. Build in some lead capture so that your work that you're doing and those eyeballs that you're getting are a win.

Yeah. And we've got a lot of customers asking us, how do I fit Spatio into the virtual practice? So I'm gonna do a quick walkthrough of a feature that not a lot of people know about, but we've had it for a while, so now's a good time to highlight it. So I'm gonna just go to the Spatio dashboard here, which a lot of you hopefully are familiar with, and you can still use the Spatio sign in form for your virtual open houses. So for those of you that have Spatio, you've logged in, you see all your properties, you'll set up your virtual open house just like any other property. Set up your form and when you go to edit sign in form, you'll see on the right side that the first feature is a registration link. So we already generate a unique registration link which is a URL that you can send to people for them to sign in during during a virtual open house before or after. So you can still ask the same questions. Are you working with an agent or you mortgage pre approved? How did you find this property? Instead of, you know, maybe how did you find this open house? How did you find this virtual open house? So just tweak your questions to fit your your virtual business and when you do that, you can copy this link and you can when, when you send it out to your customers, this is the form that they're going to see when they click on it. So if you're doing a zoom, you can put this in your chat, you can put this in your confirmation email, you can put this. If you're doing a Facebook Live, you can put it in your Facebook Live description and you can even say something like hey. For those of you who are interested in Learning more about 123 Elm street, remember to fill out this form and you'll get an automatic email with a brochure. So make sure also that you're going to tweak your automated email to fit your virtual open house. When you go to Settings, go to email templates, it's the exact same template. So visitor follow up Open house. Instead of thanks for taking the time to attend my open house, change it to thanks for taking the time to attend my virtual open house. All of these fields, all the brochures can still, can still stay the same. So that's one way of continuing to use Spatio not just for your open houses, but using the registration form link instead of launching this on your iPad to make sure that you're capturing the information of people who are really interested. Now there's another way of being able to use these registration links to distribute your virtual open houses that have already been recorded. So let's say you already ran a webinar, you've recorded it, or maybe you've got matterport video or you've done a walkthrough video already that you want to distribute. You can go to property details and put in your under description. You can put your virtual tour link here with a little bit of description because this information is what will be in your auto emails when that automated email gets sent out. So once your virtual tour is inside Your property detail. You can send out this form and let people know. If you want a copy of my virtual open house, or if you want a copy of my virtual walkthrough, fill in this form and you will get an automated email with the recording link. This is almost working as like a gated landing page for the content you want to distribute. This is really no different than someone coming into your open house wanting a brochure and you saying, oh, have you signed in? And Keith, we've talked about that a few times as well.

Yep.

Yeah. So these are a couple ways that we'll be able to use Spatio in your virtual business. So just to kind of reiterate that the first way is you can use Spatio to capture leads at a virtual open house by putting that link in your chat or in your Facebook Live, in your comments, in the description. And you can also use it to distribute your already recorded virtual tours by requiring them to sign in on Spatio's lead capture form.

All right, I'm going to clear out some questions. So one is, who are we sending these community profiles to? Remember, you're marketing through a lot of different channels. Any of the normal ones you would use. Personally, I would use Facebook. I think it's relatively inexpensive and you get great, great reach. So I would use Facebook marketing to do this and then people will start to show up to your. Think of it like a webinar, just like Melissa and I are doing. How did you guys hear about it? She probably sent you a couple hundred thousand emails inviting you to come. So you market your virtual open house out to the masses and try to let people know that it's coming. One technical question. Can you add a Vimeo link inside the Spatio product?

Yeah. So just make sure that you're adding the Vimeo link under property details in the description field. And then there is an email tag in the auto email that drags that description field to populate the auto email. And I'll send out a training video on how to do this as a follow up. But don't put the Vimeo link directly in your auto email template. Otherwise every property will get the same auto email with that Vimeo link. Right.

Spatio's URL for the virtual open house does not expire. Question mark. I didn't communicate that. Right. With the correct tonality.

No, it doesn't expire.

Okay, so you can continue it on different platforms, Facebook or YouTube? Yes, yes, you can. Let's see. Can we have more than one template? If I change the template to virtual. Will I need to change it back to actual Open house when all this craziness ends? Good question.

