Augmented Reality is what you need…

With the property market in a bit of an upswing agents, portals and industry suppliers should really start experimenting with advanced technologies so that they can provide potential buyers with an innovative experience while they are searching for new homes. Now we aren’t talking about apps, websites or digital displays here, something that really has the wow factor.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality brings products to life, literally, and the use of augmented reality should really start in the UK real estate sector. The first ones to grab hold of this fast moving technology are really going to reap rewards from it. But one of the best things about augmented reality is not just the client side benefit but the fact that agents can also benefit equally.

Augmented reality in the property market works by projecting information about the properties that are available for sale over the images of those houses. The overlaid data is visible to the users when they point their mobile device toward the houses. In some cases, buyers can not only see the overlaid data, but they can also see how the interior of the houses will look after completion, just by viewing these places from outside, using their mobile devices.

Buyers don’t even have to enter the house. They can just walk or drive by the houses in construction and browse them. Seeing the positions of other houses in location of their preferred house helps them in making the right purchase decision.

Apart from just searching for homes, AR can also have other uses in real estate. Potential buyers can check out how their homes will look when decorated in different ways, making the house more appealing to them. There are augmented reality apps which can change the colour of the walls to show how the house will look when painted with their favourite shades. There are apps which can give a detailed view of the homes with their interior design planning even without placing any real object in the house. These apps can place furniture virtually inside the homes. Don’t take my word for it, just take the most recent IKEA catalogue and download the app and you can see some of their furnishings right in front of you, no assembly required.

AR is also going to help estate agents generate new clients. Interactive logos, images and floor plans draw the attention of the prospective buyers towards the properties. And this technology hasn’t really taken hold yet. If you’re quick to act, then others will follow. Can you imagine a prospect viewing a new build property in a magazine or newspaper and scanning it with an App and seeing that property some to life, being able to move around it and see it from every conceivable angle?

By embracing augmented reality, there are plenty of opportunities to drive a more tech savvy and marketable pipeline of business. This technology is heavy on the wow factor and following it up with good product and service will mean serious word of mouth advertising for you and your agency. The increase in your bottom line will be measureable in year one of using these stunning techniques.

Do you think augmented reality will help in the progress of real estate sector?  We at Buscadom are going to promote the agencies that use modern techniques in marketing their product, not those that throw us the most money.

Please leave your comments below.

 

Alex Evans

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