Virtual Life With Virtual Rental Home Showings?

“Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing, (Baby)”

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

I don’t think I’ve ever written on the same topic four months in a row, but COVID-19 has affected every facet of life so abruptly; it’s tough to avoid. 

Everything in life has changed when you can’t be with other people and are scared (or not allowed) to go places.  Some things have been enhanced (more time with your family in your home & no commute) and others have been limited or discontinued. 

In the limited and discontinued space, compromises were made to replicate virtually what was lost physically:

“If we can’t meet in person, we’ll have an awesome Zoom.com meeting.”

“Let’s do drive-in church where we watch our pastor on a big screen from the church parking lot in our cars and honk when we like what he says.”

“Let’s watch world-renown artists sing in their homes instead of going to watch them live in a stadium.”

“With no live sports, let’s re-watch Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals or NASCAR’s iRacing where their drivers are essentially playing a video game from their homes.  That’s awesome!”

 “There’s no need to hold the new grandson when you can just FaceTime him and wave!  It’s virtually the same thing.”

These compromises, though necessary, are certainly not the same thing; I’d say they are not even close.  It’s like seeing a shadow of a person instead of the person.  Or it’s like seeing a picture of the New York City as opposed to standing in the middle of Times Square.  These compromises are largely ineffective, counterfeit replacements.

I remember in my early sales career when I tried to avoid the time and energy of meeting customers, my boss would always say, “You can’t fax a handshake.”  (Note: in retrospect, I need to never give that example again as both of those things seem to be relics of the past and will make me sound really dated...)  Nevertheless, the point is that there is immense value in seeing people, places, and things in person. 

A Realtor friend of mine called me the other day and was talking about how “virtual” house buying (aka seeing a video of a house and making an offer sight unseen) was gaining enormous traction.  And really, I have no problems from that from the sales-side.

Why?  In NC, we are a caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”) state; this essentially means that after you close on a property, there are no “take-backs”.  Once the house is bought, it’s yours- it’s over even if after you move-in you decide you don’t like it for some reason.

With rental homes, it’s a different story.  Back when we first started offering property management in Charlotte, BDF Realty would allow “sight unseen” rentals.  Most of the time, it was fine.  But there were a small number of people who decided they hated the house after they actually saw it in-person; this created problems.  They had already signed a lease and had moved in their furniture when they decided they wanted to move.  The reason was a problem with the neighborhood, or the size if the rooms when they were actually in them, or a number of things that would have been avoided if they had seen the rental home in person.  But, unlike when a house is sold, there was someone they could complain to- the property manager.

Virtual rental home showings just can’t replicate what seeing a home in-person can.  Sometimes just driving a neighborhood or stepping into a home will immediately eliminate it from consideration.  We don’t want renters being forced to live in a home for a year if it is going to be a disaster from the get-go.  That’s not good for anyone- the renters, owners, or the management company.

Virtual life has its limits.  It’s wise to exercise caution on the rental home side with a virtual-only approach.  There ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby!

Happy Landlording!