Do-It-Yourself 3-D Listings

As the network of virtual-tour providers specializing in turnkey 3-D services grows, the products and platforms for building and hosting interactive tours on your own have become more intuitive to use. You’ll find a solution that works best for you — but the cost may give you sticker shock.

If you don’t want to hire a professional to create an interactive 3-D tour, there are some products available as do-it-yourself options from vendors such as EasyPano, RealTourVision, and Matterport.

To create fully navigable 3-D tours, their bundles include a special camera or lens for a digital SLR and a camera mounting system. Combined with their companion software or tour-building service, these products give you control to capture and create your own tours. Once photos are uploaded to the software or service, they are automatically combined to create the 3-D interactive tour. Matterport users also get an interactive floor plan and 3-D “dollhouse” rendering of the home.

Most 3-D products for real estate include interactive floor plans, which give your clients more to work with. The drag-and-drop ease with which they can redesign the space captures their imagination about a home’s possibilities. The combination of a floor plan and 3-D imaging invites viewers to fully explore a home, panning and zooming around its rooms for a more realistic virtual-tour experience.

For now, that is the best thing next to being there in person. There may come a day when virtual reality will further enhance buyers’ experience to the point where they can confidently purchase without visiting a property. But today’s 3-D tours are there to help buyers narrow their choices and pick up the phone to call you. Here are some 3-D solutions and enhancements you can use to make prospects do just that.