Best Practices for Expanding Your Photography Business With Zillow 3D Home®

See also:

• Introduction to Zillow 3D Home Tours and Interactive Floor Plans
• ​​Photographer Marketing Best Practices for Zillow 3D Home
• How Real Estate Photographers Can Get Started With Zillow 3D Home

Growing your real estate photography business with Zillow 3D Home relies on communicating the value of 3D Home tour and interactive floor plans* to your clients and prospects.

How does Zillow 3D Home benefit your clients?

In short, clients can differentiate their listings with high-end virtual tours and interactive floor plans* without the high price tag. Key Zillow 3D Home benefits for listing photography clients include:

No hosting fees, and tours never expire

Zillow hosts 3D Home tours and interactive floor plans for free, which can save agents and photographers money. Plus, there’s no need to worry about a tour expiring.

Virtual tours are shareable anywhere

3D Home comes with an unbranded link to the virtual tour and a JPEG** file of the floor plan that can be used to publish through the MLS, and share over email, text and social media. Once the link is in the MLS, your client’s 3D Home tour will automatically syndicate to most major real estate websites. An embed code is also provided so agents can publish to their own website as well.

More listing engagement from home shoppers

Zillow site data shows that homes with a 3D Home tour got 43% more views and 55% more saves on Zillow than listings without a 3D Home tour, based on data collected November 2021 – January 2022.

Premium placement on Zillow & Trulia

Real estate listings with 3D Home tours and interactive floor plans receive specialized exposure on Zillow and Trulia through unique search tags, special search filters, and dedicated emails to buyers. This is a valuable opportunity for your clients to get their listing in front of Zillow’s audience, the most-visited real estate network in the United States.

Answers to common client questions

Your real estate listing clients may want to know more about Zillow 3D Home and its benefits. Here are some answers to questions we’ve seen.

How much value do 3D Home tours and interactive floor plans add over still photography?

Listings with Zillow 3D Home get premium placement on Zillow and get more engagement, on average, than listings without. Catch the attention of potential sellers looking for a listing agent who will most effectively market their home to shoppers. Photographers and agents can work together, using 3D Home to win more listing business by showing sellers that they’re providing the best listings possible.

Does 3D Home reduce foot traffic at open houses?

There are no indications that 3D Home has an impact on foot traffic at open houses. Virtual tours and interactive floor plans allow buyers to self-qualify by previewing the home. This may reduce uninterested buyers and save the agent time and money, so they can focus on the buyers who actually do want to see the home in person. Zillow expects consumer demand will make a digital-first touring experience the new standard for real estate going forward. The home shopping experience is evolving, and the online open house is a key component of that.

What’s the return on investment for your clients?

Zillow tracks listing engagement and found that, on average, real estate listings on Zillow with 3D Home tours got 43% more views and 55% more saves than homes without, based on data collected November 2021 — January 2022.

In a Zillow Group Population Science survey of more than 2,000 Americans fielded from February 11-19, 2021, seventy-nine percent of respondents said they'd like to view a digital floor plan, and a 3D virtual tour during their online search. 3D Home also makes it easy and free to share virtual tours and floor plans outside of Zillow, so agents get the most out of their investment. If the goal is to maximize ROI for listing media, Zillow 3D Home is the clear choice.

Why choose Zillow’s product over other virtual tour and floor plan options?

3D Home is a more cost-effective option when compared with other virtual tour solutions — all while still providing home shoppers with a high-quality digital-touring experience. When adding a 3D Home tour and interactive floor plan to a listing — there are no per-home, service or hosting fees, and the tours never expire. 3D Home tours are also free to share on the MLS using an unbranded link, via major real estate websites, via social media, and via email.

Pricing and bundling recommendations

Because Zillow 3D Home is free to use, you can price offerings below comparable virtual media packages that complement your portfolio while maintaining strong profit margins. 

A lower price point makes virtual media a more realistic option to agents who otherwise couldn’t justify the expense, particularly on low- to mid-priced real estate listings. While market standard rates should be taken into consideration, and pricing decisions are ultimately up to you, photographers have found success using variations of the following:

Bundle option

• Offer a discounted price for a Zillow 3D Home tour and interactive floor plan package that includes still photos.
  
• Suggested price point between $160-$250.

Add-on option

• Offer a flat rate Zillow 3D Home add-on service that includes a 3D Home tour and interactive floor plan.
  
• Suggested price point between $50-$150.

Limited-time promotion

• Offering the first 3D Home tour and interactive floor plan for free can be an effective way to win new business and encourage clients to trial the service.

Have more questions about pricing? 3DHome@Zillowgroup.com for details.

Read next:

• Introduction to Zillow 3D Home Tours and Interactive Floor Plans
• ​​Photographer Marketing Best Practices for Zillow 3D Home
• How Real Estate Photographers Can Get Started With Zillow 3D Home

*Interactive floor plans now available nationwide.
**Where interactive floor plans are available.

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