Have you ever bought, sold property or repaired a home? Well, then you must be knowing how real-estate business works. Usually, a real estate agent provides a list of the rundown of properties to the customer. A while later come the clarifications, negotiations, and lastly the physical visits to houses and apartments. This work process has remained the same for decades, but the truth is it’s very inconvenient and time-consuming for both real estate agents and for homebuyers too.
However, the power of virtual reality (VR) has transformed the business process and helped the business to grow more by getting more clients and delivering top-level services to them. Here, the VR technology is actually needed, because the better you show a thing, especially an expensive one, the higher is the probability of a sale.
In this article, we have collected three recent cases of implementing virtual reality in companies related to the real estate sector. And, each case demonstrates how technology simplifies specific processes.
Showcasing how VR can be used in businesses
- Zillow – Zillow is one of the world leaders in the online real estate platform. He offers a website on which the client can choose the right accommodation without leaving home. But, the problem is photos cannot convey all the details. And when making such a major purchase, clients want to be sure that the investment will live up to their expectations, and even before a personal inspection of the home.
Therefore, Zillow recently introduced the 3D Home tool, which allows potential customers to move around a virtual copy of a house captured on Ricoh Theta cameras in a 360-degree format. This is not virtual reality, but it is only a step away. Clients can get a much more realistic idea of housing, which they consider as a purchase, and do not invest an excessive amount of time. Of course, even with the introduction of this technology, buyers insist on visiting the house before buying. But the VR tour takes the place of one of the first steps on the way to decision making; he can get up immediately after a cursory inspection of photos and shift sales statistics. Then a meeting with a real estate agent psychologically “tunes” the client, and a real inspection of the housing, if it lives up to expectations, puts a signature on the contract.
Now, the question arises: how can virtual reality really increase sales in the real estate sector? Now the tour only adds an extra step in the acquisition process, so the profitability of its implementation must be carefully evaluated by each entrepreneur.
- iVariant – Everyone who has experienced repairs knows that choosing wallpaper or wall paint is a real problem. For example, in a store, the color looks great, but at home, it does not fit the furnishings or appears to be different because of the lighting. Victoria Stenova, a well-known design studio that offers a wide scope of unique solutions for apartments. The studio realizes that it is important for customers to see not just a sample of wallpaper, but how a fully finished apartment will look like. However, a demonstration of design in a real interior entails substantial rental and repair costs. With this problem, the studio turned to iVariant. The result was a project that allows you to change the wallpaper on the walls in virtual reality.
Wearing virtual reality glasses, studio clients could try on selected wallpapers to different rooms of the apartment: living room, bedroom, children’s room, and others. The latest technology reproduces the texture of the wallpaper and interior details with the highest precision. As a result of cooperation with iVariant, studio sales increased by 30%. Compared to the first project reviewed, this one is less expensive and, as we see, has led to good sales results. The advantage of the project is that it is simple to execute since the location itself remains unchanged, and only the wallpaper on the walls changes.
- RoOmy – New homes and apartments are often sold unfurnished. But studies show that people respond better to a room already furnished, rather than a house with bare walls. Furniture makes the house more comfortable, and due to this, it is easier for customers to imagine their future life. But, the problem arises: how to sell unfurnished houses so that people respond to them in the same way as to furnish ones? The so-called “VR-staging” will help, the process of filling an empty house with furniture using virtual reality. A large-scale model of the apartment or house being sold is filled with furniture so that the client sees the final version.
An example of an international VR company specializing in VR-staging is RoOomy. The service provided by the company is not only useful to real estate professionals, but also to retailers. The reason behind this is the virtual reality enables to advertise of furniture, interior solutions, and household appliances. In this case, the client’s portrait is more clearly drawn, which has a good effect on the economic efficiency of the technology. Apartments can be furnished according to the client’ s perspective and additionally monetized through native advertising, which will be useful for partners from among sellers of suitable goods. This is a clear perspective of increasing sales.
Wrapping Up
Virtual reality is developing the real estate market by offering innovative solutions for finding housing, decoration, and repair. However, the most important question is: how effective is it for increasing sales, which is the ultimate goal of any company. So, when planning a budget, consider the portrait of the client and present a stellar first impression with the technology. In the future, virtual reality is going to be the game-changer of real-estate industries. Share Share
