Realtor.com on Friday jumped into virtual home sales with a new feature called Livestream Open Houses, which enables home shoppers to virtually attend live open houses.
“As COVID-19 continues to limit social interactions and group gatherings including open houses, realtor.com is working closely with MLSs to enable listing agents to show homes safely while practicing social distancing,” the company said in a press release.
Livestream Open Houses allow listing agents to show home shoppers around the property in real time. Open house attendees will be able to drop in at any time during the open house to hear about the listing and have a look around. Unlike virtual tours, these events are scheduled in advance and broadcast live so consumers can interact with the agent, ask questions and request to see specific home features up close.
“While virtual tours are a great resource for consumers, most home shoppers still want the opportunity to walk through a home with an agent and ask questions in real time,” said Ryan Green, vice president, product management, realtor.com. “Especially during this time of social distancing, realtor.com’s Livestream Open Houses will give agents the opportunity to showcase their properties, and will allow consumers the ability to still explore a home through a live online experience from the safety of their own homes.”
At launch, Livestream Open Houses will support a number of video platforms including Google Hangouts, Zoom, join.me and Zoho, with additional platforms to be added over time. Real estate agents can choose which video platform works best for their needs.
Livestream Open Houses is now available on realtor.com‘s web and mobile web experiences in available geographic areas. Home shoppers can select the time that works best for their schedule and join via the Open House section of a for sale property listing or by searching for properties with upcoming open houses.
