“Virtual tours” the new trend to avoid the spread of Covid-19

Faced with the growing threat of COVID-19, real estate sellers and agents have had to search for alternatives to keep the business active. Coronavirus is a terrible disease with a high infection rate; this has forced the establishment of quarantines in the vast majority of countries hoping to stop the virus spread.

However, the predictions are optimistic, and the pandemic is expected to disappear in less time than previously expected. Besides, according to a recent study, 78% of buyers think that the pandemic is not a major impediment to acquiring a property. It is an ideal time to buy, due to the lower interest rates established by the government as part of the economic emergency measures.

The market does not stop

The property market has not stopped at all, although sales have decreased slightly, properties are still being bought and sold worldwide. The main impediment has already been solved; Clients complained that they could not see the property on their own due to the risk of contagion from the Coronavirus. This is no longer a problem, virtual tours have become a popular alternative that allows the potential buyer to “take a look” at the property for sale without having to leave their home.

Sellers can schedule a video call through the various platforms that allow this type of communication and show the property to the buyer. This simplifies the process and avoids putting the buyer at risk. Through the video call, the buyer can verify the current status of the property and even ask the seller for specific shots of the areas that the buyer wants to see more closely.

Virtual tours have helped to reduce the time required to review a property, it has also improved the impression of buyers and the feeling of security in the seller.

The technology behind virtual tours

Virtual tours are not exactly new; they were in use long before the Coronavirus hit world markets. They were a common way that buyers who were far from the property could detail firsthand what they wanted to buy. This is very useful when the buyers are foreigners or people too busy to schedule a visit to a property that they did not end up buying.

The popularization of virtual tours came from innovations such as Apple’s Face Time, which allowed the millions of users of iPhone devices to communicate through video calls. Nowadays, not only Facetime allows this type of communication, Google Duo, Skype, and WhatsApp also offer the possibility of communicating through audio and video.

It is fascinating to see how something that appeared so normal to us has become a viable alternative to keep the real estate market activity during the Coronavirus pandemic. At the moment it seems that COVID-19 will not be able to stop the significant increase in sales that was forecast for this 2020.