The pandemic has disrupted the very personal experience of buying and selling real estate and become the spark for real estate companies to pivot into virtual modes of operation. Ahead of the technological curve is Tampa Bay’s largest locally owned real estate brokerage firm, Smith & Associates Real Estate. The company quickly adapted and was already prepared to offer a highly-personalized approach through digital means. With online concierge services staffed by real estate professionals, increased virtual tour offerings, 360-degree views of listings, and an Offer Optimizer for online buying and selling, Smith’s navigational tools along with Virtual Open Houses have met the needs of buyers and sellers in Tampa Bay.

This past weekend, the organization held its second Company-wide Virtual Open House Event featuring twenty one Tampa Bay properties. How it worked… The Smith real estate agents signed up for an 8-minute time slot per property. On Sunday, all the agents joined the Zoom conference. During their 8 minute window, they were spotlighted on Zoom and took over the screen. Each agent gave a walkthrough of their property to showcase the home’s finest features and help the live audience feel the experience of being in the home. Simultaneously, Smith streamed the Zoom conference on Facebook LIVE to increase viewership. Social ads, digital ads, and an email blast to website subscribers all linked back to the SmithVirtualOH.com, which included event information. The link has all the properties, agent names, and Facebook links for future viewing.

“We recognized early on that merging technology with the wisdom of our expert agents was going to be invaluable to offering our clients the safety and customer service they deserve while buying or selling real estate. The work we did to host a company-wide Virtual Open House event has become a model for how real estate companies around the country can pivot into a comprehensive experience for buying a home with safety prioritized,” says Bob Glaser, Smith & Associates Real Estate President and CEO.

Trendsetters and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World are two of Smith’s global affiliations that are looking at implementing this Virtual Open House approach with other agencies needing to shift their Open House events to digital hosting. All 350 of the Smith employees were supplied with social media graphics, webpage link, and the email campaign.

Almost 5,000 people viewed the Virtual Open House page with more than 200 individual clicks on listings during the event. The video continues to get reach and views on the Smith Facebook page.

By quickly adapting to a virtual mode of operation, the navigational tools and Virtual Open House events allow potential Tampa Bay homeowners to step into lush interiors, view amenities and enhances their knowledge of the home’s neighborhood all while taking precautions in our post-pandemic environment.