Real estate agents get tech-savvy

Selling houses is becoming more hi-tech as Palmerston North real estate agents enthusiastically embrace new technologies like drones and virtual reality tours.

Agencies, such as Watson Real Estate, are some of the first to use virtual reality, and the Professionals have been at the forefront of adopting drones.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell said marketing methods were evolving and what was cutting-edge and unusual, now could be standard practice in a few years’ time.

Half of all Manawatuwhanganui real estate agents already use drones and virtualreality tours are starting to catch on, with 5 per cent of agents offering them.

Norwell said more salespeople were using new technology than she expected.

Although the opportunities of virtual and augmented reality, such as an information overlay on objects viewed through a smart phone camera, were only just starting to be explored, drones had become broadly accepted in real estate, she said.

More than half the 1781 New Zealand real estate agents REINZ surveyed, and 49 per cent of Manawatu-whanganui agents, already used drone footage to help sell their properties.

Watson Real Estate has used 3D walkthroughs on listings for two years and introduced virtualreality tours eight months ago.

They are one of the first agencies to embrace the new technologies – 19 per cent of real estate agencies use 3D walk-throughs and only 4 per cent have taken up VR.

Watson saleswoman Ashleigh Key said she, and two or three other Watson agents, have used 3D floorplans for every property since the company imported a 3D camera from the US.

The camera’s studded with six lenses in a ring, which capture a 360-degree image, along with three infrared lasers that measure each room.

All the information is then stitched together into a computermodelled ‘‘dollhouse’’ that goes up with the listing on Watson’s website.

Viewers can zoom in for a closer look, similar to Google Street View.

And if they had a headset, or a smart phone with the right accessory, they could explore the house in virtual reality.

‘‘It’s probably as close as you could get to being in the house without having to go there.’’

Professionals real estate agent Lee Vertongen has taken property photos with his drone for three years and he’s not surprised they’ve caught on.

Because of privacy concerns about drone footage, Professionals agents use it almost exclusively for rural and lifestyle properties, where they won’t accidently film neighbours.

The relatively cheap and easy aerial shots were also better suited for those kinds of property than traditional listing photos, Vertongen said.

‘‘It showcases the entire property, rather than just the house, so people get a better idea of what they’re getting.’’

Watson business development manager Greg Watson said augmented reality was likely to be the next step in real estate.

Only 1 per cent of agents in the REINZ survey used augmented reality, but it had potential to give buyers easy access to all the information they needed, he said.

‘‘[For example], people could use overlays for placing their furniture or... there’s an app to see where the sunlight is at certain times of year.

‘‘My wife and I used it when looking for a home recently.’’