Online real estate marketplace ZipMatch recently launched a 360 Virtual Reality service for the Philippine real estate scene at the SM Aura Premier.
This could be just what the doctor ordered for real estate professionals, developers, and home sellers: they can use this newfangled technology to do on-demand viewing of residential projects, or model units for homebuyers without needing to make the actual, physical “tripping.”
ZipMatch is the first company in Southeast Asia to use virtual reality for real estate in the region. Among ZipMatch’s 360 Virtual Reality service first movers are Ayala Land Premier, Amaia Land, Anchor Land, and Crown Asia. This makes the Philippines the first in Southeast Asia to have a database of 360 Virtual Reality moving images of primary and secondary real estate projects.
The product launch was led by the ZipMatch co-founders Chow Paredes, John Dang, and Kyle Wiltshire.
“We see this new-age technology as an opportunity to empower both home seekers and real estate sellers in the homebuying process,” said Paredes. “When compared to high-quality images or 3D videos, 360 Virtual Reality provides a more immersive and experiential property viewing, making each home seeker feel that he or she is physically at the property itself.
“Tripping”
A significant step to buying a home, not only in the Philippines, but in almost every country in the world, is to do a “tripping.” The seller shows the buyer around the property for sale or rent. If the property is being pre-sold, or if it has not yet been built or is currently under construction, sellers crank out model units or scale models (which costs thousands to millions of pesos), and even throw in architect floor plans to help clients visualize their next home.
Sure, one can view photos and videos in listings and seller websites, but homebuyers tend to “experience” the actual property itself. Studies say that certain buyers need visual support before making a decision.
Property viewing is often the turning point where a broker or a sales agent make a sale, or end up drowning their sorrows at a nearby bar.
Property viewing can also be viewed as an opportunity for individual sellers to recruit unrepresented buyers into their professional brand as real estate experts. Whether they are selling condos in Makati, townhouses in New Manila, or house and lots in Laguna or Cavite, property viewings is a good marketing platform for sellers who want to charm clients with their knowledge of a product, the neighborhood, and the real estate market.
Virtual Reality “Tripping”
Since the debut of Oculus Rift, the adoption of virtual reality technology has become popular in the US and other developed countries. Samsung, Sony, HTC and Facebook have invested in the technology to allow people to explore interactive viewable content using headsets. Even if the content was viewed via computer, mobile screen or on viewer headset, virtual reality replicates a physical environment that simulates sensory experience enough for users to evoke the emotions investors of this technology wishes to get from its clients.
“Ayala Land Premier continues to look for opportunities to improve the customer sales experience,” said Mike Jugo, Ayala Land Premier sales head. “The ZipMatch 360 Virtual Reality is an innovative tool that allows clients to view our model units at their convenience — anytime or anywhere in the world.”
The real estate innovation will be available for subscription under ZipMatch Pro, a toolbox specifically catered for brokers, sales agents, developers and real estate sellers. Using this feature, ZipMatch Pro subscribers can browse, select, and showcase their properties from ZipMatch’s moving images of properties in 360 degrees taken from major cities all over the country, including Metro Manila, NCR, Metro Cebu and Bacolod.
The moving images of properties for sale or rental can be accessed by two means: subscribers can access them and show them to clients via desktop, or mobile device on their users accounts on the company’s mobile-responsive website.
For brokers who wish to bring a more immersive experience, they can set up virtual reality access using a pair of ZipMatch 360 VR goggles. Home seekers who view a featured property can actually access not just one room, but all rooms of a featured property as if they have stepped into an entirely different section of the home.
Mobile “Virtual Office”
To address the user demand for mobile access, the company soft launched the ZipMatch Pro app in December 2015. The app, which can now be downloaded for free on Google Play, allows Android users to access 360 Virtual Reality content.
ZipMatch Pro subscribers on a premium plan have the capacity to download their choice content that they can access offline, meaning without needing to be on an Internet connection or under a data plan.
ZipMatch aims to release an iOS version of the app in the next few weeks.
The company is also developing a mobile version via the ZipMatch Pro app. This will allow subscribers to work while on mobile or on-the-go. Android users will also be able to uploading property listings, and purchase on-demand leads on the app.
“The mission of ZipMatch is to empower home buyers, right? In the same way, we also aim to empower the seller side of the real estate industry, more specifically our real estate professionals,” said Paredes. “We believe that our real estate professionals play a pivotal role in creating a healthy, open, sustainable marketplace of well-informed, savvy home seekers.”