Virtual Tours for Real Estate During the Coronavirus
Today’s real estate market is unrecognizable to most of us. Construction is crawling, existing buildings are empty, buyers are backing out, tenants are requesting rent relief and businesses of all kinds are either closing or significantly reducing staff. These trends are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, which, needless to say, is causing headwinds for real estate participants. Owners and brokers, for example, are now scrambling to improve their digital presence and somehow show their property remotely.
Showing a property to a potential buyer or tenant remotely is not new, but the delivery method has changed. Over the years there have been large advancements in technology for built spaces, this includes tools like Matterport. However, technology has often lagged for pre-construction, old or raw spaces, with owners still relying on in-person sales offices and expensive model units.
In an effort to work remotely, many owners are using video conferencing tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams to pitch clients about the property. These platforms are great for having a conversation, but if there is limited digital content, the calls often fall short. In today’s market, having a competitive digital presence means a sophisticated website, fly-through videos and a virtual tour experience.
One of the companies active in the virtual tour space is Radical Galaxy Studio, which has been making advancements to improve virtual real estate experiences. Even if an owner wanted to show what a vacant office space would look like for a tech or medical tenant, Radical Galaxy could build that out.
“As a real estate asset manager, I saw firsthand the impact of new technologies on the way we design, develop, manage and sell real estate,” Bradley Snyder Managing Partner at Radical Galaxy Studio commented. “Not only can tenants and buyers no longer tour a property or space in person, but even when they could, often they could not visualize what it would look like fully built out.”
One of the interesting aspects of virtual tours that is often overlooked by owners is the SEO and branding benefits. Compared to 2D content, 360/virtual content receives 300% more click-throughs, as well as resonates better with tech-forward professionals, per an Omnivirt Study.
“Most real estate properties are long overdue for a digital update, but all of a sudden now having strong digital content can make or break a property’s success,” said Matthew Shaffer Managing Partner at Radical Galaxy Studio. “Using virtual tours will become part of the new normal in the real estate industry for both commercial and residential assets.”
About Radical Galaxy:
Radical Galaxy Studio, LLC is a visualization firm that is pushing the boundaries of what can be done in real estate design, sales and leasing. Radical Galaxy creates virtual tours, CGI animations, motion renderings, still renderings, augmented reality and virtual reality for industry leading firms including Oxford Properties, Brookfield Properties, Perkins + Will, Marriott, Cushman Wakefield and Hyatt Hotels.
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