The real estate industry tends to move with the times, adopting technology that helps it be successful. Both agents and clients can benefit here. Technology enables agents to manage their time better so they can serve more clients better. At the same time, clients can now see photos of properties that look the same in the pictures as it does when they see it in person. Things like teleconferencing have changed the way of frequent and transparent interactions today too. Now realtors are changing how they do business and clients are changing the way they see their realtors too.
Adopting Virtual Reality in the Real Estate Industry
One tool that’s really helped realtors telecommute is virtual reality (VR). While most people are familiar with how VR has hugely changed the gaming and entertainment industry, they don’t think about its impact on the real estate market. However, real estate companies and agents can now show properties to anyone, anywhere, at any time thanks to VR. This technology has also moved the industry beyond its traditional 2D models.
When using VR to host an open house, there’s no travel involved for anyone. Detailed property tours are now available at the buyer’s convenience. This means that things, like living in a foreign country or having an extremely busy schedule, will no longer hold you back from finding and buying the home of your dreams. Realty Nxt says this is something that most agents also appreciate because it increases their sales potential.
VR is also very useful in the commercial real estate where properties either don’t yet exist, or they’re still under construction. Buyers can now visualise how these properties will look once complete “ often months in advance of this completion. Realtors appreciate that they can add their logo and branding to these videos as it boosts their sales opportunities.
There are a variety of companies who are jumping on board to help realtors with their VR needs. These include Matterport and YouVisit, both of whom are working to integrates 2D/3D 360-degree pictures and footage, 3D models and CGI into VR environments. They’re creating these environments for commercial, mixed-use and residential properties. These are very convenient because devices like the EDGE 28 combines high-quality computer generated renderings from designs and architectural drawings done during the development phase and combined it with live 360 drone footage. In doing so, it creates a photorealistic immersive experience.
Many real estate companies are now including these renderings on their websites so clients can take a tour with their own VR headset. All of this is happening quickly since VR technology is growing more affordable today.
Adopting a new way of Touring Real Estate
VR is growing that much more popular today. In fact, Forbes says there are a few other ways in which this technology can help realtors and their clients. This includes:
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Creating guided virtual visits: These are promotional videos that allow you to have a 360-degree view of the existing property. Realtors can include various mediums in their videos including 360-degree photography (including picture-in-picture and stop-motion graphics), video footage and 3D renderings. In doing so, it’s possible to evoke an emotional response through the narration, moving viewers to want to buy the property they’re viewing.
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Hosting interactive virtual tours: Much of this interactivity depends on how the viewer decides to move while taking the virtual tour. Many people say that the first time a person uses VR, he or she is in for the experience of a lifetime. This is something that a lot of people have heard about but haven’t yet experienced today. Since it needs to be housed in a mobile app to create the interactive experience, it’s more like a game instead of being like a video. Creating such a mind-blowing, interactive experience is done through hotspots that appear in the user’s field of vision as they look around inside the home they’re viewing. When you focus your sight on the hotspot, you’re transported to that place, which is what enables you to do a virtual walk-through of the property at your own pace.
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Conducting virtual commerce: This can almost be thought of as an add-on to the interactive virtual tour. It allows you to make custom changes to the home. For this reason, many people say it’s like e-commerce, but it’s conducted through VR, so it’s known as virtual commerce instead. Many real estate companies are jumping on this opportunity.
Adopting Telecommuting in the Real Estate Industry
Today there are still many industries who haven’t yet embraced telecommuting. Of course, there are also companies who have accessed it with great success. They’ve realised that one of the greatest benefits here lies in the fact that it requires less office space, which helps save a lot of money. This is especially important in real estate markets like New York or London where rent has peaked. These prices have made co-location and space sharing so important that they’re expected to continue to grow, especially for smaller companies.
Telecommuting isn’t new today. In fact, We Forum says that health insurer Aetna has used this remote work model for more than 20 years now. Today it accounts for over 31% of how their employees work. The company is proud of this fact because it’s helped them reduce their office space by over 2 million square feet which have resulted in about $78 million yearly.
All of this is growing much easier now that so many activities can be carried out in the cloud. This doesn’t only allow for more storage, but this storage can be accessed from anywhere. Using this technology isn’t as expensive as it once was either. Instead, it’s quite helpful “ even allowing for web meetings throughout the world.
Technology is removing real estate’s traditional barriers. It’s helping clients view properties in real-time while saving agents money in doing so. When this happens, leasing activities can carry out most leasing activities online today. Of course, this is only the beginning. It will be interesting to watch as technology continues revolutionising this industry today.