Virtual Tours are Here to Stay

Even with more places reopening, buyers are still using a digital-first approach to search for homes — and that trend is here to stay. Zillow 3D Home® tours are the newest way to help capture buyers in this digital world — and as of March 1, 2020, listings that offer a 3D Home tour are receiving 35% more traffic than other listings and have sold, on average, 10% faster than listings without.

For many buyers, virtual tours are a necessity not because of COVID-19 but because of distance and the time required to tour homes in person. Nick Vecchia, a business consultant on the Zillow New Construction team, used 3D touring technology to find his home when moving from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains — a move he and his family had to do in just three weeks. 'While never actually visiting Denver before the move, we used 3D technology to visualize our new home from an online setting. It made us feel more comfortable and prepared with our move and saved us time by helping limit our search.' Nick and his family aren't alone: According to the Zillow Group New Construction Consumer Housing Trends Report 2019, 55% of new construction buyers are moving to either a new city, a new metro area or a new state — and 46% said they wish more listings included 3D tours.

Not only does a Zillow 3D Home tour give buyers an opportunity to explore a home at their own pace, but it gives them a sense of the space that's hard to accomplish with pictures alone. In fact, buyers love virtual tours so much that for-sale listings using this technology got, on average, 50% more saves than listings without. The Zillow 3D Home app is a free, easy way to create an immersive virtual tour — and you don't even need a property address to make one!

Here’s how to get started

To create a Zillow 3D Home tour, you only need two things: an iPhone® and our free 3D Home app. Once you've got those, follow these easy steps to quickly create a stunning virtual walkthrough:

1. Prepare the home — turn on all lights, open all interior doors and turn off any moving objects like fans.
2. Start capturing your tour by opening the 3D Home app, tapping Create 3D Home, and taking panoramas of  each room.
3. Connect to Wi-Fi when you're finished to start uploading your photos — we'll automatically build the tour for  you and add it to your listing.

It really is that easy to create an immersive digital experience for buyers — and for those who choose to do so, it's been paying off. Check out our Zillow 3D Home page for more information, including step-by-step instructions and a sample tour.