So that's a really great, great question, and that's a great segue into what I wanted to talk about next. So just a really quick sneak peek screenshot on what's coming up in Spatio in the next 10 to 14 days. So we've been working on this already in the past two weeks. We're expanding our product beyond open houses to support virtual open houses and virtual tours. So right now, when you go to Spatio, there is only one form, the Open House form, that you can customize. In about two weeks, when you log into spatio, you'll see two additional forms with two 10 to 14 days. So we've been working on this already in the past two weeks. We're expanding our product beyond open houses to support virtual open houses and virtual tours. So right now, when you go to Spatio, there is only one form, the Open House form that you can customize. In about two weeks, when you log into Spatio, you'll see two additional forms with two additional email templates that support that. What you're seeing here is a virtual Open House form. This is where on the top you can put your Zoom link, your Facebook Live link. We'll generate a Spatio share link so that when people fill in that form, they'll be returned with the information on how to join your virtual open house. Right now, yes, if you change your template, you will have to change it back. But in about two weeks, we have a dedicated form and a dedicated email template specifically for you to distribute your virtual open houses. The form is going to look a little different. So additional email templates that support that. So what you're seeing here is a virtual Open House form. So this is where on the top you can put your Zoom link. Your Facebook Live link will generate a Spatio share link so that when people fill in that form, they'll be returned with the information on how to join your virtual open house. So everything on this form you can customize. This is what the customer is going to see. Join me for Virtual Open House. A little bit of instructions on the top on. If you fill in this form, we'll send you a link to the live stream event. It'll have a countdown. So really, really dedicated for this purpose. And when this is out, you will not have to change your Open House template. So that's right now, yes, if you change your template, you will have to change it back. But in about two weeks we have a dedicated form and a dedicated email template specifically for you to distribute your virtual open houses. The form is going to look a little different. So an exciting update that we have coming up.

Okay, cleaning out questions, everything on this.

Form you can customize. This is what the customer is going to see. Join me for virtual open house.

Some I'm cleaning out via type, some I'm not. Lots of this is awesome. Thanks, Melissa. One question was is this going to be a fee on top to get all this new functionality inside of Spatio?

No, it's all free if you're a subscriber or if your brokerage is subscribing to us. So if your brokerage is not yet subscribing to us, it's a little bit of instructions on the top on if you fill in this form, we'll send you a link to the livestream event. It'll have a countdown. So really, really dedicated for this purpose and when this is out, you will not have to change your open house template. So that's an exciting update that we have coming up.

Okay, cleaning out questions, great reason to.

Go back to them and say this is what we need.

Yeah, yeah. Everyone who's asked about it being emailed, yes, you will get a link from Melissa if you do a virtual open house on Zoom. Can't you require registration, Beth? Yes you can. The thing that you want to toggle between that is how important is some I'm cleaning out via type, some I'm not. Lots of this is awesome. Thanks, Melissa. One question was is this going to be a fee on top to get all this new functionality inside of Spatio?

No, it's all free if you're a subscriber or if your brokerage is subscribing to us. So if your brokerage is not yet subscribing to us, it's of audience and.

Then how important is quality of potential leads. Personally I would go with not requiring a registration on the Zoom but then trying so I got as many people in the building as theoretical building as possible but then trying to capture once I have them there.

There's also a little bit of difference right between registering for any great reason to go back to them and say this is what we need.

Yeah, yeah. Everyone who's asked about it being emailed, yes, you will get a link from Melissa if you do a virtual open house on Zoom. Can't you require registration, Beth? Yes you can. The thing that you want to toggle between that is how important is like.

A webinar where you Require just the email and an actual real estate specific form where you get to learn a little more about these leads that are coming in. So are you working with an agent? How long have you been looking? Are you pre approved for a mortgage? You know, things that you might ask at a typical open house or of.

Anyone who size of audience and then how important is quality of potential lead? Personally, I would go with not requiring a registration on the Zoom, but then trying. So I got as many people in the building as theoretical building as possible, but then trying to capture once I have them there.

