Virtual Tours Increasing in Popularity, But Buyers Still Have Reservations

While most buyers still prefer traditional in-person showings, the popularity of virtual tours, both prerecorded and live, are increasing.

According to a recent survey from Rocket Homes, 59% of buyers are willing to purchase after just a prerecorded virtual tour or a live virtual tour. While 64% still want to see the home in person, whether via a showing or an open house, 45% are content just seeing a virtual tour of a rendered space and 30% are fine with just panoramic photos. The report found that sellers’ preference was the top reason buyers chose to see a home virtually (according to 50%), followed by local or state mandates at 46% (most likely due to the pandemic), then real estate agent preference or requirement at 44%, followed by 35% who said they were one of many who wanted to see the property and finally, 35% said the preferred to tour the home virtually.

More than half (57%) said they found a virtual showing more useful than they expected, while 36% found it to be on par with their expectations. However, 94% of buyers said that virtual home tours put the seller at an advantage over buyers and 78% said virtual tours put a real estate agent at an advantage over buyers. Additionally, 52% of buyers said it’s hard to get a “feel” for the home from a virtual tour, while 51% said they feel like they are missing aspects of the home and 42% said there is not enough detail. Forty percent each reported that the home could look better virtually than in person and a virtual tour means there is a lesser chance of finding reasons to negotiate. Yet, 15% of buyers said there many more upsides for virtual showings, while 35% agreed there are more upsides than downsides.

Ultimately, homebuyers said they like the opportunity to see more homes (58%), the convenience factor of it (52%), being able to prescreen homes (52%), remaining safe from COVID (50%) and saving time (44%).