‘Buyer teleportation’: why it is the future of real estate

As Australia’s 5G network continues to expand, with it will come a series of technological advances largely unknown, or unable to be fully utilised and commercialised, until now.

That change will come to real estate, with a 360 degree, virtual reality, real time, “teleport solution” set to transform the home buying experience.

“This takes technology to the next level,” explains Harvey Wright, Optus’ Head of 5G.

“It’s a totally immersive experience. It’s as if you’re actually visiting the property. It allows you to really get a feel for the place, without leaving your own home.”

Sellers agents and vendors cleverly leveraged technology to smoothly adapt to the restrictions placed on the industry to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Buyers responded in kind – over the last two months the number of digital inspections viewed on realestate.com.au has jumped by almost 400 per cent when compared to the same period prior.

Using the video tool Hatch Avatour, the 5G network allows the buyer to be transported from a remote location, anywhere in the world, to the property they are interested in and allows them to interact with the people there, including the selling agent.

It also enables a highly realistic experience for the selling agent with an augmented reality avatar of the prospective seller projected into the property to allow greater interaction.

As such the new technology is less akin to Star Trek’s ‘beam me up Scottie’ teleportation but rather the one illustrated more recently in Star Wars.

The VR technology could also be used by prospective renters and even those building their own home.

Agents showing a property in this manner require a 360 degree camera, while prospective buyers need a 5G mobile phone, a desktop computer or a VR headset. Agents could show the property to a number of customers an any one time.

“The current streaming (video) experience is geared around Zoom, this real estate VR inspection brings real estate viewings to life,” Mr Wright said.

“It’s a really exciting time for real estate and virtual reality and has the potential to increase the number of prospective buyers or renters that view a property. Geographically it can transport prospective buyers from overseas and interstate to expand the buyer pool.

“It also solves the problem of logistics, that hassle factor. People can inspect properties back-to-back more easily and more quickly from the comfort of their our home instead of racing from place to place through traffic. It’s as close as you can get to being there.”

Nicholas Armstrong-Smith, director of Century 21 Armstrong-Smith at Bondi Junction has embraced emerging technology such as 3D tours. He said he felt the new technology would not overtake current property display offerings but rather add to them.

“I still enjoy meeting people face-to-face, it’s an important part of what we do and sometimes technology can stop that,” he said.

“It’s important to meet people, for them to come and look at homes and discuss what they are looking for.

“At the end of the day, I always say that technology such as aerial photography, videos, world class photography, social media, newspapers and signboards should be used to sell a property, so you get every generation of people.”

Mr Armstrong-Smith said he always advised a buyer or a buyer’s representative to inspect the property in person before purchasing and that the introducing of VR, real time inspections wouldn’t change that

The real estate industry has sometimes been criticised as slow adopters of available technology. Simon Ritch, co-founder and sales director of interactive video specialists Content Theory, whose profuct HitON is used widely in real estate, said the challenges of the coronavirus epidemic had “forced some agents to showcase their properties in unique and innovative ways”.

He believes the industry is more open to tech advancements than every before.

“Hats off to the industry, they have adapted incredibly quickly and effectively in recent times,” Mr Ritch said.

“The key to any technology is to get the buyer interested and to get them to contact the agent,” Mr Ritch said.

“There has been a fundamental and permanent shift in the industry not just with agents but for buyers who will use the technology. It’s an industry that is ripe for technological disruption to produce greater efficiency.”