A live-streaming app may change the way property managers conduct routine and end-of-lease inspections.
BDM Coach director Deniz Yusuf said he’s been teaching property managers how to use the Periscope app for property inspections due to its accessibility and convenience.
“You can walk through the property and talk to the prospective tenants that are viewing the property,” he told RPM.
“The potential tenants can even ask questions like, ‘Can you go back into the kitchen and show me the pantry?’ and view everything through a live feed.”
Periscope, which was developed six months ago, can automatically link to Twitter and Facebook accounts to help create a cross-platform marketing strategy, according to Mr Yusuf.
“Periscope also saves videos to your device, so you can upload it to your YouTube channel and link it to your website, as well as online portals like realestate.com.au and Domain,” he said.
Mr Yusuf said one of the added benefits of Periscope is the ability to send private streams to select people, particularly with end-of-lease vacates and routine inspections.
“Say a property manager sends a report to the owner to say a flyscreen is a little bit damaged – they can send a private ‘scope’ to the owner who can visually see whether or not it’s just wear and tear, which speeds up the process at that end,” he said.
Professionals Arthur Johnston Snowball director Greg Pearson has been using Periscope since early September and has carried out 14 inspections with more than 400 live viewers.
“It makes things a lot easier since potential tenants are now a lot more informed before they actually get to the property,” he told RPM.
Mr Pearson admits he was hesitant at first since his agency was already conducting video walk-through tours for properties.
“Once we started to see Periscope in use and people could actually interact live, it meant tenants could better figure out if the property’s right for them and it started to make sense why it’s better than a virtual tour,” he said.