There's also a little bit of difference. Right. Between registering for any who's calling you off the mls. Those are features that you won't have on a typical webinar registration because they're not built around real estate. Whereas with the Spatio form it helps you further qualify those leads. And really people that fill this in are the people who are actually interested in either your services or the listing that you're promoting. Like a webinar where you require just the email and an actual real estate specific form where you get to learn a little more about these.

Well, we have to send this form only via Spatio. It's a link that they can send all sorts of different ways, correct?

Yeah. So it's just a link that you copy within the Spatio dashboard and you can leads that are coming in. So are you working with an agent? How long have you been looking? Are you pre approved? Put it on social media, you can put it in your mailchimp email list, you know, whatever it might be for mortgage, you know, things that you might ask at a typical open house or of anyone who you can text. People on WhatsApp. Yeah, so it's, it's completely separate from sending it out on our, on our platform.

A lot of people asking when will this be out? When will this be out? When will.

Well, you can use the feature today. It's a little bit hackish, but this will be out in the next two weeks. So definitely before. Before April.

Okay. So coming out in the next two weeks.

Yeah. Who's calling you off the mls? Right. So those are features that you won't have on a typical webinar registration because they're not built around real estate. Whereas with the Spatio form it helps you further qualify those leads. And really people that fill this in are the people who are actually interested in either your services or the listing that you're promoting. Yeah, yeah. So now we've talked about the presentation template, what to present. I know just Presenting in general, even though we do it every day, one on one. Right. It's not something that a lot of agents do on a regular basis. And you're super voting.

See, will we have to send this form only via Spatio? It's a link that they can send all sorts of different ways, correct?

Yeah. So it's just a link that you copy within the Spatio dashboard and you can put it on social media, you can put it in your mailchimp email list, you know, whatever it might be for natural at it. You talk to thousands of people all the time. Yeah. What are some presentation best practices? Right. It's hard to get started on something that's brand new, but I do think it's important to get started.

Yeah. I want to start with the way you get good at something is by doing it a lot. And a couple of months ago, I went back and found some of the first videos I ever did.

Probably you can text people on WhatsApp. Yeah. So it's completely separate from sending it out on our platform.

A lot of people asking, when will this be out? When will this be out?

Well, you can use the feature today. It's a little bit hackish, but this will be out in the next two weeks, so definitely before April.

Okay. So coming out in the next two weeks.

Yeah.

Maybe eight to 10 years ago. And man, they were bad, y'. All. They were terrible. And at the time I thought they were pretty good. So, like, the first thing to remember is it's a journey, it's not a destination. Every time you start something new, you're not very good at it. Give yourself a little grace, have a little humility and just start and you will get better. Yeah.

Yeah. So now we've talked about the presentation template, what to present. I know. Just presenting in general, even though we do it every day, one on one. Right. It's not.

The other thing to remember is it feels super weird to, like, hold up your phone.

Something that a lot of agents do on a regular basis.

And you're super talk to your face. That's odd. We don't do that a lot. Right. Most of us, unless you're just a super narcissist, knows most of us don't do that a lot. So accept that it's weird. It's okay. You want to up your energy level a little bit when you're communicating supernatural at it.

You talk to thousands of people all the time. What are some presentation best practices? Right. It's hard to get started on something that's brand New. But I do think it's important to.

Catering through a screen versus face to face. You don't want to go full shamwow.

Get started.

Yeah. I want to start with the way you get good at something is by doing it a lot and it'll feel a little. If it feels a little uncomfortable. Like a couple of months ago I went back and found some of the first videos I ever did. Probably man, I'm kind of like I'm a little extra right now. Then you're probably just about right because you don't have as many of the non verbals. There's not eye contact. There's things that you cannot replicate via a screen medium. Maybe eight to 10 years ago and man, they were bad, y'. All, they were terrible. And at the time I thought they were pretty good. So like the first thing to remember. So upping your energy a little bit using PowerPoint, it's a journey, it's not a destination. Every time you start something new, you're not very good. Points as your guide. I do like the concept of using PowerPoints is good because it helps keep you on track if you're in it. Give yourself a little grace, have a little humility and just start and you will get better. You've got really specific data sets that you want to make sure you remember. Plug those in there.

I think you can get really creative.

