Four Creative Ways to Use Virtual Reality in Your Real Estate Business

Have you ever thought about using virtual reality in your real estate business? Are you a real estate agent or developer and looking for innovative ways to market and sell more properties, faster? Of course, the answer to that question is obvious. Real estate is a highly competitive market, where innovation can set you apart from the crowd. The key, though, is knowing where to invest in marketing. What works the best with the highest return on investment? The answer is virtual tours.

3D virtual tour technology is changing the game in real estate marketing. By using it, you’ll have highly engaged, ready-to-buy home buyers waiting on your doorstep. While it may seem a bot too good to be true, the facts remain. People want to visualize themselves in the properties they view, and they want to view them at their own pace. Virtual tours give them both.

Let’s look at some creative ways you can use virtual reality in your real estate business.

1. Virtual Property Showing

One of the most time-consuming portions of real estate buying is showing a property. Prospective buyers typically visit several homes before making a buying decision, and that’s just to reach the point of making an offer. Things can get especially complicated if a client lives far from the property in which they are interested. It can very easily begin to get expensive in addition to time-consuming.

VR technology solves this problem by letting an unlimited amount of people virtually visit a property and tour it without leaving the comfort of their own home. Potential buyers and renters can also visit many different locations in a short period of time to narrow down their search before contacting the real estate agent.

There are two types of virtual tours that shoppers can take. Then first is a guided visit, in which a viewer can be “walked through” a property in a promotional video format. The other is an interactive visit, in which someone can choose where to move within a property based on pre-determined hotspots in the field of view.

2. Virtual Staging

According to the National Association of Realtors, 77% of agents say staging helps buyers envision themselves in the home, making them more likely to buy. With virtual staging, real estate agents can virtually show a property that is fully furnished with virtual furniture. This makes it easy for agents to show a home with only a small investment, as apposed to using a “real” staging company.

Another benefit of virtual staging is the ability change out the furnishings very easily. If a real estate agent wants to take a different approach or if a prospective buyer is on the fence, a change of scenery may help close the deal.

3. New Property Visualization

New properties that aren’t built yet can present a marketing problem to real estate agents. Most agents will show buyers a model home or visual depictions of what the property might look like. However, this method can come with a hefty investment price tag. To solve both issues of marketing and saving money, VR technology can be used.

Real estate agents can now show a fully built and furnished property, virtually, before it is actually built. With a virtual tour of yet-to-be-built properties, potential homebuyers can visualize both the interior and exterior of a home and make a confident buying decision before it is “real”. This saves the real estate developer quite a bit of time and money as well, eliminating the need for full-scale models on a show-room floor, for instance.

4. Virtual Up-Selling

Not only is virtual home tour technology changing how real estate agents show properties, it may also be a great tool for commerce. For instance, a potential home buyer doing a virtual tour may want to make changes to the interior of the property. They could change out the furniture to get the look they love most, then be given the opportunity to purchase the furniture for their new property should they decide to buy. This could work with numerous items, such as curtains, art, paint color, etc.

Even if a potential home buyer didn’t want to make changes and love the staging as it is, they can still be given the option to furnish their home the way they see it. After showing the property and offering the up-sell, it may also help buyers make a buying decision more quickly on a property they viewed virtually.

If you’re a real estate agent or developer and want to utilize virtual tours in your marketing, then check out what we offer. You’ll save time and money, and build a reputation for being cutting edge in your market. Get started today with VR technology.