How virtual tours can help to sell more properties safer and faster

Why is this important?

In the age of covid-19 our lives have seen some big changes world wide, this is especially true for the real estate market. Technology has already been slowly entwined into our lives but thanks to covid we can now buy groceries from our couch and walk through a new home from our bed. This becomes helpful today since, It’s very difficult to travel to see new properties and it’s a health risk to show occupied properties for sale. 
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92% of home buyers today use the internet to search for their next home, proving that virtual tours are an important part of buying and selling a property in today's market. With this new technology making its way into the real estate market it has completely transformed the way potential buyers can interact with a home. Buyers can now tour several properties in the same amount of time it would take them to tour one in person. This technology is proving to be a win-win for all parties involved.

What is a Virtual Tour?

While the term virtual tour is usually perceived as a 3D tour using software like Matterport, in the real estate industry, a virtual tour is any tour of a home or other property that a buyer can view remotely.

With that being said there are two types of virtual tours that The Land Office uses to promote a property thatʻs for sale and help it get sold faster and at the best possible price.

1. Self-guided immersive 3D tours

A self-guided immersive 3D tour is what most people think of when you say virtual tours. These virtual tours use 360-degree cameras to capture images of different rooms of a house, then use software to stitch these pictures together and create a virtual replica of the home. This is what buyers can then “walk” through on their computers or phones anytime, anywhere.

With this technology a floor plan can be created with measurements to help buyers map out any remodeling/home improvements or to help buyers make sure their unique dining table will fit in the space. A “dollhouse” is created to replicate a home to show the arrangement of rooms and levels in an easy to use display. This technology also allows our agents to leave text comments throughout the virtual tour to highlight various selling points and features by incorporating “mattertags”. This adds a customized touch which helps offer more information to sell a property.

Self-guided immersive 3D tours are a great addition to marketing a home for many reasons but one major point is that it’s covid safe. Nobody is walking around a home and touching everything, while it also opens the home for sale to a larger audience that may not be able to travel to Hawaiʻi due to the travel restrictions. One of the best things about self-guided immersive 3D tours is that it allows buyers to virtually “walk through” a space and puts them in the driver's seat. A buyer can sit on their living room couch and walk through your home in their own time. If they want to spend more time in the spare bedroom to see if it fits their home gym, they can do that. 
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We’ll be happy to connect to our local virtual tour companies we work with and add this as a way to further market your home for sale.

2. Customized video walk-through tours

Another type of virtual tour we use at The Land Office to market your listing, is a customized walk-through tour. This is where one of our talented agents live streams a walk-through tour using software like, Zoom, Google Hangouts or Facetime for iPhone users. This would be done directly with the agent to walk remote buyers through any listings and highlight the features that make the home unique, while also helping to showcase parts of the property a buyer might be most interested in for their needs.

With covid travel restrictions not slowing down anytime soon, this option helps to offer a more customized version of the virtual tour. No covid test, planes or driving around needed and without worrying about having a large amount of people walk through a home. A home buyer can have trusted boots on the ground by an agent who knows the area like it’s their own backyard because for all of us at The Land Office, Ka’u is our home.
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Do you have a list of properties you're interested in but are unable to travel to Hawai’i and you're afraid they won’t be available by the time you get here? Do not worry, we have you covered with our customized video walk-through tour, sit back and relax while we show you your future piece of paradise.

The Age of Virtual House Hunting

Even without this current pandemic the real estate market has been heading toward some big changes. According to The Close, millennials made up 37% of residential buyers in 2018. One of the biggest differences between this generation and the previous one is that millennials make most of their purchases online.
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A new Zillow survey finds 36% of Americans would be more likely to try to buy a home entirely online, while 43% would be more likely to try to sell a home entirely online. This proves that virtual tours aren’t a new trend that will fade, even after the covid pandemic ends. This technology is something that will stick around and help get property listings seen by a larger audience and sold faster at the best possible price for the seller.

This technology is just developing so there’s still a lot more to come in terms of advancement and ingenuity. One thing is for sure though, virtual tours will continue to transform the real estate industry and change the way we purchase our homes.

Virtual tours are just a few of the marketing capabilities that we offer. This is what helps to make The Land Office the top listing office with the most sales in Ka’u on the Big Island for 20 years running. 

If this is something you’d be interested in to help sell your property we would be happy to assist you. If you’re interested in viewing your next piece of paradise virtually or in person please contact us at [email protected] or call our office at +1 (808) 939-7227.