Real Estate Agents’ fees in the US are amongst the highest in the world. The typical vendor in the States will have to pay out an average of 6% of their sale to agents. Whilst most people believe that having an agent is worth the price to prevent endless headaches, there are some who prefer to go it alone, successfully.
With this in mind agents across the world are seeking to use new technologies to help add value to their services. Here are three of the best.
Laser Scanning Of The Property
This is the backbone of all the other options available to agents. Highly accurate scans of the spaces by lasers can be pieced together on a computer to give results that are more accurate than architectural plans. These scans take next to no time and leave the agent with a virtual 3D model that can be exported into another system (such as virtual reality) as well as producing simple plans for buyers to view.
Currently, laser scanning just makes plans of rooms but as the technology improves and becomes cheaper it will be possible to scan in other things easily, such as furniture.
The Virtual Tour
Sick of open houses filled with sweaty couples you know don’t deserve the house you are looking at as much as you? Unable to travel halfway across the country to view your new home? With 360 degrees photography that can be combined with laser-scanned models agents can produce virtual tours.
From the comfort of your current home, you can don a set of VR glasses and take the time to decide if it is right for you. Whilst VR takes away a lot of the power from an agent it makes up for this by expanding the market and providing significantly better customer service.
Augmented Reality
“Suddenly a wild Pikachi appears!” AR allows you to see virtual images within a real space. By using a special headset, smart glasses or even just your cell phone, you can make an otherwise conventional property visit come to life. One of the most basic things that AR can do is to clone the agent making it possible for multiple couples to have the same tour at different times.
AR also allows agents to stage properties cheaply, putting not just virtual furnishings but whole dinner parties (if they want). In the future laser scanning will combine with AR to allow you and the agent to stage a home you are interested in with your own furniture and fixtures.
AR has another significant advantage over conventional sale methods; the building doesn’t have to be there. AR allows agents to show buyers around building plots, or houses undergoing renovation, whilst they can see the finished projects and physically tour them.
Real Estate agents are like any other business – there are good ones and bad ones. It is possible to save yourself money by avoiding agents and selling directly but this has the potential to go very wrong. Instead, it is best to shop around and get value for money.
Finding agents at the cutting edge of technology, who can really earn their keep, is a cost-effective and sensible idea. The future of house sales is changing and soon will be unrecognizable from the system that has been in place for decades.
