Real estate agents everywhere are having to adjust how they do business due to the coronavirus outbreak. Prospective buyers, like everyone else, are being told to stay home. For real estate agents, this makes the job of showing houses and reviewing properties much more difficult. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Real estate agents need to make a shift in how they do business, and explore the innovative methods of selling real estate that are available right now.
Perhaps the most helpful innovation in real estate to be used right now is the use of virtual tours for homes on the market. Let’s take a look at why virtual tours will help a real estate agent sell more houses during a quarantine.
Home shoppers already search online first.
With so much information available online for homes for sale, most people have already browsed internet listings before they talk to a real estate agent. Even before we were all in quarantine, people spent most of their time searching for homes online. If anything, this trend is growing with people stuck at home. By providing a virtual tour of your property, your online listing will stick out from the rest. People will spend more time viewing your listing and will be more likely to choose the listing that has a virtual tour. Invite people into a more immersive online experience and give them the feeling of having seen the home in person with a virtual tour.
Virtual tours present the home in 3D.
Most online listings only provide 2D photos of a home. While these photos are usually professionally taken, they still only provide a limited look at the whole property. In fact, 2D photos really serve the purpose of getting people to go see the home in person. With that option being less attractive right now, a virtual tour makes up the difference. Virtual home tours are presented in 3D. Online browsers can “walk through” the home and get a detailed view of every room, nook, and cranny. While 2D pictures tend to show the highlights of a home, 3D virtual tours offer a much more realistic vantage point and allow buyers to make a much more informed decision.
Potential buyers can view more houses at their own pace.
When home shoppers view a home in person, they often feel like they don’t have the freedom to really explore and look at the details of a home. Home showings can feel rushed or incomplete and buyers may be hesitant to make a purchasing decision. Thus, they view more houses than they planned and have trouble deciding which home might be best for them. With a virtual tour, potential buyers can view a home online at their own pace in the comfort of their living room. They can take their time, view every detail, view homes multiple times, and make a confident decision about which home to buy by the time they come to you.
You’ll save time and money.
With all this work being done ahead of time, virtual tours will end up saving you a lot of time and money. By the time a potential buyer comes to you they will have already made most of their buying decisions. You’ll make much fewer in-person home showings and you’ll spend less time communicating back and forth with your prospective buyer. You’ll also save more money on marketing. Virtual tours help properties stand out above the rest. This means when you share a property on social media or you pay to advertise your property, you’ll get more engagement and better leads with the same or less marketing investment than with traditional listings.
You’ll stand out in a “down” market.
During this time of recession, many real estate agents will likely struggle. In fact, many people may leave behind their real estate career to pursue something more stable. While the market is down, you have a chance to stand out and be a leader. Virtual tours present your properties in a much better light, but they also speak volumes about you as an agent. Potential buyers know that if you are willing to invest in giving them a better experience, then they can trust you and remember you above the rest of the market. Take this time to innovate and grow into new avenues starting with virtual tours for your properties. You can actually grow and expand your business right now by taking advantage of virtual tours.
If you’d like more information on how to use virtual tours for your real estate business, go to our services page and see all the ways we’ll help you stand out.
