Technology to Save the Day
It’s easy to say that 2020 has been a tumultuous year for the country, but even more so for Oregon. Not only did we suffer the trials and tribulations that COVID forced upon us starting in early spring, but over the rest of the year we’ve been hit by other perfect storms as well--including wildfires that ravaged the state, smoke that blocked out the sun, ash that lingered in the air for weeks, and months of continual protest, riots and social unrest in Portland, Oregon.
For the real estate industry, these presented new and unprecedented challenges. How do you show homes during a lockdown? How do you hold open houses during a pandemic? How do you market homes when the sky is orange and the air is thick with an ashy fog? These are just some of the obstacles that the real estate industry faced this year.
One way that we were able to address some of these challenges was through the use of new technologies. Over the past few decades, real estate agents have increasingly relied on online marketing to showcase their listings. Besides photos and videos, real estate agents have begun relying on a new tool at their disposal -- virtual tours.
Virtual tours showcase homes in a new dimension--quite literally--while providing potential buyers with an unparalleled viewing experience. Using the latest camera technology, virtual tours offer a complete 3D render of a home. Using the ‘dollhouse’ feature, the user can twist, rotate and zoom in and out of the model home to get a real sense of scale and orientation. They can also see attached 360 photos which present exterior spaces-- i.e. the front lawn, patio, deck or the backyard. Most importantly, the 3D model allows the user to be taken on a virtual tour of the listing--from the front door of the home and through all the living spaces and bedrooms. If the user prefers, they can even navigate the space freely, moving about the home however they see fit. The agent can even order a 2D floor plan from the virtual tour.
The experience that a virtual tour offers is really unrivaled. It’s second only to seeing the home in person; the only difference is that during these difficult times, neither the agent nor the potential buyer needs to leave the comfort of their office or home to visit a listing. There’s no calls, no scheduling, no traveling, no gloves, no masks, no. . . problems. It’s just the most practical, safe and convenient way to market a listing in 2020, 2021, and probably into the foreseeable future.
Photo by Tom Parslow. Copyright 3D/RE, LLC.