How to Make a Virtual Tour for Real Estate

These days, sellers and their agents can provide buyers with an interactive online experience that’s more immersive than pictures alone. And creating a virtual tour is now easier and more affordable than ever.

According to the Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2018, 79% of buyers shop for homes online, and about one-third of buyers say virtual tours or videos are extremely or very important to their home shopping. 

In addition to helping buyers get a feel for your home before they visit in person, a virtual tour in your listing can help it stand out. Listings that include a 3D tour receive twice the amount of page views on Zillow.

What is a virtual tour?

Virtual tours, also known as 3D tours or 3D walkthroughs, allow buyers to digitally tour a for-sale home. The online home shopper controls which part of the house they look at and from which angle — think of it like Street View on Google Maps, but for the inside of a home.

Listing videos, on the other hand, are not interactive. They are a straightforward video that usually includes music, zooming and panning. The shopper can’t control the movement of the video. 

Here's an example of a virtual tour, made with Zillow 3D Home:

Note that virtual tours should never be done in lieu of professional photography — photos are still a crucial part of every online listing. Rather, 3D tours are used to complement your home's other marketing efforts, driving more interest and helping your home stand out among other listings. 

Benefits of creating a virtual tour of homes for sale

There are many benefits of including a virtual or 3D tour in your listing. Have you ever taken the time to tour a home, only to be disappointed with how different the home is from the pictures? Still photos can sometimes be misleading, but virtual tours allow shoppers to get a more accurate feel for how your home is laid out before attending a showing. That means that the people who show up to see your home in person are more likely to be high-intent buyers. 

A 3D tour can also be a big boost to your digital marketing plan, which is more important than ever. Here are a few marketing benefits:

More exposure in your market: When more people see your listing, you're more likely to attract multiple offers that could drive the sale price up. 

Minimize showings: 3D tours give potential buyers a good feel for the floor plan and flow of the home. If your home's layout doesn't appeal to a particular buyer, they'll know it without having to waste your time (and theirs) with a showing. 

Attract out-of-town buyers: A better view of your home can make it appealing to out-of-town and international buyers, who can make faster, more informed purchase decisions without traveling for a house that doesn't pan out. 

Fewer lookie-loos: When nosy neighbors or other nearby sellers can check out your home online, they may be less inclined to schedule a showing or stop by your open house when they're really not interested in making an offer. 

What makes an engaging virtual tour for real estate?

Here's what a virtual tour needs to include to actually be a virtual tour and not simply a listing video or slideshow:

• A real view of the home — not a recreation or rendering
• Smooth navigation that makes it easy to move to different rooms and pan 360 degrees
• Ability to walk through, go back and freeze the frame
• Clear and high-definition picture
• Shots free of clutter and personal items
• Highlights of the home's best features, including unique amenities and outdoor spaces
• Each capture taken from the best vantage point to show the room in its entirety
• Compatibility with all kinds of devices — desktop and mobile

How to make a 360 virtual tour for free

Now that virtual house tours are becoming more commonplace, there are apps and tools that help sellers make their own virtual tours. It's also easier to access the same tools and equipment that the pros use.  

Zillow virtual tour: 3D Home app

The Zillow 3D Home app makes it simple for sellers or listing agents to create virtual tours of homes right from their mobile device for free. How long it takes to make your 3D Home tour depends on the size of your home and the number of rooms. Generally, if you're using an iPhone to create your tour, it should take 30 minutes to an hour. If you're using a 360-degree camera, it should take 10-20 minutes. 

If you use the 3D Home app, your listing on Zillow and Trulia will have a specific virtual tour icon, which helps your listing stand out to online home shoppers. Plus, properties with 3D tours benefit from a week of increased exposure to shoppers. Your virtual tour appears right on your home's page on Zillow and Trulia, but you can also share it on other sites using a link or an embed code. 

Equipment for virtual tour

Your smartphone is the only equipment you need to use the 3D Home app, but it is recommended to use a tripod with a rotating head and a phone mount to make your video as smooth and professional as possible. 

