In-person tours still account for a far greater share of lease closings. But virtual tours help prospective renters narrow down their choices.

As in-person apartment viewings return, industry sources say the technologies used during the shelter-in-place period will stick around even after the coronavirus pandemic ends.

The use of virtual apartment showings and paperless leasing spiked during the pandemic, says Stacy Holden, industry principal and director at AppFolio, a property management software company. Around 64 percent of 1,000 property owners surveyed by the company believe virtual showings are here to stay. Holden says these results indicate property management and leasing teams are seeing substantial value in virtual showings, even beyond the pandemic era. Around 71 percent of property management companies have increased their priority of virtual showings, while 43 percent have increased the priority of paperless leasing, according to the survey.

“There will always be a subset of people who will prefer to go the virtual tour route. That will not go away,” says Holden. “Additionally, online leasing with e-sign options, no matter if a prospect does an in-person or virtual tour, will always win the day over paper documents. It is fundamentally a more streamlined way of approaching leasing, and it makes all the difference for everyone involved.”

Jim Love, vice president of marketing and brand at Chicago-based Draper and Kramer Inc., a property and financial services company, agrees that virtual apartment tours are here to stay. “The process was already trending in this direction, and the shutdown merely accelerated that shift. We do not see this as revamped, but the way things were headed anyway and where we were already investing.”