With the growth of iBuying — the electronic sale of real estate that is often sight-unseen and completed online — more buyers and sellers are embracing the virtual property tour. iBuyers represent a dramatic shift in the way people are buying and selling properties.

However, a standard ‘gallery’ of property pictures won’t suffice these days; Pictures can be very misleading as images will always be taken from the best possible angle and highlight each room’s best features. By allowing a potential buyer to take a virtual tour of the hotel, they are immediately being given a better idea about the sense of space, light, and ambience of each room with a 360-degree angle.

360 images – ‘spy before you buy’

360 Photos, Videos and Virtual Reality (VR) offer an effective, highly measurable way for marketers to give potential buyers a taste of what they can expect from a property. Using images, sounds and other physical sensations, the user is placed within a virtual world, which they can move around and, in some cases, interact with. This immersion offers a compelling perspective and enables those in the property industry to provide a ’Spy before you buy‘ option.

Virtual tours may never completely replace visiting a property in person, but it’s starting to become the smart way in which increasingly time-poor and discerning customers experience and filter properties en masse. So how does it work? Using a phone, iPad or VR headset, the user either moves around a property on their own accord via a suite of 360 stills, or automatically guided around in 360 video.

Narrated 360 video – next-level tech to close the deal

360-degree stills have been used by most upscale hotels and properties for a number of years. However, for a truly immersive and impressive experience, Interactive VR video is the future and offers an incredible opportunity to keep your company ahead of the pack; Imagine a first-person perspective of what it’s like to arrive at the hotel, be greeted by the porter, walk into the impressive lobby, be greeted by the Hotel Manager, view the dining area and facilities and then head up to the room. And most likely an upgraded room as you’ve had the chance to properly compare each one. And users can effortlessly switch between locations at the touch of a button, if they don’t wish to follow the path.

Boost user interaction via ‘Hotspots’

Additionally, ‘Hotspots’ enable the user to interact with their environment to find out more about it. They simply tap on one (or point at one if using a VR headset) to find out more about a specific property feature. Once activated, hotspots can also be used to buy highlighted products or services – a compelling reason for their inclusion.

Welcome to the future of virtual property tours – with YourTour, you’ll explore like never before.

About YourTour

YourTour is an award-winning company that enables property owners / portals to attract and convert more customers via interactive VR video tours.

  • All you need is a phone or iPad – simply move it around to feel like you’re really there
  • Tap on ‘Hotspots’ to learn more about particular features
  • Compatible with VR headsets for an even more immersive experience
  • World-Class technology, including ‘Follow Mode’ for a more intuitive experience, and ‘Invisibility Cloak’ that completely removes the cameraman.

Our Falcon Pools Virtual Tours iOS app, best experienced on an iPad, enables Falcon to effortlessly showcase their pools – and its features – to prospective clients. This won the ‘Best Leading Edge Marketing’ award at the Master Pools Guild convention in Toronto last month, and is sure to do the same for early adopters in the property industry.

YourTour will transform your Marketing KPIs, so visit our website or email brett@goyourtour.com for more information.