Traditionally, virtual reality platforms were viewed as innovative technologies aimed to serve the rich or as tools for playing video games. However, a few years back business firms began recognizing the importance of this technology for business and marketing purposes. The real estate business, also, quickly jumped on the bandwagon.
Virtual reality is gaining a strong foothold in the real estate industry. It is an effective communication and marketing tool. More and more capital is invested into the virtual reality because of its potential positive impacts on real estate business. For this reason, real estate players looking to attain a rapid growth in their business are increasingly going for a virtual reality experience. According to Goldman Sachs Research, an estimated 1.4 million real estate businesses will be using the technology by 2025, which is the majority of the total specialists in this field.
How Does the Virtual Reality Works for Real Estate Businesses
The real estate advertisement requires utmost customization. But it is not possible for a real estate agent to customize tours and marketing approaches to different market segments. In this regard, virtual reality helps by introducing virtual tours and virtual staging. Virtual tours allow potential buyers or renters to go through a virtual visit of the property without any physical commute, thereby saving buyers both time and travel costs. Meanwhile, the virtual staging technology enables real estate agents to show potential buyers a fully furnished space, despite the space being empty in real life.
Hence, virtual tours and staging technologies allow real estate agents to market the properties with very little investment of time and resources. With the help of virtual reality, real estate companies can advertise the finished project even before the completion of construction. It benefits both the buyers and sellers alike.
Furthermore, application of virtual offices tied to a well-known location reduces a great deal of head over expenses because there is no need to rent or buy a physical space. It gives credibility and a professional look to the business as well. Moreover, realtors can work remotely with great convenience and within a flexible work schedule. A virtual mailing address affiliated with the virtual office can allow the owners to handle business mail in a more efficient and professional way. A virtual mailing address also protects owners’ or shareholders’ privacy, and is the best way for LLC registration.
Some of the key services virtual reality renders to the real estate business are as follows:
Saving Money and Time
Although the creation of a simulation model and renting a virtual office require some investment at the beginning, the expenses are well recuperated once the technology is applied. Since there is no commute to the property or the office by realtors or prospective buyers, fuel costs and travel time is saved. However, in-person visits can be provided if the clients are serious enough to buy the property. Furthermore, not having a physical office saves rental and maintenance costs for the owners as well.
High Operational Efficiency
Virtual reality is highly beneficial for real estate businesses in their developmental stage. It can give workers a high level of precision and accuracy as they are constantly able to see the virtual simulation of the project they are working on. It helps the investors both find and keep the tenants, providing them a much greater outreach. It also helps the client to visualize a project that is still under construction. With the help of a virtual space, real estate agents are always able to engage with the clients without traveling to distant places. Hence, the operational efficiency of the business increases manifolds.
Huge Convenience
Virtual reality is bringing a revolution in the real estate industry because of its convenience. With virtual reality in place, the search, visit and analysis of the property can be done more quickly.
It must be noted that virtual visits are better positioned among young generations as it might be difficult for older buyers to get used to it. However, with increasing tilt towards AI and virtual technology in modern era, more and more real estate owners will be shifting their businesses to virtual reality.
Customizing Visits Efficiently
As mentioned earlier, it can be a cumbersome task for real estate agents to customize tours according to customer preferences. Each tour would require thorough pre-planning which would take a lot of time. This is where simulated tours come to the rescue. Unlike physical tours, simulated tours can be customized with very little effort to target a certain segment of customers. Hence, interior design, lightening and other details can be changed according to the customer preferences. Similarly, clients can also suggest changes to design, layout or coloring.
Though the introduction of virtual reality to the real estate industry is a new phenomenon, we have been seeing many real estate business persons adopting the technology and excelling in their businesses. With the help of this technology, they have been able to attain quick growth in their business and make the job of their realtors much easier. Two of the notable examples of such businesses are Zillow and Compass, both of which are successfully implementing virtual reality to make fortunes. If they can do it, others can do it too.
