3D virtual tours are one of the best ways for you to stand out from your competitors in the real estate industry. This experience allows you to let customers have an in-depth view of your property that is not possible through traditional methods like looking at photos and reading text descriptions. As long as you are able to execute and upload these virtual tours properly, you will receive an increase in sales. This article will talk about the best practices for your 3D virtual tours to ensure the success of your real estate company.
What are 3D Virtual Tours?
3D virtual tours are property tours offered by real estate companies which allow customers to remotely visit and inspect a virtual model of a room, apartment, condominium, or home.
These virtual tours are a seamless experience which is a lot more immersive compared to just looking at photos or videos of the property. There are no visual distortions in a genuine 3D virtual tour experience.
What makes 3D tours special is that compared to other types of 360 degree tours that only capture width and height, this experience can also capture the depth of the property.
3D Virtual Tours Best Practices
1. Provide a seamless navigation for the 3D virtual tours
3D virtual tours let potential customers inspect the property remotely while still having the same experience of a house tour in real life.
This means that you should make sure that the tour provides a seamless navigation so that customers can easily move around, check every room, and jump from one space to another conveniently.
When customers can easily take control of their own 3D tour, it will give them an easier and more positive experience. This leads to more engagement on your website and more interest in the properties.
Your listing will be more memorable than others when customers can navigate through it seamlessly.
2. Make sure that you have the proper home staging
To give an authentic home experience to your potential customers, you should make sure that you have the proper home staging for the 3D virtual tour.
If you use an empty home, it will be too blank and dull, but if you use a cluttered home, it may look messy and can take the attention away from the actual space of the room.
You will need to use familiar furniture and objects and place them in usual spaces so that they can also accentuate the features of the home instead of drawing attention away from it.
3. Use consistent and bright lighting
Lighting can have a significant impact on how you present your properties. It can dramatically change our impression of the size, shape, and overall feel of various things.
When preparing your 3D virtual tour, you may be faced with two dangers in regards to lighting. Dim lighting can make a space look smaller or less inviting. Also, inconsistent lighting between rooms can create a jarring experience that spoils immersion.
You must ensure that all of the light levels in the property are consistent across all shots and that every area is well-lit. You should also pick optimal times of the day to maximise the use of natural sunlight to complement your lighting.
4. Choose viewpoints that accurately reflect a natural human perspective
To make sure that each customer is fully immersed in your 3D virtual tour, you must make sure that you choose viewpoints that accurately reflect a natural human perspective.
This means that you should avoid positioning the viewpoint in the exact centre of a room and focus on choosing more positions that reflect natural stopping points.
The best viewpoints to use are hallways and at different corners of the room. It is important to have multiple options so that customers can have a better feel of the space they are in.
The effect of doing this is that the tour will actually feel like it is duplicating the in-person experience.
5. Isolate unique features within the home
Each property has its own unique and special features and you should be able to isolate them in your 3D virtual tours. Some of these features may not always be important to the function of a home, but they help reveal its own personality.
Showcasing these unique features can help customers figure out what makes a specific property feel different from another. This taps into their emotions and helps people feel like they get to understand a home.
The unique colours, walls, rooms, or decor can help create stronger memories for the listing.
6. Include outdoor areas to emphasise liveability
There are other house tours that leave out the home’s outdoor areas which should not be the case. Every 3D virtual tour should include a view from the outside and can even start from the street. This can help people visualise what it is like for guests to arrive at their home.
Another reason you should also emphasise the outdoor areas is because it makes a property feel more versatile. No one will spend all of their time inside the house, so you should also let everyone see how good it looks outside.
This can be an even greater advantage if the property is in an ideal location with a great view of the sea or the city.
7. Double check your 3D virtual tours for any continuity errors before finalising
When shooting your 3D virtual tours, you should always make sure not to move or adjust any objects in the property. Having any movement will not show up well in the virtual tour and will end up as ugly blurs in panoramic shots.
It can also be difficult to shoot when you are trying to capture the outdoors. You might experience difficulty with high winds or even animals visiting the property.
You should always double check all of your tours for any continuity errors before you finalise everything just in case you may have to schedule for any reshoots.
8. Still include 3D floor plans along with the tours
While 3D virtual tours provide customers with a full view of the property, remember that you should still include 3D floor plans as well.
Presenting a floor plan is crucial as it shows the view from above. This gives a clear perspective of how small or large a space is relative to another.
The measurements in the floor plan also let customers know the actual size of the space and other physical features. This will also be important in guiding customers on the size of furniture they should get.
9. Survey homeowners and sales agents to determine the success of the tours
Getting feedback from homeowners and sales agents is important for determining the success of your virtual tours. Through surveys, you will be able to gather valuable data that will help you improve your approach over time.
Here are some questions you can ask to someone who bought one of your properties:
- Did you go through the 3D virtual tour provided on the listing?
- How many times did you view it?
- What device did you use to view the tour?
- What was the best or most memorable part of the virtual tour?
You can also track analytics that are based on click throughs from your website. This data will help you draw conclusions and notice patterns that can make your execution and promotion of virtual tours more effective in the future.
10. Invest in the best equipment and software for 3D virtual tours
When choosing the device you will use for your 3D virtual tours, you will need to invest in equipment and software that allows you to create them easily and effectively.
Matterport is the leading provider for 3D reality technology and can accommodate the size, scale, and complexity of your property. They offer different devices and software that is compatible with almost all devices.
If you are interested in providing 3D virtual tours for your real estate company, then our team at fewStones can help you out. You can get a free instant quote for our 3D virtual tour services by clicking here.
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