How Cloud Streaming Interactive Virtual Tours Adds Value for Pre-sale Homes

A new property development is a complex project. Its success relies on a fortunate combination of great timing and healthy cash flow, so property developers are always looking for tools and best practices to keep their projects on budget and on schedule.

Interactive virtual tours can potentially revolutionize how property developers manage their timelines and access capital. In fact, this technology delivers tremendous value throughout the various stages of marketing, selling, and building pre-construction properties.

Reach a greater number of customers faster

Nearly half of prospective home buyers start their research online. And this is true in both the resale and pre-sale markets. In fact, most home buyers won’t even consider the thought of an in-person visit unless they’ve seen a home online first. As a result, developers must provide compelling and engaging online experiences to land more customers. 

An interactive 3D experience offers an enhanced version of the online home research experience.

Related Read: 3 tips when using game engines for photorealistic AEC and virtual home projects

Rather than struggling to understand a floorplan or clicking through a photo gallery deceptively curated to make rooms look bigger than they are, prospects can access an interactive demo that encourages them to book an appointment to view upgraded features.

This gives prospects an incentive to book an appointment and sales representatives a way to create value during the initial engagement.

Consider the following:

• Online leads that turn into appointments are two to three times more likely to become a sale than walk ins
• Only one to three percent of online visitors become leads, suggesting there’s underwhelming online experiences that fail to lure prospects further down the funnel

Interactive 3D walkthroughs and home configurators offer a way to generate more online visitors, leads, and eventually appointments.

Speeding up sales and access to capital

Most property developers need to sell 70 percent of their units before a lender will extend credit. That said, building a show home is incredibly expensive.

For starters, a show home must be habitable, so builders must pay for the model house to have utilities until it’s sold with the other units. Plus, show homes need to have all the upgrades installed to demonstrate them to prospective buyers.

On the other hand, an interactive 3D demo can be powered up and down, with cloud streaming costs only charged when prospects view them. Prospects can take a 3D tour through their home and view the model through their laptop, tablet, or mobile device. 

Your salespeople can stream the 3D model directly into meeting rooms, which prospects access through a link - no downloads, no installations. With fewer delays, you can show more units in a shorter space of time, speeding up your access to capital and financing from lenders.

Sales representatives and designers can bring upgrades to life

Upgrades can be a smart investment for home buyers, but it’s up to sales representatives to present them as one instead of a money grab by builders.

There are many upgrades that are worth the money during the home buying stage since they are more expensive and inconvenient down the road. It’s up to sales representatives to connect upgrades to a home buyer’s needs and vision of their future home.

For instance, a seller that understands their customers’ desires in a home, like a larger driveway or an upgraded kitchen for entertaining, can focus on these features and bring them to life through an interactive, photoreal 3D experience.

Sales representatives increase quantity of interactions without reducing quality

Finally, interactive 3D experiences allow sales managers to multiply their interactions without compromising the quality of them. An interactive 3D streaming platform with meeting room features allows customers to log into a virtual tour from the comfort of their home, while the sales manager facilitates the walkthrough from their office.

Overall, salespeople spend 35 percent more time meeting with customers for new products than they do when selling existing products. To address this, representatives can provide a one-to-one experience, demonstrate upgrades to customers, and receive requests for customizations to a greater number of customers without incurring both the temporal and monetary costs of travel.

Greater collaboration between teams and an enhanced post-purchase experience

During the construction phase, real-time collaboration tools gives developers, builders, contractors, and designers an opportunity to provide input on models and obtain sign off from the project sponsor. 

Moreover, as the occupancy date approaches, buyers can select the colours and finishes for their units directly within the virtual home, further enhancing the customer experience. This serves to enhance the post-purchase experience, and reputation is a large part of a buyer’s decision-making process, especially when buying a pre-construction home.

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Interactive virtual tours do more than bring your project to life. They help speed up your timeline, quicken your access to capital, and give your salespeople the flexibility they need to multiply the quantity of engagements without diluting the quality of interactions.

Interested in learning more about how interactive tours can add value to your property development projects? Download our latest whitepaper, Interactive 3D Streaming in AEC: How Virtual Show Homes Help Buyers Play House to learn more.