We’ve talked about how virtual reality will impact what you sell as a CRE broker, but we haven’t yet discussed how it will impact your day-to-day work.
Real estate will be one of the first large industries to be transformed by virtual reality, and VR technology is going to make your job a whole lot easier.
VR is already affecting CRE in big ways through tools like Matterport and Virtual Xperience.
Matterport’s special cameras scan properties and create digital 3D renderings for virtual property tours. As of 2016, 2.4 percent of all property listings in the U.S. were using VR with a Matterport model. And just recently, Matterport partnered with Google to begin to offer 3D indoor views of buildings on Street View.
And rather than scanning and rendering properties as they currently exist, Virtual Xperience creates designs of spaces and allows users to view them through VR headsets. This way, users can experience the potential of spaces that have not yet been built or remodeled.
Even though VR is already here, it’s still expensive for brokerages to utilize. But as time goes on, it will get smarter and become more accessible to all brokers.
And once CRE VR tech is accessible to all brokerages, your job will be simplified and can become more lucrative. Brokers will be able to narrow down serious prospects by first showing VR versions of a property. This will allow you to spend most of your valuable time on your warmest leads, close deals more effectively and make more money in the process.
And once tools like Virtual Xperience are more readily available to all brokerages, it will be easier to show the potential of a building instead of just how it looks now. This will be especially useful for retail and office clients when prospective tenants can see exactly what the space will look like when it’s branded for them.
Long distance deals will also be more attainable than ever before. With an accurate VR experience, buyers will be able to more comfortably follow through with big transactions from all the way across the country, even without physically setting foot in a property.
With wide implementation of VR, virtual business in CRE will be streamlined, helping you close more, bigger deals around the globe, not just in your current niche.
Are you already using VR? Tell us how it’s going. And if you want to learn more about CRE tech developments, check out our blog on what to expect from CRE tech in 2017.
