Bring properties closer to customers by using augmented reality (AR) in your real estate business. Outsource AR art development to NarraSoft today for 3D architectural models and furniture designed with close attention to detail.
What’s the first thing you do before buying or renting a place? If you’ve ever gone house-hunting, chances are you’ve wanted to visit your shortlist of properties first.
The same goes for potential buyers. If your company engages in selling or promoting real estate, then you’ve seen it thousands of times. A potential buyer inquires about a listing, and it’s up to you or your agency to showcase the property.
It’s a day-long affair where time and energy get totally depleted by the end. House-hunting may even take days to complete in some cases. And while this is the traditionally accepted property-hunting process, it might not be sustainable forever.
People might want to view houses from their couch or another country. Others might not have the time to spend a whole day going from one neighborhood or area to the next.
Thankfully, there’s an emerging real estate trend that allows agents to set expectations in a grounded yet flexible way — through the use of augmented reality (AR) technology.
While VR’s more popularly applied in the field of real estate, AR has a lot to contribute as well. In fact, AR is able to reach a wider audience because we can access it through our smartphones.
In this article, we talk about just that — how AR is a game-changing technology in the real estate industry.
Why There’s a Need for AR in Real Estate
Search engines like Google undeniably contribute to the ease of narrowing down a potential buyer’s list of ideal properties. Most, if not all, listings online provide property hunters a series of images to glimpse into available houses and buildings.
But if you could enhance these buyers’ search experience with AR, you can be leagues ahead of the game.
According to a study conducted in Malaysia, among the top factors affecting a person’s decision to purchase property is its structure. The study notes how size, amenities, and design are crucial in this regard.
If you bring these aspects of a house or building closer to your target market, you could make the buying and selling process much more convenient. Elevating potential buyers’ experience this way is more than a gimmick. AR is a value-adding tool in helping them visualize a property’s layout better. As a result, they may arrive at a decision faster.
Aside from being well-informed, another reason why AR is ripe to be widely used in the real estate industry is how effectively it aids in shortlisting. Through AR, potential buyers can effortlessly sift through listings and narrow down their options further. In this way, there’s no need to travel far distances from dusk to dawn.
Moreover, in the current state of our world today, where going out is still highly discouraged, having access to listings through AR will tremendously make the lives of people looking to move or buy a new place easier. They can visualize properties — inside and out — without so much as moving their feet.
It’s such an adaptive strategy and one that will be needed even when things go back to their usual pace. But how exactly can you conduct real estate business using an AR app?
The Different Ways Your Real Estate Business Can Integrate Augmented Reality into Listings
There are several ways real estate and design businesses can package AR technology into a handy mobile application. Here are some ideas:
- AR-rendered architectural models
- Open-space marketing
- Real-time, localized listings
- Customizable spaces and design
- AR-based measuring tools
How do these AR apps work, and what benefits do they bring to real estate companies and interested buyers?
AR that Bolsters Sales in Real Estate
For a long time now, digital platforms have enabled us to connect with others at a global scale. We get to meet people online and meaningfully engage with those who are plane rides away. And to an extent, the same can be said in closing the gap between properties and people.
By integrating AR into your approach in advertising real estate, you bring interested buyers closer to conversion. You’re giving them a feel of the space even before visiting it or before it has materialized.
You can do this with an AR app that showcases digital architectural models. Imagine the app rendering 3D models of houses in the user’s immediate environment, whether on the floor or on their table, bringing architectural models to them. The app can even render the interior, letting users explore the space at a small scale.
Localizing listings through AR also moves the needle in the sales process. What does this mean? This AR approach is helpful for those looking to find a real estate property in a specific area or neighborhood.
As they’re traveling the street, potential buyers can aim their phones at buildings or houses and your app can tell them which ones are available for purchase or renting. Similar to Google’s Indoor Live View feature, this outdoor AR approach to real estate can guide users with 3D graphics overlaying on properties in real-time on the app.
AR that Supports Your Customers Real Estate & Design Needs
The wonderful thing about AR is it’s customer-centric. The accessible, user-friendly technology helps a user visualize a variety of things in the most convenient way.
The previous examples ultimately serve interested buyers looking for properties to own or rent but in an informative capacity. The two other ways AR can be used to support users is through customization.
One AR-based app idea allows interested buyers to design and customize spaces remotely. Going by the previous example of a small-scale digital architectural model, users can customize the exterior or interior of the property as though the digital architectural model were a dollhouse. Except this time, the goal is to see the design actualized.
This AR app idea will come in handy for those who are miles away from the property but are looking to relocate. If they’re planning to move to a different state or from a different country, an AR app gives property hunters an easier way to access available real estate.
As for an AR-powered measuring tool, while this idea may not directly involve real estate, it will assist potential buyers in visualizing how large a space is vis-a-vis their needs. They might want to measure the size of a room on-site and compare it to their desired furniture. Or they can measure how many windows fit on a wall.
This AR measuring tool is additionally of use to architects and interior designers. Before purchasing the materials needed to enhance an unfurnished house or building, they can measure the area of surfaces instead of doing it manually. Plus, they could even store the measurements on the app, which is an efficient way to record data.
Real Estate Marketing with AR Technology
Believe it or not, you can also market real estate with an AR app. One way you can go about it is through an open-space marketing strategy. AR could help real estate agents market properties by giving them a life-size depiction of the house or building. Think back to the digital architectural models, but make them much larger.
By augmenting a user’s immediate environment with a walkthrough of a house or building accessible on their phones, they can explore the interior and get a feel of the space right then and there. This idea works best in an open field, such as a backyard.
Tangentially, furniture stores can also market their items using an AR app. Similar to the AR-powered measuring tool, furniture companies can market their selection of items by bringing properly sized 3D versions of their pieces to an empty space.
Several homeware companies, such as IKEA, have done this successfully. And if you need 3D digital art on your AR app as soon as possible, you can outsource the work to an experienced company. In the past, NarraSoft has created AR assets for furniture, fashion, and wedding brands, so we’re well-acquainted with the work involved in designing high-quality, breathtaking assets.
In Summary
The real estate industry has a growing need for augmented reality (AR) technology. It can facilitate home-viewing for customers and boost sales for agents and brokers, all without spending too much time and energy on house-hunting.
But how exactly will AR be game-changing in real estate? Below are only a few examples to illustrate what this technology can do:
- AR-rendered architectural models
- Open-space marketing
- Real-time, localized listings
- Customizable spaces and design
- AR-based measuring tools
However, it’s important we note that it’s unlikely for AR technology to completely supplant physical home-viewing. There are some things technology simply can’t replicate, such as the ambiance of a home and the feeling of physically inhabiting its space.
But AR is gradually making its way into the real estate industry as a standard means to access properties. By the time it becomes the norm, real estate agencies will have wanted a fully functioning AR app to assist interested buyers in their search for a place to stay.
Stay ahead of the game with high-quality 3D assets for your augmented reality application!
NarraSoft offers augmented reality art development and 3D digital art creation services. And we are more than happy to help you build an amazing digital project with you.
Don’t hesitate to send us an email at sales@narrasoft.com or message our contact form or chat box so we can give you a free consultation as soon as today.