3-D Listings From Every Angle

Technological advances are promising consumers a more in-person, lifelike view of a home without ever having to step foot inside — through the use of 3-D listing tools.

Companies such as Oculus Rift — which is now endeavoring to offer virtual tours of college campuses to prospective students — 3D Property Tours, and Matterport all offer ways to capture 3-D images of homes and put them together to create a virtual property walk-through.

Matterport has gained particular notoriety, offering the $4,500 Matterport Pro 3D Camera, a cloud-based service where you can upload your images to be automatically configured into a 3-D model, and a portal that allows you to store and share your 3-D models with clients. Real estate brokerage Redfin announced a partnership with Matterport in August, becoming the first national brokerage to implement the 3-D technology. Over time, Redfin plans to convert all of its active listings — starting with those in its hometown of Seattle — to 3-D models using Matterport. Each Redfin listing page has a player uploaded on it that users can click to see the 3-D tour (3-D glasses are not required). Matterport was also the star of the Realogy FWD innovation summit in June.

“Buyers are always looking for more information, and there’s only so much we can give them with informational fact sheets and 2-D photos,” says Bree Al-Rashid, managing broker of Redfin’s Seattle operation. “It’s great that [Matterport] allows us to give them more information. It’s a big differentiator from other agents and brokerages, and it’s just plain cool.”

Here’s how it works: The Matterport camera sits on a tripod and spins around in a full circle, scanning a room and collecting the data to display in 3-D. Several “sweeps,” or scans, from different locations in a room may be necessary in order to capture the full image (youwill need to scan in front of and behind a piece of furniture so the 3-D rendering can capture the entirety of the room). Once you’ve got all your scans, upload them to Matterport’s cloud server, where the images are formed into a 3-D model of the home.

But there’s more to it than just the capture phase. Here are some things to keep in mind when capturing and marketing 3-D listing data.

Whom to Target With 3-D Imagery

International or out-of-town buyers: Seattle has been experiencing an influx of wealthy foreign buyers lately, and the 3-D listing data is most helpful for clients who cannot be physically present to tour a home, Al-Rashid says. But for any market with a high volume of international buying activity, 3-D imagery will likely take hold in the future.

“We’re a port city with a lot of international commerce, and we’re a city that is heavily recruiting for international business,” Al-Rashid says of Seattle. “The 3-D listings give them an opportunity to see from afar exactly what they would see if they were here. One of our first 3-D listings was sold to an international buyer.”

Sellers concerned with privacy: Brandon Doyle, ABR, a salesperson with RE/MAX Results in Maple Grove, Minn., who has been using Matterport for several months, explains to sellers that 3-D tours will cut down on the foot traffic through their homes and attract more buyers who are ready to make offers.

“With 3-D listings, buyers get a better sense of the home’s proportions, and it gives them a better idea of what they will see when they tour the home in person,” Doyle says. “It helps them make a decision earlier in the process, so those who do actually come to the home are more serious buyers.”

Renters: It’s sometimes difficult to get reliable access to rentals, Al-Rashid says. Landlords are not always available, and home owners who are renting space in their home can be even harder to track down. 3-D rental tours can cut down on the number of times you have to request access to a property, making it easier on both the prospective renter and the landlord or owner.

BBM is now offering 3D Virtual Tours!  Visit www.beyondboldmedia.com for more information and a sample of a 3D Virtual Tour of one of BOLD Moves Real Estates' great listings.

Visit www.boldmovesrealestate.com for more information on how we are incorporating 3D  Virtual Tours into our listings.

This blog was posted on www.beyondboldmedia.com on December 11, 2015.