Viewings hit by the virus? Agents offered unique virtual alternative

A Spanish housebuilder’s virtual alternative to allow prospective buyers to view properties without visiting is being offered to the UK agency market.

AEDAS Homes has developed bespoke technology to help sell new-builds to international buyers and says it could appeal to UK agents during the Coronavirus crisis.

One London estate agent, Jeremy Leaf, said earlier this week viewings were down as much as 25 per cent because of the virus – and that was before the latest phase of the outbreak, as defined by government guidelines.

The difference in the Spanish system from many existing video fly-throughs and virtual tours is that there is live interaction with an agent at the same time.

AEDAS says technologies from television and video games have been combined to create the platform called LIVE: customers view in 3D with a consultant in real-time, allowing questions to be asked during a ‘tour’.

In the first few months after the launch the company had already conducted over 100 tours with clients worldwide: approximately a third of their clients who participated in a virtual tour decided to fly to Spain to do a viewing.

José Luis Leirós, director of innovation at AEDAS, says clients often prefer to talk to an advisor:

“With many of our prospective clients living in other countries, this was an issue we had to deal with.”

The technology does not require any virtual reality headset; instead the customer clicks on a link from their mobile or desktop device which then links them to an advisor who shows them the location of the property on an interactive map along with videos of the local amenities; they are then transported virtually ‘into’ the property.

Leirós says:

“From the customers’ point of view, it looks like the advisor is integrated into the 3D model, which is a first for the property industry. Feedback from clients has been overwhelmingly positive. They have said it helped them to get more clarity around the location and the project, and it gave a much better idea of space and room distribution. After the tour we have found they are more motivated to come visit us in the real showroom.”

Kindly shared by Estate Agent Today