The other thing to remember is it feels super weird to hold up your phone and talk to your face. That's odd. We don't do that a lot most of us.

Unless you're too right. We talked about a new kind of virtual open house and a template but you don't have to do all of them if you are not comfortable.

Just a super narcissist knows most of us don't do that a lot. So accept that it's weird. It's okay. You want to up your energy level a little bit when you're communicating with certain parts.

Right. You can manipulate it a bit. You can pick and choose what fits your personality and your practice and get creative around that. Like this is just one way and there are many different ways of presenting. But I think it's most important to do something that you're comfortable with. And I think it's hard to talk at an audience when there's no feedback.

Right through a screen versus face to face. You don't want to go full shamwow but it'll feel a little. If it feels a little uncomfortable, like man, I'm kind of like I'm a little extra right now then you're probably just about right because you don't have as many of the non verbals there's.

Like to run a webinar on your own, at least for me is a little bit daunting. So what I do is I find a co host.

Yeah. Right.

So here you are. And now there's this back and forth. Like a lot of times I'm not too familiar with platform. I don't know if people can see what I'm seeing. I don't know. My sound is okay. So having a co host, not eye contact.

There's things that you cannot replicate via a screen medium. So upping your energy a little bit using PowerPoints as your guide. I do like the concept of using.

PowerPoints really helps ease that. And it's again no different than running a physical open house where sometimes you have someone sitting there to help you with people coming in.

Is good because it helps keep you on track. I've gotten this a couple times. So will we be able to add this open house invite to Zillow? I don't see why you wouldn't. Although I think Zillow turned that off last. You've got really specific data sets that you want to make sure you remember. Plug those in. I heard. So this could be bad data. I haven't checked lately. But a lot of the portals were turning off the open house feature in a way to discourage people from going there. So I don't know if that's turned back on or if they've shifted to this sort of virtual open house concept. But if that link still is there and in there, there are some.

I think you can get really creative too. Right. Like we talked about, a new kind of virtual open house and a template.

It's hot. I would assume you could share it. Yes. We will have this video available for you. All right. I've heard you refer to this virtual open house as being live. And I see the word live used in new prototype messages. But my state of Michigan.

But you don't have to do all of them if you are not comfortable.

Will not be live unless the homeowner does it themselves. Yeah. So. And sue, we talked earlier about with.

With certain parts, right. You can manipulate it a bit. You can pick and choose what fits your personal.

My concept for this is more is not you walking through the open house. This is actually you hosting a webinar where you would gather collateral about the community and the home itself and then share that via webinar. Sort of like Melissa and I are doing right now replicating that first time a buyer went out to look at.

Property on their personality in your practice and get creative around that. Like this is just one way and there are many different ways of presenting. But I think it's most important to do something that owns.

And you will all get a copy. We will send you a copy of the recording. Promise.

Yeah. So what I also have is you're comfortable with and I think it's hard to talk at an audience when there's no feedback. Right. I had our designer create a generic template of this virtual open house concept that I'll send out in a follow up email as well. So you just have to put your photo like to run a webinar on your own, at least for me is a little bit daunting. So what I do, contact information, your logo and you can use some of the slides that we've pre created pre designed for you to get started on this presentation very quickly.

Great question, Beth. I'm going to bring this up. I answered it in chat a couple times.

But who is I find a co host.

Yeah, right.

That's a great idea. Yeah. So here you are and now there's this back and forth. Like there's a of lot of times I'm not too familiar with the platform.

I assume I could use Boost from Home Spotter as a way to amplify this virtual open house concept.

Yeah. So that's a really great question. Boost has just come out with. I don't know if people can see what I'm seeing. I don't know. My sound is okay. So having a cohort virtual open house ads yesterday. So we just did an announcement on the new ad type. So now when you go into your Boost dashboard, you'll be able to boost your virtual open house on Facebook, Instagram and other major sites really helps ease that. And it's again no different than running a physical open house.

Where sometimes Beverly asked, if you're doing a virtual open house on someone else's listing, how do you get the photos.

Without going do you have someone sitting there to help you with people coming in the house?

