Just a few years ago, the nation’s largest homebuilders pioneered the use of online home tours for our industry. 3D modeling was a quantum leap from traditional photos and video because it enabled home buyers to immerse themselves in a realistic experience.
Now we’re taking tours to the next level with 3D Matterport Tours. Our 3D cameras digitally recreate properties and transform them into virtual environments. Now, inviting online buyers to virtually explore homes can fit within any budget.
For builders, interactive model home tours are just the tip of the iceberg. Virtual Reality 3D Matterport tours engage buyers and capture their imaginations through every step of the home buying experience. [Tweet This]This technology maximizes the effectiveness of marketing dollars and expedites the sales process. Here are a few ways builders can use these tours in their business:
Model Home Tours
Your model may be in Dallas and your buyer may be in New Jersey. Yet she can enjoy a self-directed virtual tour, using a mouse to walk into every room and interact with the spaces. She can experience the overall design concept, flow, room dimensions, and even the quality of construction, all as if she were there. She can also use the dollhouse view to see the whole property at once or the floorplan view for a top-down perspective.
You can also provide buyers the benefits of a guided tour by using Mattertag™ Posts. These visual callouts provide detailed information about the features and finishes, making the tour an even more effective online sales tool. Mattertag Posts are informative without interrupting, and they are proven to drive longer engagement and more return visits.
Because VR tours are available to so many more potential buyers than model homes, the number of showings is typically multiplied.
Finished Homes: Capture Every Plan
A model can only present one of the infinite possible finished home designs. 3D Matterport Tours enable you to serve buyers with entirely different visions about flooring, elevations, finishes, and fixtures than what one model can show. Now the homes you build for customers become virtual models, demonstrating a wide range of available looks and features. By showcasing the full range of your building capabilities, you’re no longer limited to the imaginations of your buyers as they tour one possible iteration of a model.
Custom Home Showcase
For custom home builders, a portfolio of work is critical for referrals and building your client base. These luxurious showcases of workmanship, fine quality materials, and state-of-the-art technology are your strongest untapped sales asset. 3D tours make it possible for your prospects to tour them and to appreciate your capabilities as a builder, no matter what level of home they desire. Custom home tours add cachet to your brand, just as the BMW 7 Series makes every model below it more attractive. Showcasing custom homes also seduces homebuyers into falling in love with more elaborate and expensive options for their finish-outs.
Design Center Tours
Virtual tours have multiple applications in the marketing and homebuilding processes. Why not use a 3D Matterport Tour to allow buyers to tour your design center? During the buying process, enabling people to explore their choices in colors, textures, and materials for flooring, fixtures, and other options is a richer experience than comparing bulleted lists. In marketing, the term “theater of the mind” applies, as buyers respond emotionally to an experience more readily than they respond intellectually to plain information. For that reason, this marketing “sizzle” will soon be a part of every serious homebuilder’s arsenal.
Pre-Drywall Blueprints
Buyers are wowed by Matterport’s immersive 3D experiences, but you should also consider using Matterport tours during the construction process to document the wiring, plumbing, and other interior elements before drywall is in place. This investment can be a valuable resource down the line and save time and money by painting a clear picture of what is “behind the walls”.
We’re reaching a technology tipping point in the marketing of our homes. 2D photos and virtual tours tell buyers what a property looks like. 3D Matterport Tours from BDX empower builders to show them what it feels like. By virtually immersing your buyers in their future homes, you can prove that you understand what it takes to earn their business in the 21st century. For more information and to get started with your 3D tour, email us today.
