Virtually Indispensible
Virtual Tours-customers want them, so why aren't agents providing them?
In the long history of real estate, virtual tours are a surprisingly new offering, although they seem like they've been around forever. Much like cell phones, we wonder how we ever survived without them.
You've probably read the statistics gleaned from the National Association of Realtor's survey of home buyers and sellers which confirmed what we already suspected: 80 percent of people across the country who bought a new home used the Internet while house hunting, and 24 percent of home buyers got their first glimpses of their new homes on the Web.
When asked what Web features were considered "very useful" 83 percent cited pictures, 81 percent cited detailed property information and 60 percent cited virtual tours. In fact, Realtor.com claims that 120,000 buyers a day sort by virtual tours on their Web site. From the real estate consumer's mouths to our ears, there's no doubt that photos and virtual tours are now no longer just an option, but are a de factor expectation of the real estate consumer.
Virtual tours and photographs have become such a powerful selling tool that people are buying houses without even visiting them in person. A recent eye-opening "USA Today" article chronicled the story of a couple from Scottsdale, Arizona who bough a house in Tulsa, Oklahoma without ever stepping foot inside. Also quoted was an agent from Whidbey Island, Washington who noted that three recent customers bought homes they'd viewed from virtual tours, solely contingent on a final walk-through. Instead of being anomalies, stores such as there are becoming more commonplace.
But what is the percentage of agent who actually use virtual tours? In a recent review of Realtor.com listings in the Seattle metropolitan area, the number of active properties with virtual tours posted was a paltry one percent of the total number of listings.
There's a big disconnect between what 60 percent of real estate customers want and what one percent of agents are delivering. |
