VR tours in real estate guide, Home virtual reality, 3D property design tips, Realtors technologies

Advantages and disadvantages of VR tours in real estate

26 October 2022

Technologies that create the effect of presence are an opportunity to combine the physical and digital world and make an impact on reality for the user. Thanks to the rapid development of innovation, such devices are already appearing in workspaces. They are used in many industries, such as construction and design, the automotive industry, manufacturing, logistics, and of course, facility management.

Without getting up from the sofa, walk through the cozy courtyard of the new residential complex, evaluate the design of the reception, press the elevator button, open the apartment door, admire the view from the window, feel the comfort of the space, compare the dimensions of the premises. With the help of the virtual world, it is quite real. And what is important: this virtuality brings real money.

Digital technologies are radically and rapidly changing the traditional ways of selling real estate. According to Goldman&Sachs research, by 2025, 1.4 million realtors will use virtual and augmented reality technologies. What attracts developers and top realtors to VR, and what are the pros and cons of virtual reality?

The main advantages of virtual reality

Saving time

BIM design and other virtual technologies have significantly accelerated the work of architects, builders, designers, developers, and realtors. Up to 40% of a real estate agent’s time is spent on agreeing on a convenient time for viewing the object by both parties and the showing itself. Often, preliminary negotiations last longer than the inspection of the premises.

Alternative: object showcase + three-dimensional virtual tour

The QR code opens access to real existing or planned residential buildings, hotels, business centers, shopping centers, logistics centers, and large complex projects at any time. VR saves valuable time for sellers, agents, and buyers.

Cost reduction

The fuel spent by realtors to show properties in different regions and areas is measured in thousands of hectoliters. Virtual reality helps to sell objects without travel, expensive banners, and printed products.

Distance selling

The virtual tour is available from anywhere on the globe. In the current conditions, this is especially relevant for the presentation of development projects to foreign investors. Sales of apartment hotels and new buildings to private investors from other regions of the country or the world are accelerating.

The emotional aspect of decision-making

Concrete walls, cut timber, ventilated facade construction, sandwich panels, and floor plan frighten most buyers of new high-rise buildings and cottage towns. It is difficult for people far from architecture and construction to imagine the final result. Interest fades from mistrust and lack of an example.

Virtual reality takes into account an important element of the final decision — emotion. A 3D tour of “already built and furnished” apartments in the company of a robot or a cat creates a WOW-effect unattainable by conventional means. High-quality models are difficult to distinguish from video images of real objects. In the end, the buyer decides quickly.

Independence and reusability

Many buyers perceive the route of inspection of the object proposed by the realtor as an attempt to hide flaws. In the virtual tour, the visitor lays out the route, can always return to the desired point, and carefully study all the details. The object can be viewed several times without wasting time traveling and coordinating schedules. Self-guided walking creates more trust and sales conversion increases by at least 15%.

Detailed information

A 3D tour with the opportunity to walk around the territory, look into each room, throw a pillow or cook popcorn in the microwave gives the buyer the impression of a full-fledged personal visit on his own route. 3D visualization brings to life and makes drawings and dry numbers of building parameters understandable and accessible.

Security

Any professional real estate agent has the keys to other people’s apartments and houses. In the case of an empty room, the risk is minimal. In the case of the sale of a collectible object with antique furniture or valuable household appliances, the owner and the realtor are constantly threatened by the interest of intruders. A virtual tour minimizes such risks.

The main disadvantages of VR solutions

Price

Virtual technologies available to large development companies pay off for the sale of expensive objects.

The development of a full-fledged 3D model takes into account:

the use of licensed programs;
drone flight results, layouts, video and photo images;

catalogs of building materials, appliances, furniture, textiles, and interior salons;
scenario development and calculations;
prototype testing.

Time

It takes at least three weeks for professional companies to create impressive detailed VR models.

Difficulties with access

Interactive panels and virtual reality glasses have become the norm in the sales departments of major developers. For the general consumer, technical innovations are partially unavailable — not every potential buyer has the necessary equipment.

Distrust

A beautiful picture for the older generation often evokes the exact opposite emotion — the anticipation of deception and attempts to sell a fake. In any case, the online tour ends with a personal visit to the sales department and an inspection of the house.

Legal insecurity of the realtor

Any contract with a realtor can be unilaterally terminated by the seller without payment of incurred costs. Court disputes, in most cases, do not end in favor of realtors. As a result, the use of VR solutions in the private sales market is calculated by units. In 99% of cases, the seller pays for the web developer’s services. Time, creativity, and effort spent by the real estate team are not taken into account.

Piracy and patterns

Scripts, original ideas, and unusual visualization details are regularly borrowed from each other by developers without respecting copyright. And everyone works on certain patterns. In the end, customers often get typical solutions, the same scenarios, the same type of characters, and voice acting. The effectiveness of such grief models is extremely low.

Long story short

Digitalization of the real estate business is inevitable. Those who are not afraid to be the first to apply new technological solutions, take risks, and spend some money and time at the start, will win. We are sure that the recognition of the status of VR technology at the deserved level will significantly accelerate the introduction of virtual tours in the market of private sales. The experience of VR developers has already proven their effectiveness.

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