Lockdown and mobility restriction measures first and social distance later have made many potential customers reduce their physical visits and look for alternatives such as virtual viewings. Bcn Advisors, in response to this trend, has recently added 3D tours to its website.
Virtual tours have gained prominence as a result of the lockdown measures imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clients have discovered a more comfortable option of viewing a property in a more realistic way, complementing the photographs. This way, they can get a much more real idea of the possibilities of each home.

The real estate sector joins a trend that other industries, such as retail, have been experiencing for a long time now. The consumer is increasingly using ecommerce as the main source of purchase or to make decisions before getting to the physical store. Something that is already happening in real estate: according to data from the Spanish National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), between January and September 2019, ecommerce in the real estate sector had a turnover of 146.9 million euros, 47.7% more than the 99.7 million registered in the same period in 2018.

Bcn Advisors adds the virtual tours

Bcn Advisors website has recently introduced 3D virtual tours through Matterport in a featured listings selection, which is currently being increased. If the property has a 3D tour, it will appear at the bottom of the page, after the pictures and the description text.

Matterport is an application that scans the property using the camera of the smartphone and plays a 3D view. “With this addition, we aim to help our clients quicker shortlist their most interesting properties and reduce the number of physical viewings,” says Francisco Nathurmal, founder and CEO of Bcn Advisors. “This will also help our sales team to increase their effectiveness,” he adds.

A more visual showcase

The virtual tours and videos trend, although is already present for years, has taken much more importance in the sector. For example, real estate searching websites such as Fotocasa or Kyero have picked up on this trend and have recently incorporated the option of including 3D virtual tours, while Idealista already features these feature as a filter that customers can select when making their searches.

Once the client is interested, other creative solutions have also emerged, such as live video calls with the real estate agent walking around the flat. These allow explaining the features of the flat in first person and make the client feel as if he were physically visiting it together with the expert’s comments.

The 360º videos are also very useful, since they allow the client to live an immersive experience in the virtual tour of a property. All the sales agent has to do is recording the property from his or her perspective and then the client can play the video on the smartphone attached to VR glasses.

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