The rise of virtual home viewings has been a godsend for real estate firms, home buyers, and sellers alike over the past year. However, even before the health crisis, research compiled by Digital in the Round showed that customers spent between five and 10 times the amount of time looking for a home on sites offering virtual tours. Research also shows that around 50% of Internet users rely on virtual tours to research and make decisions, and that 67% are demanding more virtual tours from businesses. If you have a real estate firm and you’re thinking of upscaling your virtual tour offerings, why should this be considered a sound long-term investment?
Being Ready For Emergency Situations
Being tech savvy enables you to respond to emergency situations. During 2020 and continuing into 2021, there have been a plethora of virtual real estate events taking place throughout the world. January 2021 started off, for instance, with the National Multifamily Housing Council Apartment Strategies Outlook Conference; February saw the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Winter Meeting take place; and the Information Management Network PropTech & Real Estate SPACs Virtual Forum took place in March. Many companies are seeing that they are able to network, present their list of homes, and connect with a range of buyers for both budget and high-end homes through virtual networking, events and talks.
New Features In Upscale Virtual Events
Virtual events these days feature much more than a speaker or round table discussions. New features such as virtual events booths with exhibited products or services, for instance, are one way to add a realistic ‘exhibition’ feel to events. A virtual event booth contains features such as VR tours, videos, chatbots, and product presentations. Attendees are able to interact with exhibitors via instant chats or conversations, and contact forms. Often, live discussions or demonstrations will take place at virtual booths so that attendees can get a better glimpse of home construction and design features. Live discussions, meanwhile, ensure that attendees have all their questions answered. This use of tech also ensures that they can spend as much time as they like in specific spaces, checking out aspects such as flooring, lighting and other fixtures in a detailed fashion.
Reaching A Wider Audience
If you are selling property in an area in which people purchase second homes, many of your purchasers (and vendors) may hail from other countries. Virtual home viewing enables you to reach audiences anywhere in the world – which makes sense considering that people undertake over five million virtual visits every day on a global scale. Virtual tours also appeal to investors, who can save a significant amount of travel time viewing potential purchases across the globe. Even though a live visit can be scheduled, virtual home viewings allow busy professionals to narrow their list of potentials to a small number of homes or buildings in key areas that are worthy of a visit.
Virtual tours may have been a lifesaver for many real estate firms across the globe, but it looks like they are here to stay. Their ability to save time and cut down on the costs of in-person visits make them convenient and smart in this technologically savvy age. Increasingly attractive features such as live assistance, virtual booths, and virtual reality walks through a home, meanwhile, are making the experience both more realistic and aesthetically appealing.
