5 MUST KNOW SECRETS ABOUT VIRTUAL TOURS
Are Virtual Home Tours In your Future?
As technology develops, it will become easier and cheaper to create virtual tours. Coupled with the high demand for them, this means that virtual tour options are likely not only here to stay, but will continue to grow into a common addition to listings.
If buying or selling a home is on your mind, we’d be happy to discuss how virtual tours can play a part in your real estate experience. Reach out to us today for help finding local homes for sale that have virtual tours, or to chat about if adding a virtual tour to your upcoming listing is the right fit.
Read on to learn how they impact today’s home buyers and sellers.
SECRET #1: Virtual Tours Have Evolved
Traditional virtual tours use 360° Photos, which are images that allow you to see all angles of a space. These are what allow virtual tour viewers to look up, down, and all around the interior and exterior shots of a home. This is called a 3D Tour. Sometimes agents will also add Virtual Staging, which decorates rooms with digital furniture and accents like wallpaper or paint.
Traditional virtual tours allow you to click to move from room to room in the home, but Online Walkthroughs feature the actual action of walking around.
A Virtual Showing is often a scheduled, one-on-one event that mimics an in-person tour of the home, in which the agent and viewer start at the exterior and move their way through the property.
In contrast, an Online Open House is more freeform, allowing more viewers to pop in and out of a group video call on apps such as Facebook or Zoom.
SECRET #2: Virtual Doesn’t Mean Impersonal
As a buyer, virtual tours give you a feel for the property, inside and out, so you can easily picture yourself in the space and decide if the home’s flow and features work for your lifestyle.
Live video walkthroughs with the real estate agent will give you insights on those crucial non-visual aspects, like creaky floors, super-fast internet speed, and neighborhood dynamics. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get an insider’s perspective on what’s so great about the home.
For sellers, if your agent recommends using a virtual tour to market your home, you could attract more buyers. And you can be sure that those interested buyers are still getting the up-close and personal look inside your home that will inspire their strongest offers.
SECRET #3: Virtual Is Just The First Step To Safe Home Sales
Buyers don’t have to worry about exposure to anyone who previously visited the property, and sellers cut down on the foot traffic in their home.
Some data even suggest that virtual tours keep agents safer as well, since they’re hosting fewer in-person showings and open houses.
But despite the variety of virtual tours available, some buyers will still need to visit a home themselves in order to feel confident enough to submit an offer.
SECRET #4: The Speed of Closing Depends on Your Goals
With all this viewing activity, it makes sense that sellers whose listings feature virtual tours are receiving more offers on their properties.
According to one study, virtual tours can add between two and three percent to the sales price of a home, in part because increased buyer interest has made sellers feel confident waiting for the exact right offer.
So if you’re a buyer luxuriating in viewing homes from your couch, just remember that you’re not alone in your search. Your competition is virtually viewing the same properties you are, so it’s still important to work with your real estate agent to quickly submit a strong offer when you find the home of your dreams.
For sellers, if a speedy sale is important to you, carefully weigh that against the temptation to entertain more and more offers, which can keep your home on the market up to six percent longer. Your agent can help you decide the right strategy for your priorities.
SECRET #5: Virtual May Not Always Be the Right Choice
Creating, editing, uploading, and marketing virtual tours for a listing can be pricey. Packages through popular 3D imaging platforms can cost hundreds of dollars on their own.
Even seemingly inexpensive options like video call walkthroughs still require time and energy on behalf of both the seller and agent.
These costs mean that a full virtual tour package might not always be the right choice for sellers. When you talk to your agent about marketing your home, it may be that an elaborate virtual tour, showing, and open house just don’t make sense. It could be that your potential buyers may not resonate with that type of marketing, that the investment-to-return ratio isn’t in your favor, or that there are more effective ways to get your listing seen by qualified buyers.