Do units need to be vacant for contactless viewings?
Showing occupied units is never easy - particularly for the person moving out. Our showings system was designed to give the current occupant full control over when showings can and can't happen. This way, they're not constantly fielding calls from strangers trying to get access. They definitely aren't getting surprise knocks on the door when they weren't expecting it.
We have put additional precautions into place in light of COVID-19 - skip to the bottom of this post to learn more about those.
Renters are only able to book a showing within the whitelisted time windows. As long as you or your tenant chooses time windows when they know they will be out of the house, viewings should happen smoothly. Each unit has its own showings calendar so the best way to make sure your calendar is up-to-date is to click on the unit in question and then click where it says "Manage viewing settings"
In this example, the user has made Monday and Tuesday afternoons available for showings and is about to add another time window on Thursdays.
You can return to your calendar at any time as your plans change, so that you never have to worry about viewings getting booked when you don't want them to.
Extra precautions for occupied showings during COVID-19
We have put precautions into place to make sure that Caretaker users can view potential new homes as safely as possible. This means that it is perfectly safe for you to setup and host contactless showings even while you, or the current tenant, are still living in the unit.
A few things to keep in mind:
Buffer windows before and after showings
According to experts, the virus can only remain airborne for a period of 30 minutes. Open up viewing slots for times of the day when you know you will be able to be out of the house for at least two hours in order to allow one hour for showings and thirty minutes on either side of this. If someone booked a showing at noon then you shouldn't return to your place until at least 1:30.
Renters must wear masks at all times
Each renter who books a viewing will be warned about Caretaker guidelines for what to do and what to wear during a contactless viewing, including that they must wear a mask at all times.
Leave hand sanitizer by the door
We are doing our best to include extra personal protective equipment like hand sanitizer and masks in your keybox shipment so that you can leave it by your unit door or hanging on the keybox itself. If we weren't able to get this up and running in time for you, and you have either hand sanitizer or extra masks on hand, leave them by the door. This will make it very hard for prospective viewers not to oblige.