Last time, we spotlighted a tour with many different features, including Live Pano and multiple interior schemes. Today, I want to show what many builders have asked for: a virtual tour for showcasing several homes within one neighborhood.
Baker Residential from Raleigh (our hometown and one of the hottest markets in the country) has a new neighborhood called Starling Woods. To introduce their new plans, they asked us to create virtual tours to not only showcase the interior space but also the exterior.
During the pre-Covid era, homebuyers would visit your sales center and tour the model homes. With Covid, supply limitation, and the rise in construction cost, it is not easy to build several model homes. And now with virtual tours, it is not even necessary!
With virtual tours, buyers can now get an accurate idea of the streetscape and curb appeal of the neighborhood, along with how each floor plan opens up. These tours also allow the buyers to virtually walk from house to house, see the space between the homes, and even look at the back patio. Home buyers can do this anytime anywhere! This is especially helpful in winter when it is cold outside.
For the virtual tours in Starling Woods, we show the selected plan/elevation for each specific lot. We even got it right down to the exact color scheme. All this to help buyers know exactly what will be built on those lots and to facilitate a presale, which is the goal for everyone.
Behind the scenes, we built an intuitive user interface (UI) to create a great user experience (UX.) To help the buyer get started, we created three ways to find and explore the virtual tours.
1. Mouse-Over Each House
Intuitively, you will move the mouse over the house where you will immediately get acquainted with the plan name and lot number. You can then approach each house to look closer and then go inside. Or you can even walk around the house to see it from all angles.
2. Dropdown Menu
Another way to access the different plans is to simply click on the neighborhood name. From there, you can see more information about each plan, which will help you decide which virtual tour to explore first.
3. Map
Of course, the map is most handy way to go if want to jump directly to a location. This works great when you are inside the home. With just one click, you can go from the foyer to the kitchen!
Walk Around the House Before Going Inside
Exterior Walkaround
No matter if we are shopping online for a car, a chair, or a cardigan, we want to see it from all angles. So, when it comes to buying house, shoppers definitely want to the entire house and not just the front. This is especially important with the emphasis on outdoor living. And yes, you can enter the virtual house from any entry.
But wait - there's more!
Show/Hide Furniture
Aside from the videos, this is the most popular add-on enhancement. With one simple click, the buyer can see the house with or without furniture. Yes, you can have your cake and eat it!
Take it for a spin!
You can virtually visit Starling Woods below and check out all five homes.
