With interest rates in America at levels not seen since 2015, the real estate market will continue to move apace. Increasingly, we have grown to rely on technology as a way to keep things moving in uncertain times. Covid-19 has impacted every aspect of our lives, and the housing market is no exception. More and more people are living and working online, and realtors are having to adapt to these changes in-step. Connecting people to properties over the internet is fast becoming the new norm, with thousands of new listings online offering virtual viewings as an option.
What Are Virtual Viewings?
Live streaming has allowed realtors to broadcast directly into people's homes, creating a space for agents to interact with prospective buyers/tenants in real time. Answering questions and providing specific information for viewers recreates an experience close to a traditional viewing, while mitigating the dangers of face-to-face contact. The range of viewing methods can vary from a simple pre-recorded video walk-through all the way up to a 3D self-guided tour, allowing users to move from point to point in a property via guided circles. The 360° perspective can be further enhanced with the inclusion VR interactivity, or even drone cameras being used to capture external shots and panoramas of the space. With internet users spending an average of over six hours a day online, the transition of viewings from the physical to the digital is set to be an expanding trend going forward.
Advantages Of Virtual Viewings
The immediate upsides are clear: people feel safe, and both the agent and the potential tenant/buyer are able to negotiate the viewing safely and securely - all without the need to negotiate any of the potential pitfalls social distancing can present to the process. Instead of drastically reducing the number of viewings that can be offered on any given day, virtual viewings are able to increase the figure many times over. Live streams are able to host viewers simultaneously, meaning that a single walk round can accommodate numerous potential buyers/tenants from the comfort of their own homes.
Long Distance Moving
Virtual viewings also broaden the reach of the advertisement, with people being able to see the property via a phone/tablet/laptop etc, and still get immediate feedback from a realtor from anywhere with an internet connection. People considering a long distance move, for example, can scout out several properties from home before making a firm decision. This then brings realtors closer to those who are more seriously considering the property, and allows those who are less sure to make a decision earlier in the process. On top of this, video-tours left on the site mean that people can view properties at their leisure with minimal effort on the part of the realtor. Virtual viewings, in this sense, have many practical applications beyond the current impact of Covid-19.
As the online world moves increasingly closer to our own, virtual tours offer not only a way of circumventing the short term problems presented by Covid-19, but also broadly improve the viewing process moving forward. This saves sellers, buyers and renters alike time and money.
