Thanks to resourceful real estate experts, consumers in the market for a new home can still take advantage of open houses...without leaving the safety of their own homes.

Home-search portal realtor.com® recently launched the availability of livestream open houses in response to the restrictions in place to abate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Just like traditional open houses, livestream open houses allow listing agents to show home shoppers around the property in real-time. Open house attendees will be able to drop-in at any time during the open house to hear about the listing and have a look around. Unlike virtual tours, these events are scheduled in advance and conducted as a live broadcast so that consumers can interact with the agent, ask questions and request to see specific home features up close.

Currently, the livestream open houses are supporting a number of video platforms including Google Hangouts, Zoom, join.me and Zoho, with additional platforms to be added over time. Real estate agents will choose which video platform works best for their needs. The livestream events are available through realtor.com®’s web and mobile platforms in several geographic areas. Home shoppers can select the time that works best for their schedule and join via the open house section of a for sale property listing or by searching for properties with upcoming open houses.

The livestream open houses are designed to meet the needs of homebuyers who are still actively interested in pursuing their real estate plans, despite the challenges of social distancing. A recent consumer survey from realtor.com® and Toluna Insights found that with access to accurate listing data, detailed photos, virtual and live video tours, 24 percent of people (and 29 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds) would be willing to buy a home without seeing it in person. Further, 21 percent of people agree that COVID-19 has made them more likely to move into a home without stepping foot in it first.