Real Estate Marketing Comes to Life

Real estate is changing, it is moving more and more into the digital age. How we view homes and buy property is advancing. New 3D Virtual Tours are letting more people see homes from around the world, from the comfort of their living rooms.

Today’s tech savvy buyers use the internet, not their cars, to explore and research major purchases, including homes, with recent studies showing that over 90% of people start their property search online.

Real estate marketing is not like it used be, homebuyers rely less on newspaper ads and open houses and more on online resources to gather information. Searching for properties from home has become standard, with most people using internet listing sites as a starting point to educate themselves about the market and get a sense of what’s out there before contacting a realtor to arrange property visits.

3D Virtual Tours, such as those offered by local company Inside Advantage, represent the latest evolution in real estate marketing – allowing buyers to ‘walk through’ a property on their laptop or smartphone. From anywhere and at any time. That’s especially useful in a town like Whistler where many buyers are from out of town or overseas.

“They’re a game changer” says Lisa Donovan of Inside Advantage, a company she started over 10 years ago to help Whistler realtors market their properties by providing as-built floor plans, measurements and area calculations.

“People love them. Buyers have the opportunity to look around the property at their own pace and on their own schedule before requesting a visit. Sellers have a perfectly staged home ready to show at an instant, every minute of every day and realtors can enhance their listings, get more views, and engagement on social links which generates more leads. It’s a win win”

These immersive and interactive 3D Tours combine 360 degree cameras with infra-red scanners and high tech software to generate a complete 3D photographic model of a home, allowing viewers to move from room to room, see the space from any angle, linger on features of interest and even step out onto decks to take in the views! Unlike traditional photos or slideshows, it gives the viewer complete control over which way to move and what direction to look. The entire 3D model can also be seen as a ‘Dollhouse view’ which can be rotated to any angle and provides a big ‘wow’ factor.

While there is no substitute for visiting a property in person, these 3D tours are arguably the next best thing – in some cases even helping to close deals where the buyer hasn’t set foot in the property.

It’s hard to predict how the use of 3D Virtual Tours will evolve in the months and years ahead. One thing that seems certain though, as more companies from around the world are utilising these presentations to showcase everything from hotels and restaurants to luxury cars and yachts, is that their use in real estate marketing is here to stay, and as today’s tech-savvy Millennials and international investors continue to enter the market – it’s only likely you’ll be seeing a lot more of them.

If you are interested in a totally interactive and immersive property tour experience for your home get in touch with the team at Inside Advantage Whistler.