Open Houses have gone digital.

Shopping for a home virtually --meaning an open house conducted 100% online --is becoming more common. Shoppers relocating over long distances may not be able to attend physically. And others prefer a minimal contact showing.

Whatever your reason, today's virtual open houses are an enjoyable, convenient, and informative way to view your prospective new home. These are some of the ways real estate agents are doing virtual open houses:

Interactive/Live Virtual Open Houses

These can be hosted on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram or online conferencing platforms like Google Hangouts or Zoom. The real-time aspect allows for real-time engagement with the agent.

Static Videos

These are recorded ahead of time and uploaded onto platforms like their website, YouTube, Facebook, Zillow, or similar. There's typically a comment section to ask questions and view replies from previously asked questions.

VR 3D Walk-Through

In this instance, the agent had used a special camera to record the space (including depth), allowing you to click to "move around" the home and view it from various angles. The images are highly detailed and give you a more accurate sense of the space than other digital means of online open houses events.