Virtual reality checks out
DEBORAH STONE reveals the innovative ways house developers and buyers have got their heads round coronavirus restrictions to keep the market moving
WE ALL know life will never be the same after coronavirus but, in the property industry, some things may change for the better to make life easier. Virtual reality viewings are helping buyers research homes, reserve plots on new developments and even enable them to choose their interior design.
It’s a service that many developers will almost certainly retain and will help those moving long distances create a wishlist without having to travel miles.
In the short-term, though, it’s been a lifeline not only to the property industry as a whole but also to the individuals who work in it.
Like so many of us used to working in teams with lots of human contact, sales advisers are now holed up at home. Learning how to use the new technology has helped to overcome job anxiety and feelings of isolation – at least for staff at CALA Homes’s Scottish divisions.
They have spent weeks working on 3-D video tours of showhomes on all its Scottish development sites so buyers can “walk through” with sales representatives during a Zoom-like video call.
“It allows them to talk to each other but also to have a virtual tour up on the same screen, so they can go off into the living room or kitchen together,” explains Liana Canavan, sales and marketing director for CALA Homes in the west of Scotland.
“It means customers can ask about choices of the kitchen doors and oven hobs, for instance, and we can answer these questions as they go through.”
Like most new developments, CALA Homes tours has several designs of homes but often only one or two showhomes on each site.
“In the old world we would say, ‘You need to go to another site to see a specific showhome style’,” says Liana. “Now we can show them all.”
It’s also been a boon for staff, the weeks of training giving them something to focus on, as well as creating comedy moments that have helped maintain team spirit.
“We have some real technophobes in the team,” admits Liana.
Focusing on the wellbeing of the team during lockdown has been just as important as adapting the business model, she says.
“We work really hard to try to stay in contact with the teams, by having video calls and virtual coffee mornings.we have launched a partnership with The Samaritans, so we have done a few seminars with them.”
ALTHOUGH construction on Scottish sites has restarted, on-site sales centres remain closed in Scotland so CALA has kept registered buyers up to date with regular emails and phone calls.
“We’ve even been able to set up some part exchange reservations,” says Liana, who adds that people are still keen to reserve homes or go ahead with a purchase despite not being able to move in yet.
Among CALA Homes’s developments where 3-D virtual tours are being rolled out is Ranfurly Green in Bridge of Weir, west of Glasgow in Renfrewshire, where five-bedroom homes at the semi-rural location can be reserved for just £99, with part-exchange available.
The 12 houses look out on to countryside that includes a golf course and prices start from £579,000
(01505 887307; cala.co.uk).
At Florence Gardens in the coastal suburb of Doonfoot on the outskirts of Ayr, four and five-bedroom houses are available with contributions towards land and buildings transaction tax (stamp duty), from £359,995 (01292 427445; cala.co.uk).
And there’s just the showhome left for sale at Fin Glen, a development in Milton of Campsie, 10 miles north of Glasgow, which is on the market for £479,000 (0141 530 9087; cala.co.uk).
Virtual tours and on-screen sharing of floorplans and design options have been popular with customers, says Liana, so 3-D tours of real homes should be a winner.
“Some of this may indeed become the norm for those looking for a new home in future,” says Liana. “If we can take positives from the current situation, it’s that we can become a more flexible and adaptable industry that can meet customers’ needs, no matter what the circumstances.”
‘We can become a more adaptable industry’