THE VIRTUAL TOUR IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET.

The real estate sector is one of the commercial markets that has benefited the most from the use of the new tool called "Virtual Tour." The more professional your property looks online, the greater the chances of receiving a contact, a phone call, and closing the deal.

What is a Virtual Tour?

This is a digital tool in marketing and sales that allows the viewer through their favorite device, whether it's a cell phone, a tablet, a computer, or with VR augmented reality glasses, to navigate through a property having a 360° view of every corner, achieving a deeper perception of the relationship between spaces and details that make up each area.

What advantages does presenting a Virtual Tour of a property offer?

Having a virtual tour of the house, apartment, or property on the market is like having its doors open to interested visitors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And this is done without any travel cost, displacement, or time dedicated to giving the tour to each client.

In this sense, potential buyers will appreciate having all the time they need to check every corner or detail of a property, while also enjoying the advantage of being able to revisit that property (which has already given them a very good first impression) online, with other members of their family or friends who are either relevant in the final decision-making process or are the voices they turn to to finalize their opinion and the final purchase decision.

Virtual tours are a great benefit for people with restricted mobility or other problems that make it difficult to view properties in person.

Currently, Virtual Tours have gained strategic relevance in property presentations, as they provide a notable competitive advantage compared to properties that rely solely on traditional (2D) photos. The ability to conduct detailed property visits with potential buyers at any time helps to advance interest and achieve sales or leases more effectively

On the other hand, visiting numerous properties when looking for a new home takes a lot of time and is exhausting for everyone, especially for people with disabilities and special needs.

A person can now experience a potential house, apartment, or any type of property without having to travel there, allowing them to do so only when they are truly convinced that it is a property that interests them.

Virtual visits also help people determine the accessibility of the property and, therefore, decide if it meets their needs. Obviously, this will also benefit the property owners because the ability of buyers to view a property remotely expands the reach of buyers who may be interested in each property.

Other advantages of properties that offer Virtual Tours include the fact that the tour does not require any other maintenance such as physical cleaning or remodeling. Additionally, it also saves on public utility expenses per visit, such as electricity, heating, or cleaning services for each visit.

Likewise, owners will not have as much disturbance and interruption of their normal routine, as fewer buyers will visit their property in person. Now, buyers can get an accurate look at the property online first, without having to physically travel to it. This is a relevant factor for the goal being sought as adding virtual tours not only leads to more qualified property visits but also increases the probability of a sale or rental, due to the higher interest of buyers.

Thus, the time that would be dedicated to offering tours to various visitors will now be dedicated to reaching out to truly interested buyers, increasing the chances of closing the deal and signing the agreement.

Relevant Virtual Tour statistics.

Here are some statistics on the benefits of having a virtual tour of your property:

• 80% of property buyers or tenants seek information online. (National Association of Realtors Survey)

• According to traffic statistics on Google, 83% of people browsing the web prefer to view images when they decide to start searching for a property.

• Real estate listings with virtual tours receive 87% more views among those searching online. (According to a Realtor.com study,)

• Virtual tours can help reduce the number of missed calls and visits by 40%. (National Association of Realtors)

• It reduces "real estate tourism" by up to 80% by showing the property in depth compared to what potential interested parties can see with only 2D photos of the property. (eyeSpy360)

• Virtual tours attract more attention from potential buyers as they make people browse the same website returning 5 to 10 times more than another website that only has 2D photos (statistic from Panomatics cites)

• 54% of buyers feel more comfortable visiting a property that has a 3D virtual tour (National Association of Realtors)

• More than 75% of real estate consumers prefer this digital tool over photos and admit that it influenced their purchase decision. (Realtor.com)

• Statistically, 60% of visits are made in the afternoons and on weekends. Now buyers and tenants will not waste most of their free time, nor will they have to view the property in darkness when they would have to return during daylight.

Costs and requirements for creating and presenting a Virtual Tour.

Having known the multiple advantages of presenting a virtual tour of a property, the logical question to ask is what are the requirements and costs to carry it out.

In this regard, there are three factors to consider: The first is the capture and editing of 360° Photography, which allows obtaining spherical shots of an area that will allow us to view any angle and detail to observe. The second factor is the Software with which we will create our Virtual Tour and the tools that it allows us to present to the audience. The third factor is Online Hosting for our Virtual Tour to drive potential buyers or tenants to visit the property. Let's see:

1. 360° Photography

Spherical or 360° photos are the basis for creating any virtual tour. In this regard, it is necessary to have a semi-professional camera that allows offering remarkable quality and captures with good definition the details of the area we intend to show.

These cameras are specialized equipment that incorporate "fisheye" lens technology both in the front and back of the camera. It should be noted that the cameras of current cell phones are NOT 360° cameras.

The 360 camera requires a tripod or even better a quality Monopod as a necessary accessory for taking the photo, which will not be seen in the final result depending on the photo editing once taken.

The prices of a good 360° camera start around USD $300 up to USD $30,000, and for the Monopod around $50 USD. The editing application can be free or paid.

2. Virtual Tour Software:

Once we have the photos properly corrected (edited) from each area that makes up a property, we will then proceed to upload them to a Virtual Tour Editing Software.

There are multiple companies that offer such software in the market and likewise different prices and scopes in their characteristics and services. As you might expect, not all of them have the same level of quality and features. This is a very important factor when choosing which Virtual Tour we want for our property.

While the most basic ones only transition from one photo to another like a carousel or teleport the observer between one area and another, other software allows the user to tour the property as if they were actually in it, walking between the various areas that compose it.

Additionally, architectural 2D floor plans of the property, 3D virtual model (dollhouse), space measurements, area labeling, etc., can also be presented. This type of software is personally my favorite and the one I always recommend.

The costs of Virtual Tours depend on the type of subscription plan and data capacity offered. These values can be on average around $200 USD in introductory plans.

3. Online Hosting.

Now that we have our Virtual Tour created, the final factor to present it to the public is where to direct the audience that will view it online. Almost all Virtual Tour software allows for a sample of 5 photos or a little more in their most basic plans, however, this is not ideal for presenting a Virtual Tour both due to the data volume hosting capacity (photos from ALL areas, tour information, tools, etc.) and the web address to which traffic or audience is intended to be directed.

This point is fundamental because through that link, our visitors will be able to easily access the tour as many times as they want from the comfort of their cell phones, computers, tablets, etc. The hosting capacity to allow a good user experience is key, and that is why it is ideal to have a website that allows the user to navigate the tour easily.

As for prices to have a website, they start from free plans (with little hosting capacity and speed) to average annual plans of $300 USD that provide an adequate solution to the required needs.

How to hire this service?

Although anyone could decide to invest time, learning, and money in the necessary resources to create a virtual tour with the aim of selling or leasing their property, the cost/benefit of doing so in a specific and particular case is not recommended.

Therefore, when hiring a Real Estate Management service, it is very important to know if your Broker or Agent offers Virtual Tour tools for the correct presentation of your property.

Just as the Virtual Tour allows for a remarkable differentiation from the competition in the market with other properties that may be comparable to ours and that only offer 2D photographs, likewise when hiring a Broker or Real Estate Agent, it is suggested that each owner take into account this factor so relevant in the current and future context in achieving their objectives, whether they are to sell or lease their property effectively in the market.

If you would like to schedule a consultation for the sale or lease of your property, I invite you to book your appointment here: https://www.alejandrobroker.com/servicios