Well, I would, number one, I would get permission from the listing agent. And then I've gotten this a couple times. So we'll be able to add this open house invite to Zillow. We'll just pull the MLS photos assuming that the quality was good enough that you could use or you could ask the listing agent for their photos. Although that adds a layer of complexity and pain on their Part, but find the best photos that you can. I don't see why you wouldn't. Although I think Zillow turned that off last year. Okay. Any other best practices you want to share or anything else you want to ask me on best practices? Melissa?

I don't know. I think we covered a lot of them.

I do do it like her. So this could be bad data. I haven't checked lately, but a lot of the portals were turned. Look, here's the rundown. Do it a lot. Give yourself a little grace. You're going to hate the way you're living off the open house feature in a way to discourage people from going there on camera. Yeah. Super normal. So I don't know if that's turned back on or if they've shifted to this sort of virtual.

Have to be long, right? Like the presentation.

Yeah. It starts short if you want get better at it. But like you had that face when you sold all those other houses you'll be able to sell. Sell houses with that one you've got right now too.

So.

I promise, I promise.

I mean, I think I'll open house concept.

But if. If that link still is there and.

Add that especially when you're getting started and maybe you're nervous about doing it live, just try to do a recorded one. Like you don't have to do it on Zoom. There's a. There's a software called Loom Loom Video like L O O M and that allows.

It's hot. I would assume you could share it. Yes. We will have this video available for you. All right. I've heard you refer to this virtual open house as being live, and I see the word live used in new prototype messages. But my state of Michigan allows you.

To record your screen with a camera which you can practice on, but you can also do a recording of a virtual open house and distribute it that way if you're uncomfortable right now, doing it live. I mean, doing it live is great because you can do Q and A, there's some interaction, but if that scares you, just start somewhere first.

Not be live unless the homeowner does it themselves. Yeah. So. And sue, we talked earlier about like.

Don'T feel like you have to go the whole way right away.

Craig asked a really good question is how would agents best manage expectations of their sellers in a virtual open house? I think that's a really good question. I think you just gotta be really transparent that this is somewhat uncharted ground and that you're going to put some marketing spend behind it. You're going to do all you. My concept for this is not you walking through the open house. This is actually you hosting a webinar where you would gather collateral about the community and the home itself and then share that via webinar. Sort of like Melissa and I are doing right now can do to promote this virtual open house for their property and try to increase the exposure to potential buyers in your neighborhood. And you know, open house is a valuable part of marketing a home and because of it gets the eyeballs of the more motivated buyer. And this is my attempt for you, Mr. Seller to do the exact replicating that first time a buyer went out to look at property on their same thing but do it at distance so everyone can be safe.

I mean I would say that they'd be impressed by that. Like a lot of people are kind of wondering, still a little bit in shock. Right what's happening right now. Thinking about new ways to enhance their business and to thinking of new ways to continue their business practice. And I would think that.

And you will all get a copy. We will send you a copy of the recording promise.

Yeah. So what I also had is I had our designer create a generic template of this virtual open house concept that I'll send out in a follow up email as well. So you just have to put your photo as sellers would appreciate that there's some activity versus waiting it out.

Okay. What's the best time of day or days? Mike? Good question.

That's a good question.

It is. We've been playing with. We're doing some consumer facing webinars just because there's so much confusion around the government's response to Covid and we're playing.

With different days, times, contact information, your logo and you can use some of the slides that we've pre created pre designed for you to get started on this presentation. Right.

My real truthful answer is Mike, I don't know. But I know if you do 30 of them, you'll know and you could tell us. I would try. The first thing I would do is try during the week, in the evening, probably seven. Great question, Beth. I'm gonna bring this up. I answered it in chat a couple times. But 10pm ish your time, maybe try six, try seven. Eight's probably a little too late. But you know there's that those of us with kids. I have an eight year old. There's that magic window. I assume I could use boost from home Spotter as a way to amplify this virtual between after dinner and bedtime where Usually I can have a cocktail and unwind a little bit. That's the window that I would try to find whatever that open house concept.

Yeah, so that's a really great question. Boost has just come out with virtual open house ads yesterday. So we just did an announcement.

Feels right for that in your marketplace. And then I would also try just the classic sort of Sunday at 2pm that's kind of the historic start time for Northern California, where I live, on.

