Technology results in more buyers to forego physical home showings

The sheer number of buyers making offers sight unseen – meaning they haven’t physically visited the home – is rising, as outlined by a survey of the latest home buyers conducted by real estate brokerage Redfin.

Technology results in more buyers to forego physical home showings

33% of respondents in 11 major markets say they made an offer on at least one house sight unseen. These particular offers tend to be common when working with foreign buyers as well as in markets where homes are selling quickly, real estate professionals say.

For the majority of buyers, advanced technology has made a physical in-home visit less necessary due to the fact they are capable of having the majority of their questions answered virtually. An overgrowing use of 3-D photos, video tours and virtual reality give some buyers enough confidence to purchase a home without having an in-person showing. As outlined by The Wall Street Journal, some real estate pros are conducting property walk-throughs with long-distance buyers remotely via FaceTime, Skype or WhatsApp. While some agents are working with technology companies to produce 3-D photo and video tours within the virtual reality space to help make long-distance buyers feel as if they’re at the property physically.

Home buyer Angelo Smyrnios of Littleton, Colo., recently purchased a home in Lighthouse Point, Fla., for $1.65 million without ever stepping foot inside. Smyrnios’ agents, Lisa and John Wilson of Douglas Elliman Boca Raton, gave him and his wife a 45-minute tour of the property using FaceTime while walking through the home and highlighting its features. The agents then FaceTimed their clients while riding on a motorbike so they could get a view of the surrounding neighborhood.

Real estate companies are also seeing more home buying capabilities with virtual reality. About 10% of Sotheby’s International Realty’s listings already have 3-D photo tours by which clients can look at 3-D property pictures on a screen or while wearing VR headsets. Within five years, the company expects to have viewing areas in each and every office, says John Passerini, global vice president of interactive marketing.

Tech startup VirtualAPT features a robot which will film virtual tours in 3-D. The robot records a real estate professional guiding a tour of the property and then create a video within 15 minutes. VirtualAPT CEO Bryan Colin says the objective of these tours is to help faraway buyers view the property themselves and get a complete tour virtually.

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(all data current as of 2/20/2025)

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