SFAR has been running Virtual Broker Tours (VBT) now for several weeks with strong attendance. We see 60 to 70 participants and have averaged about 35 listings per meeting. The meeting has been about 80 minutes roughly. Members have asked for a guide for our new VBT program, and we're here to deliver!
Registering for the Zoom meeting for Virtual Broker Tour
The registration for Virtual Broker Tour is always located here (you can bookmark this page):
https://my.sfrealtors.com/news-members-home-menu/677-details-on-sfar-s-weekly-virtual-broker-tour
Preparing Before the Virtual Broker Tour Meeting
In a Word document, Google Doc, or notepad application (or anything you can use to type in some text to prepare) create the following short blurb of text (but do not post it anywhere, just PREPARE it). Please format it on 4 lines like this:
Full Property Website URL (example https://www.yourpropertywebsite.com)
District and/or Sub-District (or just Neighborhood)
#Bedroom #Bathroom Sq. Ft. (example: 2bd 2ba 1022sqft)
Current List Price $
We will use these blurb summaries to create a list of properties that were on our VBT. We are planning to start publishing the list in our Office Liaison Report to Broker-Managers the following day, and also putting up an article in the News section of our member website. Help us, help you, get the maximum exposure for your listing!
How to Present a Listing
During the HOST's intro to the meeting, you will be asked to Raise Your Hand in the Zoom meeting. DO NOT POST ANYTHING, just raise your hand. The HOST will make a list of raised hands and will go down the list. When the HOST calls on YOU to talk, then you will post your prepared blurb into the chat window.
For listing CONTENT we would like you to have a single-property website URL available to use. It can be from your Broker provided website, or from a product you subscribe to. Whatever you choose to use, it must adhere to these guidelines:
Must be a publicly visible URL (does not require a "login" to see the page)
Cannot have Flash/Video elements (video will not stream properly over the Zoom meeting for all attendees)
Should have a photo gallery that the meeting hosts can cycle through as you're talking about your listing
Thank you so much for helping us have a great meeting by following these pointers!
What if I have two or three listings? Good question - if you have 2 or 3 listings you wish to present, we would ask you to Raise Your Hand and present your first/best listing when called upon by the host. After you present, please Raise Your Hand again, so that you can be added to the queue again and can be called upon a second time. After your second listing, repeat the process again and you will be queued to the end to present your last listing.
If You’re Not Presenting
Attending without presenting is easy! Just register for the meeting using the same registration link and then do NOT raise your hand at the beginning of the meeting when the HOST calls on people to do so. Simply relax and enjoy the listing presentations. As a courtesy to your other meeting participants, make sure you stay MUTED during the meeting so we don't have extensive background noise. Thank you.
Using Zoom for Virtual Broker Tour
How to Exit Full Screen
Getting zoom out of full screen is very helpful in order to see the chat window and other important controls you’ll need to show your listing and see if you’ve raised your hand. The best way to quickly do that is to move your mouse to the top of the window to show the top control bar and then open the menu View Options and select Exit Full Screen.
Critical Zoom Meeting Controls
1. The primary ZOOM meeting controls click “Participants” to find the "Raise Hand" button.
2. At the top, one person will be your HOST (who will call on you to present).
3. The small blue hand indicates that you’ve raised your hand.
4. The button for raising your hand (or see the shortcut key below).
Zoom Cheats (shortcuts and tips)
Chat Window – you can find/show the chat window for putting in your prepared listing text by directly opening it using a shortcut key command (which will toggle Show/Hide):
Windows: Alt + H
MacOS: Command(⌘) + H
Participants Window – you will need the participants window to see the “Raise Hand” button which is used to notify the host that you want to present your listing during today’s meeting:
Windows: Alt + U
MacOS: Command(⌘) + U
Raise Hand – to raise your hand and indicate you have a listing to present, go to the Participant Window and click the Raise Hand button (4 in the diagram):
Windows: Alt + Y
MacOS: Command(⌘) + Y
For more, please check out the Zoom documentation on shortcut keys:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205683899-hot-keys-and-keyboard-for-zoom