The new ad type. So now when you go into your booth dashboard, you'll be.

So I would test that too. My guess is that doesn't perform as well because people are home now, right? They're home more. Yeah, people are home. But I would test a few different ones and see. But I would try like a Tuesday or Wednesday in the evening and then the Sunday or whatever, the normal sort of prime time open house time is for your area.

Able to boost your virtual open house on Facebook, Instagram and other major sites.

Yeah. Linda asked for using the pictures from the listing. What's the benefit, Linda? The same way that you can provide context and information. Beverly asked, if you're doing a virtual open house on someone else's listing, how do you get the photos without going to the house? Well, number one, I would get permission from the listing agent. And then this is for the person who is looking to go further than what they can find on Zillow. They're trying to get past that. They're trying to really understand the nuance in the context of the. We'll just pull the MLS photos, assuming that the quality was good enough that you could use. Or you could ask the property, the home and the area.

What's an opportunity to do some storytelling, like have that visual but tell the story behind it as if you are walking buyer through the. Through the open house, which is something they will not be able to get on an online listing.

Okay. The listing agent for their photos, although that adds a layer of complexity. Do you need to get permission to use photos? My answer is yes. There could be some states where that's not a requirement. But I can tell you for California, it's yes, you need permission to use someone else's photos. Key and pain on their part, but find the best photos that you can. Okay. Any other best practice? I think that's everywhere, but I don't live everywhere, so I can't speak to that. Okay, let's see. Oh, yeah, perfect. Steve, this is. You want to share or anything else you want to ask me on best practices? Melissa, you said I just did a live walkthrough via Facebook. Someone wrote an offer, flew in to do the inspection. So it is. It is still happening out there. Yeah, I know that. Well, not everywhere. Some places, the county recorder's office is even closed. So literally all real estate is stopped. But in some parts of the country, it is still.

I don't know. I think we covered a lot of them.

Do do it moving. And you want to try to figure out a safe way to serve your clients and find new.

Yeah. But if this will. This will blow over. Right. At some point, there's some uncertainty.

Look, here's the rundown. Do it a lot.

Yeah.

Give yourself a little grace. You're gonna hate the way you look on camera. Yeah. Super normal.

And what a great way to spend your time building that funnel.

Exactly. Exactly. So I know we floated a new concept here that can sometimes be a little confusing. The first time you hear something, it sounds confusing as it is because it's new. Right. But this concept of a virtual open house. And maybe the title is a little confusing.

Have to be long. Right. Like the presentation.

Yeah. It starts short if you want, get better fusing. But my concept of a virtual open house is that initial day that a buyer goes out to look at three or four homes. You could just as easily, if you're not at a shelter, at it. But, like, you had that face when you sold all those other houses you'll be able to sell in place. Or it is shelter in place, but real estate's deemed essential, and you felt like it was safe for you to do it. You could go do a Facebook live and walk through the home. And as soon as Melissa and her team are done with the update, you could then have the capture right there and that. Start there if you want. But what we care about. Sell houses with that one you've got right now too. So. I promise. I promise.

I mean, I think I'll add that especially when you're getting started and maybe you're nervous about doing.

The reason that we're doing this video is we want you all to start. You cannot just sit on the sidelines. The agents that sit and just wait for this to blow over are going live.

Just try to do a recorded one. Like, you don't have to do it.

On to be starting the race while other people are already running. So they're gonna. The gun's gonna go off and the lights are gonna come back on, and some people are gonna get a running start, and some people are gonna get on zoom.

There's A there's a software called Loom Loom Video like L O O M.

And that allow a standing start and we want you to be the ones getting a running start.

But the content doesn't change, right? Keith, just because you're inside doing a Facebook Live, doing a live stream doesn't mean that a market update is not useful, right? Like you should still do the market update, you should still do the community profile, you should still talk about comparable properties. You to record your screen with a camera which you can practice on but you can also do a recording of a virtual open house and distribute it that way just as someone were inside your open house. Like you can walk if you're uncomfortable right now doing it live. I mean doing it live is great because you know you can walk through the open house and do the introduction but give them a little bit more information outside of just waiting for them to comment on the Facebook Live and asking you to go into different rooms. So I think you know, at least my takeaway here is whether you're doing this from home or whether it is safe for you to do a new Q and A. There's some interaction but if that scares you, just start somewhere first live stream at the property itself. That content that is presented today is really, really valuable information for you to deliver to an open house visitor or a buyer.

