With the engaging experience brought by its artificial environments and 3D images, virtual technology has gradually set its foot in the business world. Immersing customers and clients in an entirely synthetic environment, virtual reality (VR) is being used by many companies to take customer experience to a new level.

Offering several benefits in terms of customer service, this technological advancement is also a trend in the real estate industry. Virtual reality focuses on two important aspects, which are convenience for the real estate company and an enhanced overall customer experience. Addressing the concerns of both buyers and sellers, virtual reality is indeed positively transforming the real estate landscape.

A recent online survey conducted by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC suggests that more than 3,000 adults in the United States agree that Virtual Reality is set to be the next big thing when it comes to real estate. The survey shows that 77 percent of Americans would like to take VR house tours prior to visiting a prospective home.

With most prospective buyers being open to virtual reality, some real estate companies have jumped onto the VR bandwagon and they have proven to be successful. Here are two success stories:

Coldwell Banker’s VR Tour of One of the World’s Most Expensive Homes

Having been the proponent of the survey suggesting client’s openness to VR in real estate, Coldwell Banker came up with a project that showcased the potential of virtual reality as a tool in the real estate industry. The real estate company generated the virtual tour of one of the world’s most expensive homes. Instead of visiting the actual $49 million property in San Clemente, California, Clients could simply put on a VR headset and view the expensive property in the comfort of their own homes.

With this successful project, Coldwell Banker saw the viability of VR as a marketing tool for real estate companies. Today, Coldwell Banker partners with VR service provider Matterport in coming up with VR tours for their listings. The real estate company currently has more than 500 listings on their website that can be experienced in VR.

eXp Realty’s Virtual Office

Another example of a real estate company that ventured into virtual reality is eXp Realty. But Instead of letting their clients experience VR house tours, eXp Realty had made their employees, agents, brokers and visiting clients experience a virtual office. This real estate company believes so much in VR that it chose not to invest in a brick and mortar office. It invested instead in a virtual set-up where its brokers and agents can interact with each other from anywhere in the world. Aside from using cloud-based programs and communications apps, eXp Realty created a software programme that features a virtual office campus with offices, lounges, meeting rooms and other facilities that an office building offers. Developed by VirBELLA, the virtual office software can be downloaded and accessed by all eXp Realty employees from around the globe.

More than just an intriguing trend, virtual reality has now become an effective business tool in the real estate industry. Without the need for actual property visits and a physical office, virtual reality can help real estate businesses and clients save in terms of time and money Virtual reality is also a great marketing tool for realtors as clients can now do property visits even without physically going to the site’s location. This means that clients from everywhere in the world can check the properties anytime they want to, giving the properties a global reach.

Visit Realopedia

Many real estate companies have already made good use of the virtual reality technology in their businesses. Experience the convenience of this technology when you visit companies that you find in Realopedia, a global eMarketplace for real estate.

Source of Survey:
https://blog.coldwellbanker.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Smart-Home-Survey-Data-Sheet-January-2018.pdf