The Hot Trend in Real Estate: Virtual Reality
The imagination is a powerful element in all walks of life. Science fiction has become a reality in today’s technological fancies. A new technology has made its way into the real estate industry, giving sellers and buyers a new way to interact with the real estate agent. Consumers who want to buy a home in today’s market may have a choice of methods for viewing the property.
Thirty years ago, Realtors had very limited means of showing properties. In those days, the multiple listing system (MLS) was printed and disseminated weekly to agents and brokers. As real estate technology progressed, the industry moved into online listings with pictures and descriptions and even guided imagery as potential clients viewed the properties.
Is virtual reality the newest trend? Three-dimensional viewing is more dynamic. Photographers take pictures from every angle for a more natural looking representation than the two-dimensional version. This technology is viable for the various types of real estate needs.
Residential Properties
Real estate technology is cutting edge. Companies have developed, and are continuing to develop, technology that will bring properties to life so that buyers, sellers, developers, and real estate personnel can have access to properties, even before they are built.
Visualizing architecture that has not been built is challenging, but the rise of virtual reality in real estate allows buyers to preview these properties, both inside and outside, to have an understanding of what they will be getting.
So, not only is it an emerging trend in the buying and selling of residential properties, it is also a way for developers to promote properties that are in the development stage as well as those that are already built. The interactivity of this new technology is appealing to consumers.
This can be a win for the real estate agent as he or she can impress clients with more potential buyers without the need for time-consuming weekend open houses that net more “looky loos” than serious buyers. Automation has always fascinated people, and as this cutting-edge home technology takes off, it will likely leave non-compliant agents in the dust.
Realtors can boast an online open house that is available any time a buyer wants to see it. This will be especially appealing to millennials who expect instant gratification in their daily lives, and powerful visual content will appeal to them. The Realtor can bring a virtual reality headset to the listing presentation to show clients what potential buyers will see when they look at their home.
The attraction to the real estate firms is that it pretty much assures more listings when they show how they can effectively and efficiently market their properties for greater potential sales prices. The wow factor alone helps to “seal the deal.” This innovative approach during the listing presentation, when agents can show how it may lead to faster home sales, gives the Realtor a definite edge. Effective marketing and fewer days on the market are effective points for those getting ready to sell.
Global Markets
The ability to bring an actual experience of a distant location into a hand-held device is a coup. Remotely showcasing properties to qualified buyers is an economic way to “walk through” a property thousands of miles away. It helps the businessman stand out from the crowd.
Using a virtual reality headset, potential buyers can tour a property in 3-D mode and, with one click, be able to see different versions of what it could look like. This is especially helpful when selling fixer-upper properties. Agents can walk buyers through a property remotely while having the same view as the clients, and that assists Realtors in selling homes to consumers who have not actually seen the property.
As virtual reality continues to revolutionize multiple industries , more real estate companies will use the technology and run simple 360-degree camera and computer graphics, which is readily accessible, but more sophisticated uses may require assistance from companies that are developing these innovative pieces.
Virtual reality allows for both guided tours, which move home buyers through the property to show it in its entirety, and interactive visits, which allow consumers to control where they want to go within the property.
Virtual reality technology provides an avenue for users to see properties while sitting in the comfort of their own living rooms. While this usage is new to real estate, it has been a part of the game industry for quite some time. Realtors can entice more clients, serve them better, and grow their businesses exponentially.
Staging
Staging a house has become an effective sales tool in the real estate professional’s arsenal, but moving furniture and decor physically is time-consuming and costly. Virtual staging may be the next frontier in the staging arena because it allows Realtors to place, and change at will, furnishings and decor to enhance a vacant property or to show how a buyer’s own furniture may appear in the space.
Not only will virtual reality benefit the real estate market for buyers and sellers, but it can be effective for house flippers and fixers. The ability to superimpose furniture, appliances, decor, etc. allows the purchaser to have a better realization of what could be a reality for the space. It is easy to make changes and have the buyers input. Interior designers and contractors can use this technology in many different projects.
Rental Properties
Landlord/tenant communication improves when potential tenants can virtually walk through a rental. It saves time for the landlord or property manager, who can wisely spend their time and energy on tenants who seriously qualify or who seriously desire the unit.
In addition to walk-through, a video library can be accessible to tenants who need questions answered about the working of the rental unit. This can be especially useful for short-term rentals, such as vacation units, allowing managers to communicate via virtual reality to answer basic questions about the rental as well as information about the city or neighborhood.
Just as the internet changed the viewing habits of buyers with the online MLS, so virtual reality will change the way buyers, sellers, renters, and property managers will do business in the future.
Interested in checking out houses in Savannah or Pooler? Talk to an Realtor today!
