The 5 Effective Benefits of Virtual Tours in Real Estate
Posted: 18 August 2024
Author: Matt Neal
Originally posted 8th March, 2020. Updated & Revised Monday, 19th August 2024.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, countries like Australia had implemented a suspension of real estate auctions and open inspections to prevent further escalation of the disease. Here are the Benefits of Virtual Tours in Real Estate and how they helped keep businesses operational, and how they can help you right now in 2024 and beyond.
On 24 March 2020, the national cabinet announced a ban on real estate auctions and open for inspections starting Wednesday midnight, 25 March 2020. The new rule prohibits the gathering of mass crowds to help prevent the disease from spreading. This had a huge impact on the real estate industry.
For many agencies, this was a massive concern and hindered their ability to operate. The solution to this restriction was virtual tours.
Here are 5 Benefits of Virtual Tours and why you should use them for your listings right now
Virtual tours kept your team and clients safe; no direct contact with anyone who could have been infected. The world was in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic and changed the way people and businesses operate.
A virtual tour can enable clients to access your for rent and for sales properties in the comfort of their own home. No physical interaction and inspection means both your staff and your clients are kept safe from potential exposure.
Putting up your property online ensures that your business remains proactive during the course of this unfortunate event. And you don’t even need to leave the house to keep it operational.
Virtual Tours Amplify Your Digital Presence
Technology is ever-evolving and has made the lives of people much simpler. We as real estate agents must adjust our processes to provide a more transparent and engaging service.
Virtual tours not only help you lease and sell properties, but it also helps you stand out among your competitors.
Saving you time and money with better pre-qualifications
How many clients do you show properties to that aren’t pre-qualified?
Being able to send a virtual tour to a client prior to them attending the property can help you differentiate between the clients who are most likely wanting to proceed with the property VS the clients who are just searching opportunistically.
It Increases Your Engagement Rate
Having a virtual tour set up can increase your website’s engagement rate. According to Virtual Tours Creator, having a virtual tour for a particular listing increases user engagement by up to 50%.
Engagement rate represents the percentage of people actively participating on a specific page’s content and/or call to action. A higher engagement rate is good because there are fewer people “bouncing out” and leaving your content.
This is extremely beneficial for your SEO ranking, plus it can help increase your digital exposure, which will lead to more people looking into your services.
It modernises your business and saves the buyer and seller time
No matter how you operate, prepping properties for advertisement can be time-consuming. From when you first launch a new property, to finding the right buyer or tenant to work with, it is very common to be inundated with the enquiry. Most of which are looking opportunistically and are not ready to commit, a virtual tour can help you segregate the serious clients from the curious.
What else can a virtual tour be used on?
By using a 360 camera, you can cover every corner of a house and it should only take about 15-30 minutes to shoot. Plus an additional 5-10 minutes to set up using Virtual Tours Creator’s system.
You can also use virtual tours for:
- assisting sales agents with generating appraisals,
- assisting suppliers with quoting for repairs,
- and as a tool in your entry and vacate process.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the benefits virtual touring can bring to your organisation AT THE MOMENT. As technology evolves so should we.
Virtual Tours make it easier for people to view your listings, helping bring more eyes to the properties you manage.