Emerging technology is helping potential buyers get a full sense of what a new home might be like. Users can strap on a virtual reality headset and “walk” throughout a house displayed on a smartphone.
The Los Angeles Times reports that more builders and real estate companies are using VR to show their new homes to prospective buyers. For instance, a builder is letting people tour its new homes in Southern California through VR. The homes don’t actually open until spring.
Virtual reality is booming (a research firm anticipated a 1,047 percent increase of VR headsets shipped in 2016) but still remains expensive. It could cost $20,000 to make a virtual 3D model of each room in a house.
Jason Cassity, agent with ISellTheCity real estate in downtown San Diego, said he thinks virtual reality will be the future in his industry and something he is eager to use. “In my opinion, that (technology) should be commonplace already because it is so helpful to buyers,” he said. “You could have someone sitting in Boise, (Idaho), walk through your house and it just does so much more than the photos can. It gives them a sense of how the layout feels.”
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