Zillow has once again created another game changer in the real estate industry, this time not by being the pioneers of the technology but by making it accessible to everyone.
The 3D home tour technology has existed for the past few years with companies such as iGuide and Matterport leading the way, however the costs associated with these products has always been relative high – $500+/- per shoot or $2500-3000 for the camera equipment. Zillow 3D home is free for Realtors and can be shot entirely on an iphone in the 3D home app. If an agent prefers higher resolution there are two camera models made by Ricoh Camera that shoot 360 degree hi-res images that are completely compatible with the app and work seamlessly.
Why should Realtors care? Because Zillow displays a label indicating if a listing has a 3D tour on it and that little label has shown to increase clicks by over 50%. Yep that’s double the impressions on a listing simply because it has a 3D Home Tour icon.
In addition all new listings with a 3D Home Tour will receive a free 7 day boost in search results as part of a promo to encourage app usage and adoption – that’s something that is impossible to pass up if you’re seriously about selling your listing.
Zillow is saying that this isn’t meant to disrupt the 3D tour industry, and even applaud the quality of their counterparts products, but we’ve seen the final product and the reality is that the difference in terms of quality is indistinguishable and the ease of doing everything in app is really going to hurt other providers. This isn’t to say their motive was malicious, only that progress often has victims – Godspeed iGuide and Matterport.
Being a brand partner with Zillow, our representatives flew out last week to show our agents not only how to use the app but also why they should be using and the event was quite the success. Here’s a look at how the event went and below that is a how to video for the app. For more information contact us here or learn more about becoming a JohnHart Real Estate Realtor by clicking here!
John is the Vice President here at JohnHart, and as such is responsible for managing and directing the firm towards obtaining its ultimate goals.
He is also one of our main contributors on the Blog. (please see his profile page on the main site for more information.)
I love what zillow is doing in the real estate world. It has made everything so much easier for both buyers and sellers. I do face problems sometimes but still zillow 3D virtual tour is totally worth it.