When you're looking for a new home, it can take weeks or months to drive all over town to find the one that's right for you. Most likely, you're going to open houses to get a feel for the homes you have in mind. But, have you tried the immersive experience of 3D home tours?
With virtual home tours, you can view every inch of a home and find out all its options. These 360-degree panoramic views can help you make a decision on a home without all the footwork. They offer you a realistic representation of every room, keeping you engaged as you explore the home's overall layout.
Did you know that virtual tours get 87 percent more views than home listing that don't include tours? Also, 75 percent of real estate buyers consider virtual tours a major part of their decision to buy a property.
Learn more about 3D virtual tours and the 15 reasons to use 3D home tours when searching for your dream home.
1. Experience the Flow of the Home
Taking a virtual tour allows you to get a feel for the flow of the home. You can "walk" through the home at your own pace and check out any rooms you want.
You can see how the home is laid out and determine if it will work for your family. Some of today's 3D tours even give you the ability to measure the room so you can see if the space is really the right size for your needs. This helps you visualize your family enjoying everything the home has to offer. All this from the comfort of your own home.
2. View Every Room in 3D
With a 3D tour, you can walk through every room in the house. As you're walking, most virtual tours give you three types of viewing experiences. These are the dollhouse view, the inside walkthrough and the floor plan view.
By tying all viewing options, you have a sensory experience of every room and its features. For example, dining room lighting and kitchen amenities.
3. Make Home Buying More Enjoyable
Viewing homes in 3D with 360 degrees panoramic views give you incredible home representations that you can't get when physically walking through a home. You get more information about the house and neighborhood in an enjoyable 3D format.
Depending on the 3D tour creator, it might have multimedia elements like narrated tour guides, music and sound effects.
4. Spend Less Time Traveling
This is one of the most beneficial features of 3D real estate tours. If you're moving across the country or to another country, you save months of travel time. Virtual tours let you see and experience everything about the homes you're considering without having to leave your current residence.
Also, think about all the time wasted viewing properties that you don't like. You can save time by checking virtual tours of the properties before you go see them in person.
These tours bring your home choices to life just as if you were there in person. They're so realistic that you'll feel like you're really there.
5. See Homes Anywhere and Anytime
Not only does viewing 3D home tours open up the areas you can look for a home, but it also lets you tour them any time of the day and night. Since you don't have to go out and physically see the house, you can view a lot more homes whenever you have the time.
Also, you don't have to worry about bad weather, scheduling an appointment for a showing, waiting for the homeowner to set up a viewing time, or finding a babysitter to take care of the kids while you view prospective homes.
6. Access 3D Virtual Home Tours on all Electronic Devices
If you have a smartphone, tablet or PC, you can take advantage of virtual home tours in the search for your next home. Most 3D home tours require an app and a headset for viewing. You can download the apps from the Google Play Store or Apple store depending on the type of device you own.
You might also need a virtual reality headset, which your realtor supplies. Once you have the app installed and your headset on, you can start your home tour.
7. Expand Your Home Offerings
Since you have more time available for viewing homes, you have more options to check out. When you're limited by physically visiting houses, you don't get the chance to see as many as you can with 3D home tours. You have the opportunity to visit a large volume of homes.
8. Gives You Control of How You Walk Around the House
When you're engaged in the virtual tour, you're in control of what you see, and how long you want to spend in the house or around the yard. If you want to revisit specific areas, you can do that without worrying about other home buyers also visiting the house.
You decide which rooms you want to visit. This lets you focus on all aspects of the room, such as woodwork, lighting, flooring and wall coverings.
9. Helps You Bond with the Home
The more time you spend taking a virtual real estate tour, the more you can see yourself living there. Unlike rushing through an open house or having a realtor show you around a house, you can get an emotional feel for a home when spending as much time as you want in each room using a virtual tour.
10. Bird's Eye View of House Conditions
Many 3D virtual home tours include aerial views so you can get a close view of the roof, chimney and gutter conditions. Virtual home tour creators often use drone photography to capture aerial images of the roof, neighborhood surroundings and the home's exterior condition. Drones can also capture panoramic views of the surroundings, such as nearby stores and highways.
You can also see the condition of the upper floor windows and the layout of the house, landscaping and outbuildings.
11. View Unique Aspects of the Home
One of the great things about virtual home tours is the ability to see the unique aspects of a home. For example, the home might have a built-in aquarium or reading nooks. Or, maybe there's a playhouse in the backyard your kids would love.
You can also go into the attic to see if it can be converted into an upstairs family room. These are the types of unique features you don't always see when walking through a house with a realtor.
12. See Home from Every Angle
Virtual 3D tours show you the interesting designs the house has to offer.
They also give you different views of the topography and views around the home. For instance, you can get a street view or a lake view if the house sits near the water.
When you can see the home from all angles, you get a clear picture of its advantages or disadvantages. For example, if the home has full-height windows, it will complement the natural outdoor views.
13. Check Floor Plans
Another benefit of 3D home tours is being able to view high-quality, 3D floor plans of the home. This lets you see the exact layout of the house, which helps you decide if it has the space you need. Using the floor-plan feature, you can see the living space available to you.
It also lets you see how your furniture will fit into the house or gives you ideas on how you can decorate the space.
14. Use Interactive Tools
Some 3D virtual home tours also offer interactive tools, such as mortgage calculators. You can also ask questions about the homes you're touring.
For example, you can ask specific questions about the climate control system, insulation or flooring materials. The realtor who has the listing will answer your questions in real-time.
Most virtual tours also include navigation that lets you jump from locations inside the home. For example, by clicking a thumbnail image, you can jump from the kitchen to a bedroom. This is a great way to revisit a room.
15. Save Money
Since you don't have to travel to every home you're interested in, you save money. You won't have to fill up at the gas station, purchase bus fares or plane tickets when viewing homes.
Experience Immersive 3D Home Tours in Your Home Search
Visiting homes is one of the most important and time-consuming elements of the home shopping journey. By taking advantage of 3D home tours, you experience the ability to explore homes you're interested in before ever stepping inside them.
It gives you a relaxing, enjoyable home buying experience without the stress of travel and having to schedule home-viewing appointments. If you're searching for your next home, experience realistic views of your property choices with 3D home tours.
Whether you're a buyer, seller or realtor, contact us for more information about taking advantage of 3D virtual home tours technology.