Okay, I know I've missed some of the questions but we've gotten to a lot. Several people have asked for a real live like is there an example or a recorded example?

Like don't feel like you have to go the whole way right away.

Craig asked a really good question is how would agents best manage expectations of their sellers in a virtual open house? I think that's a. I've got several agents in my company who have really good question. I think I you just got to be really transparent that this is who are scheduling them and working on it, getting the content put together. And Melissa, as soon as I get a recording of when I can send it to you, you can send it to the if you like. Currently I literally just talked to this concept to my company a week ago, not even a week ago. So there are somewhat uncharted ground and that you're going to put some marketing spend behind it. You're going to do all you run around right now getting it set up and then maybe Melissa, if it's okay if you hit your left arrow button it should take us back and I can just reframe quickly the summary of how to do it that one so the first thing you do is the market can do to promote this virtual open house for their property and try to increase the exposure to potential buyers in your neighborhood. And you know, open house is update. That's the first thing you do. You talk about the macro market. Remember you're doing a zoom meeting or a gotowebinar is a valuable part of marketing a home. And because it gets the eyeballs and you're replicating that first time that a buyer goes out to look at multiple properties in comparable price ranges, comparable homes and similar neighborhoods, you do a macro market update. Then you do the neighborhood or community update after that of the more motivated buyer. And this is my attempt for you, Mr. Seller, to do the exact. Dazzling them with your intellect and market knowledge all along the way, plus the ins and outs of a particular community. Then you profile your listing or a listing and then you repeat that step two or three times showing same thing but do it at distance so everyone can be safe.

I mean, I would say that they'd be impressed by that.

Giving them all the benefits and all of the information about the community.

Like a lot of people are kind of wondering, still a little bit in shock. Right.

What's happening and the properties. So at the end they understand that you have really good understanding of the.

Mac right now thinking about new ways to enhance their business and to grow.

Residential real estate market. They now know that, you know, two or three different communities and the features and benefits of those communities and they've seen the inside and the outside of a home with you providing real color and context to each one of those properties.

So thinking of new ways to continue their business practice. And I would think, I would think that.

And then in the end you're going to offer them more information or for more information on these properties or others. You just fill out the fancy dancy spatio registration link and sellers would appreciate.

That there's some activity versus waiting it out.

Boom. Magic shows up in your inbox so really fast. And you know, okay, what's the best time of day or day minute. That is the structure.

And we do have an example of one of the next home agent Brad's community profile video that we will send out in the fall is Mike.

Good question.

That's a good question.

It is. We've. We've been playing with as well. Yeah. Okay. Phew. I think we've cleared out a majority of the questions.

Awesome.

We're sending you a link. I still get that one a lot. Yes, we're going to. We're doing some Consumer facing webinars just because there's so much confusion around. I sent you a recording of this. You know, it's a new concept that you're gonna have to hear more than once. So we get that and Melissa will make sure that you get away.

Yeah. And if you guys end up doing this, let us know, please. Send us your examples. You know, we are, you know, now is a time to really share knowledge, lead through generosity, and just keep the industry going.

So if you are the government's response to Covid and we're playing with different days, times, my real truthful answer is, Mike, I don't know. But I know if you do 30.

Doing something special, if you're trying this concept out, let us know. Send us your video of them.

You'll know and you could tell us. I would try the first.

Like, we'd love to see it.

And if you hate this concept, do your concept.

But yeah, exactly.

Start with the Facebook Live from a vacant. That feels safe. And start there and ask them to register for more. Start there like this. Maybe this is too much. First thing I would do is try during the week, in the evening, probably seven. Mental scaffolding and brain damage for you to work your way through. Okay, you got an iPhone that's got Facebook Live. Hit the button. Or an Android. I don't want all those emails. Don't send me all those. Have a cell phone that's got Facebook on it and hit the Facebook Live button and see what happens. And then PM ish your time. Maybe try 6. Try 7. 8. Or start this and just do two properties. Or start this and just do your one property. But get it built and start the process for yourself so you can hit the ground running.

