Nowadays, the real estate industry keeps pace with technology’s rapid evolution. This business eagerly explores the ways that the newest technologies can be adopted to streamline real estate workflows. 

One of today’s best examples of this relationship between real estate and new technology is virtual reality (VR). 

When VR was first introduced, it was primarily used for gaming — but it wasn’t long before its digital reality-building possibilities caught the attention of real estate. 

At first, VR technology was primarily used by big players in the field. But, increased access to the technology coupled with COVID motivators in 2020 has made virtual reality an important part of real estate — specifically CRE. 

Let’s explore some of the reasons why virtual reality has become so popular in the real estate business: 

Display Projects During the Development Phase

One of the biggest lags for commercial real estate transactions was the development process. The barrier between a new project’s 2D construction plans and the real-life built product was impenetrable. It prevented clients and teams from understanding the full experience of the project until the final phase — until virtual reality came along. 

Today, VR models are used to highlight building amenities, floor plan layouts, explore build-out options, and more. 

Development teams are using VR to generate digital prototypes, test-run ideas, and run diagnostics. This pre-building step mitigates building errors since issues can be detected early on.

For clients, VR has made pre-development marketing possible. Agents no longer have to wait until a project is fully sale-ready to start dealmaking with clients. Prospective tenants are able to “see” and digitally explore a building, giving agents a headstart on the property's leasing cycle. 

Socially Distant Tenant Screening 

Virtual reality was one of real estate’s greatest assets during the pandemic. In 2020, when real estate processes could no longer take place in-person, VR tech provided the most viable solutions. Commercial agents were able to offer virtual tours for their property listings as a socially-distanced marketing outlet. 

Since prospects were able to explore a property online at any time, agents could use this as a way to gauge a tenant’s level of seriousness. “Have you viewed our VR tour?” became one of the first interview questions — and there’s no sign of that changing any time soon. 

RealNex VR

Virtual reality integrations have already become commonplace throughout the industry. Looking ahead, virtual reality tech tools will only grow in popularity and demand within the real estate space. Today’s agents should have a plan for adopting this new possibility into their business strategies. 

As with any new proptech addition, it’s always wise to shop for an all-in-one suite. There’s no easier or more effective way to start working with new software than with a fully-synced platform.

RealNex is a complete suite for real estate teams that includes an industry-leading VR tool. RealNex VR creates immersive digital 3D models for any of your needs, whether it’s an ultra high quality marketing model or a simplified test model for in-house prototyping. 

Visit our website to learn more about RealNex VR and our end-to-end CRM platform.