I’m telling you, VR House Tours are where it’s at!
Have you been looking online for your new home, and you’re flipping through all the pictures and it’s just not doing it for you? We hear you! Still photos can only do so much, and let’s be honest those still photos are only highlighting the very best features of the home.
That’s where virtual house hunting comes in! By the end of this post you’ll know exactly what to expect from a virtual home tour, why they’re important, what equipment you need to view them, how to get a virtual tour of a home your interested in, and most importantly how to make the most of a virtual tour.
Sound good? Let’s do it!
If this is your first time here, welcome! My name is Lindsay and I‘m a proud Anthem resident and your local REALTOR® with the Wise Move AZ Team at Realty ONE Group. We have a lot of fun talking about all things Anthem and real estate, and we would love to have you along for the ride! So, click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and hit the little bell icon to be notified when our new videos are released every single Thursday.
So let’s jump right in.
What is a VR House Tour?
VR stands for Virtual Reality. You may also hear these tours referred to as a virtual home tour, 3D virtual home tour, or any number of things. Whatever you decide to call it, it’s closest thing we currently have to an in-person showing.
These tours allow you have a lifelike viewing of a property without stepping foot into it. They can be viewed at a time and location that is most convenient for you. Like, say, on your couch, in your pajamas, with a glass of wine in hand. Pretty cool, right?!
You can stay ‘in the property’ as long as you’d like and look around every room, over and over again. We are able to create these tours using a special 360-degree camera, and we are so excited to be able to offer this service to all of our clients.
Why are Virtual Home Tours are Important?
Virtual house hunting can be a great option for so many reasons. To state the obvious, it’s a great option at the time I’m writing this, as we all practice social distancing for the health and safety of our selves, our loved ones and our communities. These virtual tours allow you to stay in the safety of your own home, and it also allows the Seller to minimize the number of people entering their home. It’s a win-win.
But there are so many other circumstances when virtual tours are immensely valuable. For example, if you work long hours and would only be able to see a home in the evening, when it is dark. These tours allow you to see the home in daylight. It is also a great option when you are physically unable to see a home in person. This may be because you’re house hunting from a different city, state or country, or you may have personal circumstances that prevent you from being able to tour the home in person.
Truthfully, it doesn’t matter to us why you need or want to do a virtual tour. We’re happy to help and we love the ways it can enhance your house hunting experience.
The other benefit of virtual tours over looking at the photos online is that it will allow you to see ALL of the house. Not just the best features they’re trying to highlight in the photos. If the dog chewed up the carpet or there is a hole in the wall, it won’t be able to hide from the 360-degree camera. These tours are the next best thing to actually touring the home in person.
What Equipment do you need to Watch our 3D Videos?
Truthfully, you don’t need much and you probably already have everything you need, right this second, as you’re watching THIS video. All you need is a smartphone, tablet or computer. We will send the video to you by link, so you’ll also need a good connection to the internet or data.
If you are interested, you can also use a Virtual Reality headset but this definitely isn’t mandatory. This can create a more immersive experience, but it can also be a bit disorienting. Totally your call!
We will be using a 360-degree camera to collect the video footage and using software to stitch the videos together so that when you receive the link, it’s one easy to view file.
How do I get a Virtual Tour of a property I’m interested in?
Good question! You can reach out to us! We have a form at the bottom of this post that you can fill out or you can send us an email directly at Team@WiseMoveAZ.com.
We specialize in real estate in Anthem, Arizona, but don’t worry! If you are looking to shop virtually in another market, we would be more than happy to connect you with a real estate professional that can provide virtual tours in the market or markets you’re most interested in.
Once you reach out, we’ll set up a time to talk on the phone, meet in person, or meet via video chat to learn more about your situation, and to discuss your wants and needs in your future home. We can also discuss timelines and come up with a plan that best suits you and your family.
From there we will send you listings via email that may be of interest to you. You can read about the properties and flip through the pictures. Once you find a home that you are particularly interested in, you let us know and we will take care of getting a virtual tour for you. We must get permission from the Seller to tour the home and to record video footage. This isn’t usually difficult because, well, they want to sell their home!
Then once we’re finished recording the video and processing it on our end, we send it to you!
So, you receive the link to the virtual tour from us, now what?
Grab your phone, tablet, computer, or virtual reality goggles and get comfortable! You are going to open the link on your device to view the video. Here are a couple of tips that will help you to make the most of your virtual tour:
- Pause Often: You will be able to pause the video at any time. Once paused, you can look around that room or area of the house for as long as you want. You can also skip forward and backward as many times as you want. When we record the video we’ll move through the property as smoothly as possible. We’ll also stand still in each room for a few seconds. When we stop moving, I encourage you to hit pause on the video. This will give the clearest picture. You can look around by dragging your finger across the screen or using your cursor. Don’t forget to look up and down, too! On most devices you can also zoom in and out. When you’re ready to move on, just hit play and we’ll keep moving!
- Turn your Sound On: We’ll give commentary throughout the tour of things that we notice or want to bring to your attention. For example, if the house smells bad, or we want to make sure you see the water stain on the roof, we will tell you. We’ll also talk about features of the floor plan and share any insights we have. So, make sure your sound is on.
- Take Notes: I encourage you to keep a pen and paper handy. This way you can write down things you like, things you don’t like, and any questions that you have. We also welcome any feedback on how we can make the tour better. This is a learning curve for all of us!
What do we ask for in return?
There are just a couple of things that we ask of you, our clients, when using these virtual tours:
- Be Reasonable: These tours take us a little longer to set up and process than doing an in-person showing. So, know that if there are seven homes you want to see virtually, it is going to take us some time to get those to you! We also ask that you request virtual tours only on homes that you are genuinely interested in so that we can be respectful of everyone’s time.
- Be Patient: These 3D tours are BIG files, that means that it takes a little time for us to process them on the back end and get them out to you. It may be a couple of hours after the showing before you receive the link to view the property.
- Give Feedback: We will be dying to know what you thought of the home! Let us know your thoughts, ask any questions, and hit us with any feedback. We are always striving to make your experience with us, in person and virtually, better.
All of this is so cool, and we are so excited to be able to offer this service to our clients. As promised, if you would like to start virtual house hunting, fill out the form at the bottom of this page or email us at Team@WiseMoveAZ.com and we will get back to you right away.
So, there you have it! What do you think? Is virtual house hunting for you?
