Virtual & 3D Tours are Here to Stay: Should You Invest in Them?

Virtual & 3D Tours are Here to Stay: Should You Invest in Them?

 

With the pandemic still at large, it seems like virtual and 3D tours are truly here to stay. But should landlords invest in them? What if it’s just a temporary fix due to COVID? What are the benefits of having virtual tours, anyway?

Before the pandemic changed our general behavior, most people didn’t trust virtual tours as much. The majority felt the need to visit properties in person, or they wouldn’t feel secure moving forward with a rental. 

But even pre-pandemic, slowly but surely, virtual and 3D tours were gaining traction. Why? Because there are many benefits to virtual tours for both sides of the rental market – so much so that it might become a staple even after coronavirus. 

So, what exactly are the reasons and benefits of having virtual tours?

Virtual Showings are Efficient

1. They save time and money
2. They are always available
3. They explain everything for the landlord
4. And they help applicants decide quicker (which speeds up the marketing process)

In a competitive rental market like Metro Detroit, these efficiencies make a significant difference. One of the most common issues in the rental industry as a whole is people not showing up for their scheduled property viewings, so virtual showings can save landlords valuable time lost to no-shows. 

A proper virtual tour can also simplify the process and give people a chance to explore the property for as long (and as often) as they need. 

virtual and 3D tours can also be available on-demand. This way, applicants don’t have to schedule and wait for their turn to see the rental. Properties could therefore gain a competitive edge by always being available for viewing, 24/7.

Virtual Showings Expands Reach

By “uploading” properties onto the internet, their coverage expands to the global market. This means landlords can attract renters beyond the local area, buyers in remote places, and even people relocating from out of the country. If landlords have a shareable link, people can also share the listing to other buyers or their friends who would be interested – assisting you with free, viral marketing!

Virtual Showings Increase Rental/Closing Rates

Even real estate agents experience how much easier it is to close deals when there are virtual tours available. Based on the National Association of Realtors (NAR), good virtual tours dramatically increase a property’s chance of being sold and helps buyers purchase faster. Almost half (40%) of buyers said virtual showings as “very useful,” ranking them more important than listing agent information and recently sold properties.

Statistics from Apartments.com show that viewers spend 3x longer on pages with videos or virtual tours. Matterport (one of the biggest producers of virtual tours) said listings with virtual tours also experience a 49% increase in the number of leads. And lastly, Zillow shows that 41% of millennials find virtual tours “very important” when deciding which property to go for.

Virtual and 3D tours might become expected very soon, so landlords should consider adopting them now to stay ahead of the game. It may be an added cost and initially take some time to set these up, but virtual and 3D tours are investments for the long-haul, both with and without a pandemic. And, once you’ve created a virtual tour, you can reuse it for the next several years.

If you want to get started, seize the next opportunity (usually while the property is vacant) to film a video tour, or hire a professional to make a 3D video for you. There are multiple companies, like Matterport, 3DVista, and Vtility, that can help with the process of creating virtual tours. And once the virtual tours are made, it’s only a matter of uploading them into your listings – it’s usually free to do so. 

Have you tried having virtual tours for your properties? How did it benefit your business?

 

Image courtesy of Startup Stock Photos