Years ago, many brokers and agents mistook real estate VR tours for complicated novelties. Today, VR marketing has become the most powerful and disruptive force in real estate. 

It only takes a series of spinnable 360 panoramic images—and a platform for hosting them—to stitch together a simple “virtual tour” of interior or exterior spaces. This requires minimal physical equipment: a 360 digital camera and a computer (with access to a web-based tour application where you can upload the images).

Rudimentary real estate VR tours like these can be found all over the web. Consider Google Street Views. Viewers click to open a tour, then spin the camera to view around a 360-degree  image.  Often, there will be several viewing angles available with unique panoramic photos. But truly powerful VR marketing can go so much further.

Making a virtual tour for real estate? Here are some guidelines to get the most out of your VR marketing asset in a proposed, new, or existing space:

How to Craft an Outstanding VR Marketing Asset

Proposed Space:

A 360 camera is of little use when a building project is incomplete (or hasn’t even broken ground).  But there’s no reason you can’t launch an evocative marketing asset ahead of the opening date to attract interest or sell your project. This can accelerate the leasing and sale process by months. 

At DCC-X, we offer a web-based application—REview—that allows investors, buyers, or prospective tenants to tour the property as it will look (or a few alternative ways it could look) upon completion.  A tour of the proposed space uses photorealistic, 360-degree, 3D renderings of the final design to craft an immersive, fully-furnished experience that looks and feels just like standing in the finished space.

There are many possible applications for a tour in a proposed space:

• Sell clients on your concept
• Present a compelling final product to win over investors
• Explore design alternatives
• Pitch a development project at a town meeting
• Assemble an all-in-one sales asset with all of your real estate marketing materials 

Regardless of the purpose, you’ll get the most out of your VR marketing asset if you select a robust platform that includes the right features to sell a proposed space, such as:

• A 3D isometric floorplan
• Customized fit-outs that match the branding and tastes of prospective buyers
• Immersive effects to make imagined space feel real (animated foot traffic, ambient sounds)
• Buttons to download PDF sell sheets or view a gallery of detailed renderings
• A link to a promotional video for the project
• Exterior views to show off final curb appeal

New or Existing Space:

If the building already stands, a high-quality VR marketing asset can utilize some combination of photography and photorealistic imagery to make the space more dynamic and active during the virtual tour. It’s also critical to provide prospective buyers with all of the materials they could possibly need, right at their fingertips, within your virtual tour interface.  Use your VR tour to:

• Virtually “stage” empty space with rich, custom furnishings
• Immerse buyers in a range of potential interior designs (including brand colors and logos)
• Transform a raw or partially finished project into a fully realized space
• Conduct a remote showing or open house for distant clients (or during COVID-19)
• Show your property infinitely—stop being limited to one-on-one showings
• Help tenants self-filter before committing to on-site visits
• Test and discuss proposed renovations or redesigns

All of these are easy to achieve if you know how to make a virtual tour for real estate with an accessible, comprehensive web platform. Your tour for existing space should include features such as:

• An internal link to a 3D walkthrough video
• Exterior views that show the surrounding neighborhood (a powerful tour differentiator)
• A prominent “contact an agent” button
• 3D floorplans to show a big picture map of the space
• Integrated Google Maps
• Sensory effects that help buyers see themselves living or working in the space (ambient office sounds, footfalls, lens flare from the sun, passing traffic, busy employees)

It’s especially compelling if you can switch between “before” and “after” to show how well the space can fit the client’s needs. Transform an empty shell space, instantly, into a finished one. Show the current design, then the final redesigned space for the new tenant.  

All of these are possible with REview from DCC-X and could be accessed via a simple URL link that you can send to anyone. Host all of your VR marketing materials in one location via our REview web portal, and you’ll build the perfect virtual tour for real estate.