Virtual tours pivoting real estate during the pandemic
With limited physical interactions, property businesses are offering digital staging to give buyers a glimpse of potential spaces, says Moses Muriithi , CEO, Fanaka Real Estate.
Milliam Murigi @millymur1
Real estate relies on people physically meeting to view and sell properties which has been limited because of Covid-19. What are you doing as a company to ensure continuity of such services?
Safety and security are our top priorities not only for our team but for our clients as well.
As a company we have come up with several ways to ensure business moves as swiftly as possible.
We have adopted the culture of shooting and showcasing virtual tours to make it easier for clients to view our projects from their homes without having to come to the field.
This enables them get a mental picture and come to a conclusion on whether or not they are interested in what they see.
We also encourage our clients to opt for the self-drive option to our projects as you are much safer in your car.
All the roads leading to the projects are well graded making it accessible for any vehicle.
If a client opts to use the company vehicle to go for a site visit, we ensure spacing when sitting by carrying a maximum of three people per trip.
What are some technology tools you have adopted ine place of traditional methods?
Most companies including Fanaka have used traditional marketing strategies to boost their reach.
The company decided to go digital by focusing on social and online commerce platforms to reach our intended niche market.
The digital world is growing by the day and businesses need to shift in that direction to avoid being left behind.
Tech giants such as Amazon and Facebook for instance are purely online and have dominated their respective platforms.
This is proof that with the right strategies and team, online transactions are necessary and able to pull whatever the company needs.
Now that you are focusin on virtual tours what are some incentives you have for your investors?
Considering the times we are in, the company is offering incentives favoring our investors and including offers and discounts for all our projects.
We have also increased our installment plan payment period to twelve months to ensure our investors are not financially strained when it comes to owning a piece of land.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using 3D virtual tours when making an investment decision?
Without a doubt, 3D virtual tours are quickly becoming one of the most sought-after technology tools not only in real estate but other sectors.
Some advantages include that your content is more likely to reach a larger audience as it remains online for as long as you wish and that virtual tours in comparison to traditional forms of marketing is much more affordable as once you acquire the necessary equipment, you don’t have to worry about paying for services such as activation spots.
The downside is that its consuming as the process of shooting is followed by editing before uploading, thus, the company needs to have a team to handle the equipment.
Lastly, the equipment is quite costly with prices ranging from Sh100,000 and above depending on what you are looking for.
What is your advice to companies which are yet to embrace technology?
They should embrace technology as early as of now and make it work for their businesses because going digital is the next big thing especially in real estate.
