Technology meets real estate at Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty, where the arrival of Virtual Reality headsets brings home buying to the next level.
It has arrived.
You may have heard of the company Oculus VR, the virtual reality technology company that was acquired by Facebook back in March 2014 for $2 billion, and you might have wondered what all the hype is about.
In his announcement on his own Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg wrote, “Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together.”
Three years later, the future is now.
Virtual Reality headsets, those futuristic goggles that look like something out of a science fiction movie are now widely available and affordable on the consumer market—and the real estate industry is all over it. The ability to preview homes with a virtual reality tour has numerous and undeniable advantages. That’s why Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty is proud to announce they are now offering virtual reality tours in their offices.
“With the virtual reality headsets, our clients can enjoy a home tour that’s very realistic and they can ‘walk through’ a property without having to physically get into the car and drive there,” says Traci Smith, Marketing Director at Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty. “And, since many of our listings are properties that are nightly resort rentals, virtual reality tours enable clients to view properties even when they are rented and we can’t physically get into them for showings.”
VR headsets are used to view 3D videos created with Matterport, an experience that’s “just as good as being there,” according to Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty Broker/Owner Cam Boyd. “We see 3D as another tool we can offer to our clients to differentiate their individual listings and create meaningful, visual, and emotional tours of their spaces,” he said.
With the headset, users can navigate their way through a house and be able to control where they are going. They can look up, down, side-to-side and virtually walk from room to room. “The time saving potential is huge,” Smith says. “A client can look at as many homes they want and narrow it down to the ones they really want to see in person. And the quality of the 3D images is incredibly realistic, more so than looking at a series of photos online.”
Because a lot of buyers are viewing homes in Steamboat remotely, it’s also possible for clients to use a VR headset at their home, wherever that may be, without having to take the time to travel. Not only are the headsets more widely available and affordable, the technology is only going to continue to get better. “VR gives you the visceral feeling of being in that location and has the potential to make the process of searching for a house much faster,” says Matt Bell, cofounder and chief strategy officer at Matterport.
VR technology can also be used for mock-ups of raw spaces, so clients can get a better sense of what a finished project might look like in terms of depth and scope, whether it’s new construction or a renovation.
While seeing clients with these crazy-futuristic goggles strapped to their heads might take some getting used to, the advantages for real estate brokers is undeniable. Smith sums it up like this: “Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty is continually striving to be on the cutting edge of new technology and developments, which bring added value to our agents and a higher level of service to our customers. Virtual Reality is here and it’s going to bring us to the next level.”
Read the related story, published in the Steamboat Today.
Headsets range from $20 to up to $800. Check out a “best of” selection for 2017 in PCmag.com.
To arrange a Virtual Reality Tour at a Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty office, contact us at 970.879.8100.
>>>>READ NEXT STORY: Steamboat Style – Modern Mountain’s Moment<<<<
.