How it works
A lockbox opens a door. It cannot tell you who came in.
Instant Home Tour runs the whole showing: it verifies the buyer, checks they are actually at the property, issues a code that dies with the tour, and tells you the moment the door opens and closes. Here is the full sequence.
Every showing leaves a record
The platform writes an event for each step below — verification, code issued, door opened, door locked. That log is what turns an unattended showing into something you can actually account for afterward.
One tour, start to finish
The same sequence runs on every listing, whether or not anyone is watching.
- At booking
The buyer is verified before anything else
First-time buyers complete a government ID and selfie check through Stripe Identity. Verification happens once. Every tour after that reuses the verified record, so a repeat buyer books in seconds.
Buyer notified - 15 min before
The access window opens
The button to request a code stays locked until the tour window is close. Nobody can pull a code hours early and hold onto it.
- At the door
Location is checked before a code is issued
The buyer has to be within a mile of the property to request the code. A request from further out is refused and recorded as an anomaly on the tour.
- Seconds later
A single-use code is written to the lock
Six digits, tied to that buyer and that tour, valid only for the booked window plus ten minutes. It is texted to the buyer and written directly to the lock. It is not a shared code and it is not reused.
Buyer notified - On entry
The door opens and everyone who should know, knows
The lock reports the unlock and the tour goes active. The listing agent gets an entry alert by email and text. If the seller opted in, they get one too.
Agent notifiedSeller notified - On exit
The re-lock is confirmed, not assumed
When the door locks, the tour closes and exit alerts go out. The platform then checks that the property actually reports secured — and if it cannot confirm that, it tries to lock remotely and alerts the agent.
Agent notifiedSeller notified - After
The code is removed from the lock
The code is deleted at the end of the window. A background sweep catches anything left behind, so codes do not quietly accumulate on a door.
When a showing does not go to plan
Most tours are uneventful. These are the cases that decide whether unattended showings are worth doing at all.
Someone stays past their window
If the tour window passes with no re-lock recorded, the agent and seller are alerted with how many minutes over it has been.
The door does not re-lock
An unsecured vacant property is the worst outcome, so an unconfirmed lock state triggers a remote lock attempt and an alert rather than being written off.
The buyer never shows
No-shows are detected and closed out on their own, and any code that was issued is cleaned up.
The buyer needs help
Buyers can add an emergency contact and share a live tour link, and can raise an alert from inside the app during a showing.
Someone tries from the wrong place
Code requests from outside the property radius are refused and written to the tour record.
You need to prove what happened
Every step above is written to a per-tour event log: who was verified, when the code was issued, when the door opened and closed.
No power, no WiFi
Vacant properties are not always connected
A listing can run in offline mode, which issues time-based codes to a lockbox that never needs an internet connection. You give up live entry alerts on those listings — the buyer confirms their own exit instead — in exchange for being able to show a property with the utilities off.
Questions
Are buyers verified before they can tour a home?
Yes. Before a first tour, every buyer completes a government ID and selfie check through Stripe Identity. Verification happens once at registration and is reused for later tours. Nobody receives an access code without a verified record.
Does the listing agent know when someone enters the property?
Yes. The listing agent receives an entry alert by email and text message the moment the lock reports that the door has been opened, and an exit alert when it re-locks. Both alerts include the property address and the time.
Can the seller be notified about showings?
Yes. Sellers can be added to a listing with their own contact details and consent, and they receive entry and exit notifications for tours at their property.
What stops a buyer from sharing the access code?
Each code is generated for one buyer and one tour, is valid only during that booked window plus a ten-minute grace period, and is deleted from the lock afterward. Codes are not shared across buyers and are not reused between tours.
What happens if a buyer stays past their tour window?
If the window passes with no re-lock recorded, the platform raises an overstay alert to the listing agent and the seller that includes how many minutes past the window it has been.
What if the door does not lock behind them?
After a tour the platform verifies that the property reports a secured state. If it cannot confirm that, it attempts to lock the door remotely and alerts the listing agent.
Does the property need WiFi?
No. Listings can be set to offline mode, which uses time-based codes that work on a lockbox with no internet connection at the property. Offline showings trade real-time entry alerts for the ability to run anywhere.
What smart locks are supported?
Kwikset, Schlage, Yale, August, and igloohome, connected through Seam. An igloohome Keybox works for properties where you would rather leave a key than replace the deadbolt.
Put a listing on it
Your first listing runs free for 14 days, no card required. Connect a lock, set your showing hours, and let verified buyers tour it.