If you’re thinking about selling your home in the near future, one aspect of this process that you should be aware of is the need for buyers to tour the property. In the past, home tours would occur in person, which could be accomplished with one-on-one scheduled tours or open houses. When hosting an open house, numerous buyers are able to visit and tour the home during a specific window of time.
While standard home tours are effective at advertising a home and its benefits, they can be inconvenient, which means that some prospective buyers won’t be able to tour homes that they’re interested in. A VR home tour uses the latest technology to provide potential buyers with an up-close look at the entire home. This simulation can be created with still photos that offer 360-degree vision or a sequence of videos that are connected to provide a seamless view of the property.
What is VR and How Can it be Used in Real Estate?
Virtual reality is a simulated experience that effectively gives the user an view into another location or world via technology. This alternate location can only be viewed from a virtual reality headset, of which there are many types to select from. The objects and scenes that are viewed within the headset will appear to be real but are generated from a computer.
Although this technology is relatively modern, it’s already being used to great effect across many different industries. When it comes to the real estate market, virtual reality allows real estate agents and homeowners to show homes in a new way. Potential buyers who are interested in the home can view the property from any location without visiting the home. If you’re thinking about creating a VR home tour, there are pros and cons that you should consider beforehand.
Pros of VR Home Tours
The main positives of using a VR home tour when selling a home include:
- Buyers are able to view a property without leaving their current home
- Buyers have an unlimited amount of time to compare homes
- It’s possible to tour numerous houses in a short period of time
- The cost of creating a virtual reality home tour is low
Cons of VR Home Tours
The main issues with this approach include:
- Most prospective buyers will still need to tour the property in person before making an offer
- It’s difficult for buyer’s to asses the condition of the home’s infrastructure
- Buyers won’t be able to have a discussion with an agent while touring the property
This article takes a closer look at the necessary steps for creating a premium VR home tour.
Tools to Create Your Own VR Home Tour
While there are many tools you can use to create your own VR home tour, the following details four of the top tools at your disposal.
LiveTour
The LiveTour software was designed with ease-of-use in mind and is meant to assist in the creation of panoramic virtual tours. In the event that you only need to create 1-3 virtual reality tours, you can do so with a free account. On the other hand, obtaining the $29 per month subscription will allow you to create 15 virtual tours.
Kuula
This highly popular software offers budget-friendly features that allow users to make stylish virtual reality tours even without spending a considerable sum of money. If you use the Kuula software, you’ll gain access to free cloud hosting that accommodates up to 100 uploads. They also provide extensive documentation and support that should help you when editing and filming your virtual tours.
Asteroom
This tool provides real estate agents with a platform that makes it easy for them to create seamless virtual reality tours with a smartphone and an Asteroom Pano Kit. This kit includes a standard lens attachment as well as a motorized mount that accommodates a 360-degree view.
IStaging
The iStaging software provides users with the ability to make virtual tours with photos that are taken with their smartphone as well as an iStaging lens attachment that’s priced at $50. The virtual reality tour that you make with iStaging software will automatically be mobile-optimized. Plans for this software begin at $5 per month.
Local Los Angeles Services to Create a VR Home Tour
There are many virtual tour services in Los Angeles that will create a VR home tour for you.
Twin Moons Photography
Twin Moons Photography is a reputable company that specializes in making virtual tours that can be used with virtual reality. Their primary package includes high resolution photos, a 3D virtual tour, and a schematic floor plan. If your home is less than 2,000 square feet in size, the package will cost $250. A property that’s larger than 2,000 square feet will be priced at $0.12 per square foot. Cloud storage for the virtual tour is provided for one year.
Learn more about Twin Moons Photography
Invision Studio
Invision Studio has the capabilities needed to make 360-degree virtual tours for properties of any size. Their pricing is separated into different tiers of $150 per area, $250 for two panoramas, $350 for four panoramas, or $450 for six panoramas. There are also several add-ons available for you to select from, which include architectural photography that’s priced at $500-$750, aerial photography for $300, and an aerial 360-degree panorama for $250.
Learn more about Invision Studio
Revepix
Revepix is a real-estate photography company in Los Angeles that specializes in providing real estate agents and homeowners with virtual reality tours. These tours are priced at $150 for homes that are less than 1,500 square feet. If your home is larger, you will need to call for pricing. Revepix also offers several bundles and add-ons that you might find useful when you’re trying to sell your home. For instance, the “Consider It Sold” bundle costs $750 and includes 65 photos, videography, 3D scans, an Instagram story of the property, and a property website.
DIY VR Home Tour
If you don’t want to pay a considerable amount of money to purchase software or hire a photography company, it’s possible to make a VR home tour on your own without spending much money. While there are plenty of options available to you when you want to make a VR home tour, Google Tour Creator may be the best one. This tool makes it easy for you to create 360-degree virtual tours with a smartphone.
While nearly every smartphone camera is capable of taking the photos needed for Google Tour Creator to put together a VR home tour for you, some smartphones contain 360-degree cameras that facilitate simple panoramic photos. The best smartphone cameras to use when making a VR home tour include the Insta360 Nano, the Insta360 One X, the Rylo, and the GoPro Max.
Once you’ve taken 360-degree images of the property and have uploaded these images into the Google Tour Creator tool, you can create your first virtual reality scene. Keep in mind that narration, points of interest, and audio can be added to your virtual reality scene in the Google Tour Creator. You can use images from Google Maps as well when you’re working on your virtual reality tour.
Creating a VR home tour is surprisingly straightforward. When you’re taking panoramic photos of each room in your home, hold your smartphone at the front of your chest. Make sure that you rotate the camera slowly until you turn 360 degrees. Before you upload your photos, review them carefully to identify any images that are misaligned or blurry. Any blurry photos should be retaken. Once you have panoramic photos of every room, all that’s left is to upload these photos to the right software and compile them into a virtual reality tour. Keep in mind that the final tour can be edited.
VR Home Tour Considerations
Virtual reality tours provide homeowners and agents with a modern solution that makes it considerably easier for potential buyers to view and “tour” a property. While in-person tours are still necessary, there’s only so much time during the day to host these tours. Posting a VR home tour online may also help you increase buyer interest in the property, which could lead to more requests for in-person tours as well as more offers.
During this process, it’s highly recommended that you request help from a local, professional real estate agent. Real estate agents have extensive experience with the entire real estate process and understand how to properly market a home. If you’ve made a VR home tour on your own, an agent can help you determine if the VR tour will be effective or if some of the photos should be retaken. This individual can also assist you in placing the tour on the right websites. Now that you’re aware of what it takes to develop a VR home tour, your first step should be to select the software or company that you’re going to use for the process.