Use these tips, tools, and resources to make the most of your homebuying experience with convenient virtual access.
Homebuying is easier and more accessible than ever thanks to advances in technology that put floorplans in the hands of homebuyers. Now, anyone can tour the ins and outs of countless homes without ever stepping foot onsite, making for a smoother, more convenient shopping experience.
Find out what you need to know about the most common and helpful tools that help you virtually tour new homes.
Why Use Virtual Tools During the Homebuying Process?
Traditionally, buyers have purchased homes in person. The primary explanation for this is that up until very recently, it wasn’t really possible to tour a home unless you were actually present. However, thanks to improvements in technology—and the increasing availability and usability of that technology—virtual homebuying tools are growing in popularity.
According to research conducted by real estate brokerage firm Redfin and reported by The Washington Post, 63% of homebuyers in 2020 made offers on properties without ever stepping foot on site. This represents a 41% increase from 2019.
One obvious reason for this shift is the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to CDC safety recommendations about social distancing and masking, the global health event spurred monumental shifts in a wide variety of industries. Telehealth claims skyrocketed beginning in April 2020 while food delivery services rapidly expanded during the same approximate time period, just to name a couple.
Homebuying is no different. And while Millennials and Gen Z are most likely to be comfortable with purchasing a home online, large majorities of each active generation want to use virtual tools when shopping for homes, per a Zillow survey published in 2021.
Here’s how.
MOST COMMON VIRTUAL HOME SHOPPING TOOLS
3D Home Tours
The best 3D home tours are made using intuitive technology that empowers homebuyers to tour a model home quite without ever getting off the couch.
Users can navigate the interior and exterior of a home by tapping their phone screen or clicking on their web browser. The virtual tour will then shift locations, providing users with a new 360-degree vantage point from anywhere on the property.
The primary benefits? 3D home tours give users the most in-depth remote home-viewing experience. It permits homebuyers to actually visualize themselves in a space, where their furniture could be arranged, and how they’ll actually live their lives.
The most common and trusted 3D virtual home tour solutions include Matterport, Real Tour Vision, VPiX® 360, Zillow 3D Home® tours, and others.
Digital Floorplans
A digital floorplan is a 2D or 3D home layout that users can review using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. While not as comprehensive and detailed as virtual tours, digital floorplans primarily serve as great tools to help homebuyers identify the size and location of rooms in a particular home.
Another great benefit of digital floorplans is that most communities will feature several different design layouts available to homebuyers. By accessing these floorplans online, people shopping for homes can compare all their available options, including key details like kitchen size, living room spacing, and more.
FaceTime and Video Call
Many sales professionals use video calls in the field to connect with their clients. In many cases, salespeople use Apple’s FaceTime product, Google Meet, Zoom, or one of the many other video call services available on the market. No matter the service, one thing binds these options together: convenience.
According to data published by Statista, there are approximately 298 million smartphone users in the United States—an especially startling figure given that there are only 332 million people living in the U.S. What’s more, researchers only expect the number of smartphone users to increase in the coming years. In other words, more people than ever before have access to video calling products.
How does this apply to homebuying? Sales professionals can quickly hop on a video call with clients to showcase a model home or different amenities without much of a learning curve for either the seller or the customer. It might not be the flashiest option, but it does present a more personal opportunity for salespeople to connect with their clients on a face-to-face platform without much hassle.
Video Hosting and Streaming Services
The final most common way builders remotely showcase homes to clients is by recording walkthroughs and posting videos to streaming services like YouTube.
Home shoppers can review the videos on their own time to get a better sense of floorplans, spacing, and design work. On the other hand, one limitation is that prerecorded videos don’t offer much room for flexibility or personalization. For example, buyers may be particularly interested in a certain room of the house—like a mudroom—but this space might be overlooked in the video.
When it comes to these kinds of videos, homebuyers should consider them part of an essential mix of remote shopping tools that duplicate the act of walking through a home. Ultimately, however, there are other more interactive tools that help shoppers find the right home at the right price.
