Using VR to sell to investors over seas?

Using VR to sell to investors over seas?

Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes

what are ur thoughts on using  virtual reality head sets to show cases house to investors not in ur country? Do you feel this trend might be the next big thing?

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Investor · Cazenovia, NY · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 17 votes
9y

In the interest of full honesty, I will say that I am a co-founder of a business that does 3D scanning for RE. I also do research in the applications of xR. 

If you are trying to impress investors and the deal is worth a significant amount of money, I would suggest springing for a Matterport scan. You can search for providers in your area. What I like about the MP scan is it retains some sense of depth and it auto-generates dollhouses and floorplans so the viewer can get a view the layout of the property.  I can't say how much the scan will cost as it is up to the service provider, but it shouldn't be that much more than professional photos.

In my experience, 360 videos and panoramic shots do not retain the sense of depth that an expensive 3D 360 shot would. You also have to stitch the shots together or create a walkthrough. I think it's harder to do well.

One last suggestion, for the final touch you could order a few custom branded Google Cardboard goggles to send with the investor package - your prospective investors can immerse themselves in the Matterport scan and have a memento that is way better than a calling card.

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  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    More so like for video now with the ability to show video with a 360 degree view point. Put on a head set or use a web video to showcase a walk thru. Could this help handicap investors who might not be able to see every house they wish to buy?

  • Dan RosenbergerPro Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Westfield, IN · Member since 2010 · 85 posts · 31 votes
    9y

    I will often take 360 degree panoramas of a new project.  Sometimes the agents will skip the photo of the wall that has holes.  With a 360 of each room you can see it all.  What you are suggesting is much more useful than a set of photos or a slide show.

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    right it's not hard to do at all with the right equipment of course. 

  • Dan RosenbergerPro Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Westfield, IN · Member since 2010 · 85 posts · 31 votes
    9y

    Ricoh Theta cameras are pretty reasonable.  Not ultra high resolution, but good enough to get a good idea about the house.  I can use a phone app and set the camera on a noodle tripod.  You end up with a spherical 360 panorama of the entire room.

  • Investor · Cazenovia, NY · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 17 votes
    9y

    In the interest of full honesty, I will say that I am a co-founder of a business that does 3D scanning for RE. I also do research in the applications of xR. 

    If you are trying to impress investors and the deal is worth a significant amount of money, I would suggest springing for a Matterport scan. You can search for providers in your area. What I like about the MP scan is it retains some sense of depth and it auto-generates dollhouses and floorplans so the viewer can get a view the layout of the property.  I can't say how much the scan will cost as it is up to the service provider, but it shouldn't be that much more than professional photos.

    In my experience, 360 videos and panoramic shots do not retain the sense of depth that an expensive 3D 360 shot would. You also have to stitch the shots together or create a walkthrough. I think it's harder to do well.

    One last suggestion, for the final touch you could order a few custom branded Google Cardboard goggles to send with the investor package - your prospective investors can immerse themselves in the Matterport scan and have a memento that is way better than a calling card.

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    Bout are amazing ideas I like the google cardboard glasses idea allot I'm going to look in to that. That's also great to know about ur company mark. How often do you us the 3D show case for home buying would you think? 

  • Lender · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 87 posts · 31 votes
    9y

    @Sean Boivin I was working for a company that did Matterport 3D scans. IMO it is the future of showcasing properties. You can get a much better sense for the properties dimensions compared to 360 photos or photos in general. Great for buyers that can't view the property in person. As mentioned by @Mark Costa, the scan also produces a floor plan at the same time. 

    Consumers are all about convenience, and nothing says convenience like viewing 20 properties within an hour. 

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    Right! @Marshall Martinez I think this will be huge and I'm glad allot of people see this on the Horizon. 

  • Dan RosenbergerPro Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Westfield, IN · Member since 2010 · 85 posts · 31 votes
    9y

    These are all great comments. The Ricoh Theta is quick and does not require a storage plan. You simply email the files. 

    If you are selling a home, look at what Matterport has to offer.  It is a good product. If you want spherical 360 photos of a prospective purchase or job progress, Ricoh Theta is something to consider.

    There are other products. Samsung has a spherical camera, but I have not used it yet.

    If you are an out of area investor it would be good if your boots on the ground person has a spherical camera or similar product.

  • Investor · Cazenovia, NY · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 17 votes
    9y

    @Sean Boivin I haven't bought any homes out of my geographic area yet and I tend to target lower-mid end of my local market where the REA still take photos with their phones, so I have not bought any houses with scans. However, my business is doing enough scanning volume on mid- to high- end houses to keep a full-time person busy.

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    very cool congratulations you go man. @Mark Costa

  • Investor · Cazenovia, NY · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 17 votes
    9y

    One more thing to consider - you can tag hotspots in Matterport. If you really wanted to add that extra polish, you can pay a translator to add descriptions in your target audience's native language. That may be tough if you are targeting investors that speak different languages, but doable if you are looking at one or two options.

  • Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 564 posts · 425 votes
    9y

    If anyone wants to see a 3D scan of a property by Matterport, here is one of my flips that sold a couple months ago. The dollhouse view (click on the little house icon) is great, and a part of why I did a scan of this property, as it is a 3 storey plus basement townhouse and the dollhouse view shows all the different floors:

    http://gallery.vrlisting.com/3d-model/23-four-wind...

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    Oh my god that is so freaking cool haha I never seen something like this wow haha I'm literally cheesing right now. @Luc Boiron

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    oh that's a very good thing to know about the language barrier and how to solve that for overseas investors. @Mark Costa

  • Engineer · Carlsbad/San Diego · Member since 2014 · 285 posts · 97 votes
    9y

    @Sean Boivin The way drones got popular in real estate few years ago, now more and more brokerages are already starting to use VR. Useful for even local buyers.

    If you want to see how camera looks like - https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/matterport-launc...

    Are you selling to the British? - https://www.thememo.com/2017/06/08/britains-in-lov...

  • Wholetailer & Architect · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2015 · 544 posts · 298 votes
    9y

    We are starting to use them in our architectural practice at in person client meetings and it is extremely helpful. 

    There is also a high end condo development near me not from the office I work at that put them in their website. Not full VR but fun to move around with your phone acceleraometer http://thepacificheights.com/penthouse-collection/

  • Detroit, MI · Member since 2017 · 30 posts · 15 votes
    9y

    I think VR is hard to setup for this type of thing because a lot of the current VR setups are pretty bulky. Yeah you could try to shoot some 360 video and send them a Google Cardboard but it's just not an easy thing to setup yet. I think you can do just as well with a good walkthrough video or a skype call. 

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    sure that's fine also but it's really not as hard as you think to set up knowing a little coding makes it easier and lets be honest we would only imply such marketing if the pay out is worth it. 

  • Lancaster, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    9y

    @Hersh M. thanks buddy I'll check that out later for sure. 

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