Selling Real Estate With Virtual Reality

When tasked with selling your real estate property, there are a plethora of options you can choose from. While the first choice you will make is simple, choose a realtor or list it yourself; the next few things on the list are not as simple. Once you decide to sell your house, and finish having it appraised what do you do next? Typically the selling process involves multiple open houses, where the owner is left scrambling to clean before an entourage of prospective buyers arrives. Some families may choose or have to live in their current domicile until the sale is finalized. While this approach is cost effective it’s still a giant headache.

 

Showing Your Home

Not only does the homeowner have to keep their house in “showcase” condition at all times just in case someone decides to schedule a showing; but the realtor has to drop everything they are doing to keep showing the same property. There are instances where homeowners have sold their current dwelling with under 3 showings or tours, but that is not a common occurrence. During a showing or walk through of real estate, the prospective buyers will typically want to see the entire interior of the house, as well as the exterior. Hiring a cleaning lady, or landscaping professional is recommended, unless you are ready to keep your real estate listing immaculate for the showcasing yourself.

 

Photography

At some point during your listing process your real estate listing will need to be photographed. The photographs of your property can make or break your listing. Dark rooms, dingy quality pictures, or rooms that are filled with clutter can instantly turn a person away from your real estate listing. The photographs of the real estate property should highlight the “selling” features of the house. If you have brand new Formica counter-tops, renovations to the bathroom, or any other feature that you believe gives the real estate it’s charm and character; capturing those items is key. Most real estate firms have an appointed photographer either that is hired out or a member of the staff that will provide you with photographs for your real estate listing. However, if they do not, instead of using your phone to take grainy or low resolution  photographs, hire a professional photographer.

 

Virtual Tour Options

When hiring a professional photographer the options and choices can be overwhelming. It may be tempting to hire a student that is building their portfolio for a low cost. This may be beneficial financially, but unless the student specializes in still life indoor photography and is prepared to bring whatever lighting equipment necessary to your real estate property; you’re better off without their help. The newest and greatest breakthrough with real estate listings is the ability to create a 360 virtual tour. The technology for doing interior 360 virtual tours has evolved heavily over the past few years. You’re probably familiar with panoramic pictures functioning as a “tour” for homes. While this was a great resource 5 years ago, technology has engulfed panoramic pictures and spun the technology into something much more complex. A 360 virtual tour allows the user to navigate throughout the interior of the real estate listing as if they were actually there. What used to take a few weeks to construct at a steep financial price, can now be acquired within 24 hours and a few hundred dollars.
 

Additional Real Estate Resource Support

Thanks to the large leaps and bounds with virtual reality technology over the past 5 years, other applications have surfaced and presented their support for the virtual initiative. Facebook, the largest social media network worldwide, now supports 360 virtual tours being shared and viewed through their website. No more redirect links, program downloads, and updating your plugins. Everything you need to share your home’s 360 virtual tour online is now available to you. The colossus of online real estate, Zillow, has also added features to their website to allow users and realtors to upload the 360 virtual tours of real estate listings on their website. Instead of a Zillow user having  to try and discern the layout of the house based off of singular images with no guide, they can now tour your home in minutes. This tour allows the user to see the floor plan of the real estate property and closely examine fine and small details, all from the comforts of their couch if they so choose.

 

Benefits of Selling Real Estate With Virtual Reality

While hiring the best realtor and photographer in town may help with your real estate exposure to a certain degree, the issues of open houses still remain. By using a 360 virtual tour option, your house is encapsulated online in a pristine condition for anyone to tour. A physical tour of the house would still be expected from a serious buyer, however utilizing this technology will greatly cut down on the need for strangers roaming your house. Providing an option for a viewer to utilize a 360 virtual tour may be an extra financial expenditure, however the results are steeply beneficial.