For the past decades, buying, selling and renting properties are not easy for both buyers and real estate agents. The process includes long conversations and negotiations as well as personal visits of probable properties to purchase. But due to the advancement of technology that prompted the rise of Virtual Reality (VR), doing so has been made more exciting and more convenient.
Imagine being able to visit a property you desire without moving from one position or imagine seeing institutions even before its construction? Indeed, VR and real estate are now being put-up together to make transactions more convenient between clients and real estate agents or landlords.
Virtual Reality: An Overview
Virtual Reality or VR allows a person to perceive that he/she is experiencing a situation that is not happening at the moment. It uses VR equipment such as a head-mounted display, input devices, and even personal computers.
The essential elements that provide a virtual reality experience include the 3D virtual environment that is provided by a medium and the person's perception of immersion in the situation. Other elements are the stimulation of the user's senses and the interactivity of the user, the environment, and the virtual world.
Virtual reality has different categories such as non-immersive, semi-immersive and wholly immersive. Non-immersive simulations allow users to use peripheral awareness of the real environment. Semi-immersive uses large projectors and graphical computing systems just like in plane simulations. Fully immersive VR uses VR equipment such as a head-mounted display, and the full senses of users are altered.
Virtual reality has been utilized in many fields. VR has been used in the world of entertainment, in travel and tours, in different kinds of business especially in marketing, as well as in real estate.
Ways To Use VR Technology in Real Estate Business
Virtual Property Display
Before potential buyers or interested viewers purchase a property, it is expected that they will compare and visit these properties in person. Going from one place to another is very time consuming and requires additional effort and resources. The rise of virtual showcasing of properties is a good solution for this concern. With the use of VR headsets and related VR equipment, one can witness each property they wanted to check, similar to the experience it can bring if done in real visits.
Architectural Visualization
Traditionally, estate agents use the display of three-dimensional models of yet-to-be-built properties as a marketing method. This is leveled-up by VR. VR technology can be used to help clients visualize both the interior and exterior designs of the properties that are soon to rise. VR allows interested viewers to experience seeing what the property will look like even before the completion of its construction.
Virtual Relay of Instructions
When questions and inquiries of tenants increase and become more frequent, it could lead to inconvenience for the landlords. These situations are typical for properties or business institutions that are for rent or with high turn over rate. With VR technology, tenants are provided with virtual tours for instructions during the start of their stay.
Virtual Commerce
Aside from virtual tours and property showcase, VR technology has also allowed virtual commerce. Clients are also given the opportunity to change interior and exterior designs of the virtual property he/she is viewing. They are also allowed to change or add furniture and appliances depending on preference.
Benefits of VR in Real Estate
Save Funds
3D virtual tours may seem expensive, but it can save more money than the traditional real estate marketing. 360-degree videos and computer graphics are the ideas behind VR that could only require a panoramic camera and basic rendering. High quality printed materials and property staging are not needed unlike with the traditional methods.
Save More Time
Both real estate agents and clients can save more time through real estate VR. They don’t need to frequently travel from one place to another to visit or market different properties. Time saved can be allocated for further strategic planning on how to make transactions more successful.
Promote Emotional Connections
With virtual tours, clients are provided with enough time to view and evaluate every part of the property they are interested in. Clients can then make plans if there are changes he/she wants to do. Moreover, VR allows clients to immerse and appreciate better the quality of the properties as compared to images and printouts.
Continuous Expansion
Due to time and resources that can be saved from the connection between VR and real estate, agents can work productively. If VR is fully maximized, agents can have higher chances of attracting more clients and succeed with transactions.
What are The Examples of Real Estate VR?
One of the famous examples of VR technology that allows virtual property showcase and virtual commerce is Rooomy. This virtual technology allows one to decorate the property depending on his/her preferences virtually. It also provides over 100,00 virtual options for furniture and household items that one can choose from. Another application with similar features is Google Tango.
Matterport is a VR technology that is known to allow 360-degree virtual tours. It has been founded in 2011 and has already scanned 550,000 properties. Matterport, similar to Rooomy, is best used for virtual property display or for those properties that exist.
Moreover, there is also the well known Virtual Xperience. Virtual Xperience allows architectural visualization or viewing of properties that are not yet built or are still under construction. It provides not only 2D images and interactive 3D walkthroughs but also 3D flythrough videos that allow the feeling of real life immersion to the future property.
These real estate VR examples have well contributed to the improvement of VR and real estate.
Wrapping-Up
VR and real estate have continued to influence each other to make the process of buying, selling or renting of properties be better facilitated. Although there are only specific companies that use VR technology in real estate industry, many enterprises acknowledge its importance and are considering investment to VR.
References
https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/17/5-ways-vr-is-making-the-real-estate-business-better-for-everyone/
https://rubygarage.org/blog/virtual-reality-in-real-estate