The New Open House – 3D Virtual Tours

Some would say they are glad to see 2020 in the rear view mirror. For many people it was a year of challenges, one upon another. Now, a new year brings hope of a new direction. A fresh start. And yet many of the challenges of last year are still here. COVID-19 is still making a mark on people’s lives – and on the real estate market. Strict stay-at-home orders may not be as widespread as they were for a time, but consumers remain reluctant to return to face-to-face gatherings – including traditional open houses.

The challenges of the past ten or twelve months have given rise to a number of new ideas and innovations, and have prompted agents to consider new applications of time-tested strategies. One of the ways that agents have adapted in the face of a worldwide pandemic is with Matterport virtual open houses.

Buyers in just about every market across the country have become increasingly uncomfortable visiting open houses. Sellers are no more enthused about welcoming scores of people through their homes, either during an open house event or for routine showings. The idea of exploring a home – or of inviting people to explore – has taken a backseat to concerns over coronavirus and staying safe.

A virtual showcase offers a host of benefits to buyers, sellers, and agents alike. When the real estate market is flooded with listings, a Matterport 3D tour helps a home to stand out from the crowd; in fact, buyers and sellers prefer to work with an agent who offers virtual tours. When listings are few, those virtual tours help to reach more clients and relieve the bottled up demand. In recent years, the interest of out-of-town buyers has increased; 3D virtual tours allow them to “visit” a property from anywhere in the world. 

But more than just a convenience, 3D home tours have become a necessity in the age of coronavirus, where social distancing is the order of the day, if not officially, at least in practice. Many real estate offices had to discontinue in-person open houses at some point in the last year. Even as economies have begun to open back up, many prospective clients, uncomfortable with in-person tours, have been hesitant to pick back up where 2019 left off. Certainly, those who are considered “high risk” of infection are reluctant to jump on board with face-to-face interactions when other options exist.

So, virtual open houses have become, to use an overused phrase, the “new normal”. 

Sure, agents have adopted or adapted other strategies too. Print advertising, for example, is as important as ever. Paper and ink ads are seen as more credible than other forms of media by most sectors of the population. And the tactile experience of holding a “real” postcard or brochure over a virtual one is appreciated by many.

Likewise, agents have spent a good deal of time creating video walk-throughs and other real estate videos. Those are fantastic tools, especially in the realms of social media and email marketing campaigns. Add drone footage to the list and you have a wide array of material to present to buyers and sellers. But they do take a good deal of time to create. And to edit. That makes them difficult to deliver for every listing. Besides, a video does not offer the immersive experience that is only possible (virtually) with a 3D tour.

That is why agents have turned to virtual tours for their customers. Matterport creates a “digital twin” of any space, inside or out, that can be viewed on any device anywhere in the world. Virtual visitors can walk through every room in a home, read posted highlights of home features, accurately measure walls and doorways and other structures, and even view embedded videos – all from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

Matterport allows higher-risk customers – and anyone else who wishes to remain distanced – an opportunity to visit, view, and even purchase a property remotely. Sellers can straighten up and stage their home one time for the camera scan, and keep their own families safe by reducing the number of people traipsing through.

Besides lending benefits to their sellers and buyers, agents have the ability to gauge property interest and exposure. Matterport allows an agent to track the number of visitors to each tour and pinpoint the best marketing strategies for each property. Homes often tend to sell faster and at higher prices with virtual tours as well. And an agent can either invest in a compatible 3D capture camera (such as the Matterport Pro2, Insta360 OneR, or even an iPhone) or hire a professional photography service to scan a home.

With so many benefits, there is a pretty good chance that 3D virtual tours have become the new open house for a long time to come. The real estate market was already trending toward virtual tours before coronavirus was a common word; COVID-19 gave it a shot in the arm. Add virtual reality capabilities to the mix and it is easy to see that virtual open houses are the future – and the future is now.