Absolutely.

Probably a little too late, but you know, there's that. Those of us with kids. I have an eight year old. There's that magic window between after dinner and bedtime where usually I can have a cocktail.

Well, Keith, thanks so much for your time today. It's always such a pleasure chatting with you.

I feel the same way. Anytime you need me, the answer is always yes.

I will take you up on that.

All right. And unwind a little bit. That's the window that I would try to find whatever that.

Okay. Have it recorded.

Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. Now it's canonized for life. Well, hey, everybody, stay safe out there. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Melissa, thank you again. I had a great time. And anything else I can do to help you, let us know.

All right, thanks everyone for your time.

Bye. Feels right for that in your marketplace. And then I would also try just the classic sort of Sunday at 2pm that's kind of the historic start time for Northern California, where I live. So I would test that, too. My guess is that doesn't perform as well because people are home now, right?

Well, they're home more.

Yeah, people are home. But I would test a few different ones and see. But I would try, like, a Tuesday or Wednesday in the evening, and then the Sunday or whatever, the normal sort of prime time open house time is for your area. Yeah. Linda asked for using the pictures from the listing. What's the benefit, Linda? The same way that you can provide context and information. This is for the person who is looking to go further than what they can find on Zillow. They're trying to get past that. They're trying to really understand the nuance in the context of the property, the home, and the area.

What's an opportunity to do some storytelling, have that visual, but tell the story behind it as if you are walking a buyer through the open house, which is something they will not be able to get on an online listing.

Okay. Do you need to get permission to use photos? My answer is yes. There could be some states where that's not a requirement. But I can tell you for California, it's yes, you need permission to use someone else's photos. I think that's everywhere. But I don't live everywhere, so I can't speak to that. Okay, let's see. Oh, yeah, perfect. Steve said, I just did a live walkthrough via Facebook. Someone wrote an offer, flew in to do the inspection. So it is. It is still happening out there. I know that. Well, not everywhere. Some places, the county recorder's office is even closed. So literally all real estate is stopped. But in some parts of the country, it is still moving. And you want to try to figure out a safe way to serve your clients and find new.

Yeah, but this will blow over, right? At some point, there's some uncertainty. And what a great way to spend your time building that funnel.

Exactly. Exactly. So I know we floated a new concept here that can sometimes be a little confusing. The first time you hear something, it seems it sounds confusing as it is because it's new. Right. But this concept of a virtual open house, and maybe the title is a little confusing, but my concept of a virtual open house is that initial day that a buyer goes out to look at three or four homes. You could just as easily, if you're not at a shelter in place or it is shelter in place, but real estate's deemed essential and you felt like it was safe for you to do it. You could go do a Facebook Live and walk through the home. And as soon as Melissa and her team are done with the, with the update, you could then have the capture right there and that start there if you want. But what we care about and the reason that we're doing this video is we want you all to start. You cannot just sit on the sidelines. The agents that sit and just wait for this to blow over are going to be starting the race while other people are already running. So they're going to. The gun's going to go off and the lights are going to come back on and some people are going to get a running start and some people are going to get a standing start. And we want you to be the ones getting a running start.

But the content doesn't change, right? Keith, just because you're inside doing a Facebook Live, doing a live stream doesn't mean that a market update is not useful, right? Like, you should still do the market update. You should still do the community profile. You should still talk about comparable properties just as someone were inside your open house. Like, you can walk through the open house and do the introduction, but give them a little bit more information outside of just waiting for them to comment on the Facebook Live and asking you to go into different rooms. So I think, you know, at least my takeaway here is whether you're doing this from home or whether it is safe for you to do a live stream at the property itself. That content that is presented today is really, really valuable information for you to deliver to an open house visitor or a buyer.

Okay, I know I've missed some of the questions, but we've gotten to a lot. Several people have asked for a real live, like is there an example or a recorded example? I've got several agents in my company who are scheduling them and working on it and getting the content put together. And Melissa soon is.