Today’s home buyer loves to search online to find their dream home. It makes them feel part of the process and gives them a certain sense of control, which makes sense because they are half of the process. Without home buyers we wouldn’t have home sales. Home buyers demand 360 degree virtual tours and artificial intelligence.
Home Buyers Demand 360 Degree Virtual Tours and Artificial Intelligence
Most buyers realize they can’t complete the purchase alone, they need help. The one thing they can do though is search. And when they search, and search, and search the process can sometimes be overwhelming. We’ve seen buyers bring in a stack of listings or email us daily with homes they feel they might like to look at. Their frustration mounts when they see a few of these and realize they don’t match their criteria at all.
They’re also afraid they might be missing out on some listings because they can’t quite tell if the property meets their needs based on the photos. The technology is here today to show them so much more, and buyers love it.
Artificial Intelligence
The Ellis Team is employing two sets of technology we believe will really change how buyers look at property, and how Realtors market their listings. We’re introducing artificial intelligence that searches each photo in the MLS and keeps an eye on what a customer likes online. Let’s say a customer is searching for homes 1800-2100 Sq. Ft of living area, with a pool, 2 car garage, and at least 3 bedrooms. What the system notices is that they seem to be drawn to homes with wood floors, or white kitchen cabinets. They didn’t ask for it in the search, but it’s clear they spend more time looking at homes with the two features. We’ll be able to suggest homes that match what they’re looking for, even if they didn’t specifically ask for it.
Realtors, how many times has your buyer bought a home completely different than what they told you they were looking for? Exactly! Our artificial intelligence will be able to search neighborhoods for features like parks, recreation, proximity to shopping, restaurants, etc., in addition to photos. We have neighborhood insights that causes buyers spend over 4 times looking at homes with these insights versus ones that don’t.
360 Degree Virtual Tours
The Ellis Team is adding 360 degree virtual tours on our listings. www.SWFL360hometours.com By doing this the buyer gets a greater sense of the home in proximity to the neighborhood, and a sense of how each room looks and feels in the home. A static photo can be shot in such a way as to make the room look different than it really is, and buyers don’t like that. They feel like they’ve wasted their time when there aren’t enough photos of a home, or they feel deceived. A 360 degree virtual tour puts the buyer in control of how they want to view the home, and they are much more likely to schedule a live showing because of that.
We had a home listed with static photos. It wasn’t selling. As soon as we loaded a 360 virtual tour, a buyer called us to schedule a showing. They had a better sense of how they could use the property. They bought it, and both buyer and seller are happy. The static photos weren’t bad, they just couldn’t tell the buyer the whole story on how they could use the property.
This is all part of a greater marketing strategy. Giving the buyer the tools to be more engaged in the buying process makes a Realtor’s listings stand out. In an age of increasing listing inventory, Realtors need to do more and more to make their listings stand out.
The 360 virtual tours are live now and growing as we list properties. Artificial intelligence searches are set to go live in SW Florida by March. If you’re thinking of selling and would like to see how all this works for you, give Brett or Sande Ellis a call. 239-489-4042 Ext 4 We’ll be happy to show you how the Ellis Team can make your home stand out, and how the new technology that will absolutely change how Realtors sell certain homes faster and for top dollar.
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