Zillow 3D Home is also compatible with the Ricoh Theta camera. If you have the Ricoh Theta camera, you can expect:

• Better field of view
• 360-degree panorama
• Faster capture time
• Less upload time

How to create a virtual tour for real estate

If you're using the Zillow 3D home app, follow these nine steps to create a virtual tour with a 360-degree camera. The Ricoh Theta V, Z1 or SC2 model 360-degree cameras automatically integrate with the Zillow 3D Home app.

1. Download the Zillow 3D Home app from your Apple® device.
2. Open the app and tap “Start capture”. Choose the 360-degree camera setting.
3. Adjust your camera tripod to chest height.
4. Select the room type in the app.
5. Capture the first panorama. Walk out of sight and select “Add Pano” from your device, and capture.
6. Move the camera and capture panoramas in each room.
7. Review your panoramas and retake any blurry images.
8. Select “All panoramas complete” and tap “Finish” to upload the tour to your Zillow dashboard.
9. Log in to your Zillow dashboard to edit, share or publish the tour.

How to make a virtual tour with an iPhone

If you're creating a virtual tour with an iPhone, follow these nine steps.

1. Download the Zillow 3D Home app to your iPhone®.
2. Open the app and tap “Start capture”. Choose the iPhone setting.
3. Select the room type in the app.
4. Capture the first panorama. Hold the iPhone vertically in front of your chest. Slowly rotate to the right in a full circle. The app will guide your motion and prompt you to adjust your speed.
5. Select “Add” in the app when finished with the first panorama.
6. Capture panoramas in each room.
7. Review your panoramas and retake any blurry images.
8. Select “All panoramas complete” and tap “Finish” to upload the tour to your Zillow dashboard.
9. Log in to your Zillow dashboard to edit, share or publish the tour.

Planning your virtual tour

If you're shooting your virtual tour yourself, have a plan in place for what angles and viewpoints you want to include.

• Test out different angles to see which vantage points show your home best.
• Test camera height to see how lighting changes.
• Use a print out of your home's floor plan (if available), or place tape on the floor to mark where you'll stand for each shot.

Tasks to complete in advance

Although the process of actually capturing the video for the tour is simple, planning for your 3D tour can take some forethought. Make sure to complete these tasks ahead of the day you plan on recording your tour. 

Make necessary updates: Just as you would for professional still photos, make sure you have already completed all necessary pre-listing updates, like cleaning, landscaping and painting. Think of your virtual tour as a showing — your home needs to look its best. 

Finish staging: If you're planning on staging with new decor and furnishings, do so before the virtual tour. At the very least, the home should be decluttered, and overflow items should be moved off-site. 

Plan to do your shoot a few days before listing: If you schedule your virtual tour capture around the same time as your professional photos, it will save you prep time. You can clean once and stage once. And it will ensure all your marketing materials have a consistent look and feel. 

What to do the day of shooting

There's no point in taking the time to do a virtual tour if it'll deter buyers with clutter or poor lighting. Your virtual tour should show your home on its best day ever. While most of your prep work will already be done, here is a quick checklist of tasks for the day of your virtual tour shoot:

• Give the home a quick cleanup and polish.
• Hide unnecessary items that you don't want shown in the tour, like cleaning supplies and trash cans. 
• Make sure all kids and pets are out of the house.
• Turn on all the lights and open the blinds.
• Open all interior doors to avoid interruptions in your room-to-room navigation. 
• Wipe the camera lens for the clearest picture.
• Reshoot any areas where the camera isn't steady or transitions between rooms appear choppy.

Can I hire someone to create my virtual tour?

Some professional real estate videographers offer virtual tours in addition to more traditional real estate video production. Many of them use a cloud-based software called Matterport to create these virtual tours, along with Matterport-compatible cameras. Matterport is available to homeowners, but since it's subscription-based, it can be pretty expensive when you're just creating one tour.