Virtual Reality Real Estate: 14 Ways VR Will Change the Real Estate Industry
Will you sell your property to a potential buyer in VR or let them rent it? Imagine you’re on a business trip with colleagues, and you’re looking for VR glasses for renting an apartment for your colleague.
Or maybe you’d like to compare the real estate market in Yerevan with that of Mumbai before making a choice. That’s why virtual reality is more popular than ever, both among vendors and clients.
Virtual reality real estate could change its face of it forever. It’s already beginning to and has the potential to revolutionize the industry.
A few more years from now, buying or selling a home may be very different from what it is today. It might even be an entirely virtual process that makes everything easier for all parties involved.
14 Ways Virtual Reality will Change the Future of Real Estate
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that allows users to be immersed in a virtual world. The user wears a VR headset that displays stereoscopic images and tracks head movement, enabling the user to look around the virtual environment.
Since its invention, VR has been used for gaming, but it has proven useful for other applications such as education and training. Real estate professionals are also beginning to investigate VR’s potential for property marketing.
1. Property Marketing
Using VR for real estate will improve property marketing, one of the most critical aspects of real estate. VR can help buyers get a better idea of what a property looks like without physically going there.
This will save time and money spent on visiting properties that don’t meet the buyer’s requirements – only properties that they like will need to be visited. In fact, it may become possible for people to view properties from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
2. Architectural Visualization
An architectural visualization can be used to make a building before it has been built, or it could be used to create an existing building. These could be photorealistic renderings or non-photorealistic renderings such as sketches.
Making virtual reality for real estate involves using computer software to create a realistic-looking image, video, or 3D model of something that doesn’t exist yet. This is done using modeling software (CAD), rendering software, and other graphic design software.
Below are some of the benefits of architectural visualization:
- It can help prevent costly mistakes in construction. Architects and builders use architectural visualization to see how their designs will look when completed, allowing them to make changes before construction begins.
- It can help showcase your designs to clients. When you have a great design, you’ll want to show it off—and there’s no better way to do this than with a beautiful architectural visualization that truly captures the feel and atmosphere of your ideas. Showcasing your designs can also help you win more contracts from clients who want to see what their finished buildings will look like before they start construction.
Architects may not only provide their customers a thorough tour of their potential home while it is still in the planning phase, but they can also give house hunters a sneak peek into what it might be like to live in a specific property before it is even listed for sale.
Real Estate Agents will be able to offer potential buyers and renters a complete walkthrough of a property before they even step foot inside. The ability to experience any space and make changes instantly will become invaluable to real estate professionals.
3. Virtual Staging
There are many ways that technology and specifically virtual reality, will change the face of real estate. One feature that is already changing the business is virtual staging. Virtual staging allows a seller to stage their home without buying any furniture or hiring a stager.
This is great for sellers who do not want to go through the expense or hassle of staging their home but still want it to appeal to picky buyers.
Virtual staging works by using virtual furniture in photographs of a home. The pictures can be used online and in print materials, giving the house a more appealing look.
This type of technology would continue to evolve and become more sophisticated as time went on, making it easier for sellers to stage their homes virtually and buyers to see what the house could look like if it were produced.
4. Virtual Real Estate Tours
In addition to virtual staging, you are likely to see virtual tours of homes becoming more commonplace.
Already there are 360-degree tours available for some homes. Still, with 3D walk-throughs that allow you to fully experience what it’s like to live in a particular property, this technology will undoubtedly become more complex.
Imagine being able to see inside every room of a home without ever actually setting foot in the house!
5. 3D Walk-Throughs
Virtual reality is the next big thing in real estate (VR). Virtual reality is already being used in the automobile and travel industries, and it’s now making its way into the real estate sector.
The technology enables buyers to view a property without traveling to it. It gives them the ability to experience the property in its entirety before they decide whether they want to make an offer.
With a headset, buyers can take a 360-degree virtual tour of properties on the market. They can move through the space as if they were there and experience every room, from roof to cellar.
In addition to this, it’s possible for buyers to “walk through” a property that is still under construction by employing VR plans.
6. Saves Time
It takes time to visit each property and decide whether or not it is suitable for you and your family. Virtual reality tours will tell you all you need to know about a property, saving you and your real estate agent a lot of time.
7. Better Online Communication
The ability to communicate online is multiplying, with many people connecting from different parts of their houses or countries.
Virtual tours allow for an easier way for people to connect over property viewings, helping them decide if this property is something they would like to take further and see in person.
8. Increases Site Traffic
According to Google and ipsos media CT research, a VR experience can increase the number of people who visit your website by as much as 40%. This is because people will want to experience what they see on your site in a 3D environment that they can interact with.
The more people visit your website, the more potential purchasers or tenants you’ll attract for your homes, which means more money in your pocket!
9. Virtual Reality Offers Global Reach
One way that virtual reality will change the face of real estate is by offering global reach. People who wished to buy a house in the past had to engage a realtor and go to each place in person. This process was time-consuming and expensive, especially if you were looking for homes outside your area.
With virtual reality, people from all over the world can see homes without ever having to leave their homes or office. This allows you to see homes anywhere in the country or even from another country.
You can look at pictures of homes online, but sometimes pictures don’t show everything you need to see before deciding about buying a home. Virtual reality allows you to take an in-depth tour of each room of the home, which gives you a better idea of what each house has to offer.
10. Creating Emotional Engagement
Virtual Reality taps into the emotional side of the brain. Those who have tried VR for real estate have stated that it is more than just a powerful tool for showcasing properties; it creates an emotional connection that may be missing from your sales process.
Stanford University and MIT studies have shown that VR creates a powerful and unique emotional connection between the end-user and the product.
11. Instant Sense of Ownership
A virtual reality tour can create an instant sense of ownership for the viewer. As the user immerses themselves in the time, they can start to imagine what their life might be like in that property, how they would furnish it, and what activities they would enjoy most on the property.
A virtual reality tour is more than just a 3D model or even a series of still photos with music and voice-over narration.
Bottom Line
VR will improve the purchasing experience for home buyers and sellers alike by offering immersive previews. You might walk through a 3D space in your living room, putting yourself literally within the house you’re about to buy.
Real estate agents should move forward with VR, allowing clients to see what they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. This is perfect for premium houses in prevalent areas and those with renovation potential that might not be entirely obvious in just photos.
Once this technology becomes more mature, it could create a whole new era of home buying and selling—and realtors who keep up with consumer demand will be the ones who benefit most.
Overall, we think this represents a bright future for virtual reality in the real estate industry, and we hope to see it become widespread in the coming years. We’re already doing what we can to make that happen!
