The virtual world of real estate

by ANNETTE JOYCE

Until about a year ago, the residential real estate market was humming along as usual. Buyers searched the internet and perused photos looking for the homes they wanted to see and then scheduled an appointment to visit the property in person. Sellers willingly allowed potential buyers and their Realtors into their homes. Open houses occurred every weekend.

Then COVID hit and everything changed overnight, leaving sellers, buyers, Realtors and builders struggling for ways to safely connect with each other. Fortunately, a tool was already in place to bring the market back to life – the virtual tour.

Providing a remote, video-enabled walk-through, a virtual tour allows buyers to see the property while giving them the sensation of actually being

Photo courtesy of Ray Bullins Construction Co. Virtual tours allow buyers to do a virtual walk-through of homes and narrow down the list of those they’re interested in before hitting the road to visit them in person.

onsite. Using a 360-degree movement, buyers can explore each room with views from every angle.

Most popular for high-end properties, virtual tours were around before the pandemic, but they became extremely important as people sought ways to both show and see properties without being there in person.

Even as pandemic restrictions have loosened, the high demand for houses has brought builders more presales. As a result, there are no homes for potential clients to see. Fortunately, the virtual tour gives builders a perfect way to showcase their work.

“We think the virtual tours are awesome. When you have a good photographer, it’s a really powerful tool,” said Mitch Bullins, project coordinator for Ray Bullins Construction Co.

Bullins said in the last few years his company has seen an increase in clients from California and New York. Many of these people are making their decisions – or at least narrowing their choices – based on virtual tours rather than investing time and money for long-distance travel to see them in person.

For buyers, it means faster access to homes that are often receiving multiple offers. Bullins pointed out that for area

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builders it’s becoming more common for their spec homes to be snatched up halfway through construction.

Drew Stokes, operations manager for Builders MD in Oak Ridge, found virtual tours to be such an asset that he’s invested in the technology to create the tours and is becoming proficient at doing the work himself.

“Moving forward, we’re trying to do virtual tours on everything we’re building, including before-and-a ers of remodels,” Stokes said. “It’s just another way to let people see our work.”

For Builders MD’s new community in Oak Ridge, Willow Oaks, Stokes has even added virtual tours of the lots for sale so potential buyers can have a 360-degree view of the surrounding area.

Last year Greensboro Builders Association (GBA) took virtual tours to a new level by incorporating the technology into the Parade of Homes’ tour so the event could still be held in the midst of the pandemic. For the upcoming spring Parade of Homes, GBA is relying even more heavily on this technology as high demand has left few homes available for in-person tours.

Cheryl Collins, GBA’s executive officer, said that with only a few exceptions, every home in the spring parade has a virtual tour. In fact, a few of the homes are only available for visiting virtually.

“A lot of larger companies in other markets have used virtual tours for years. The pandemic spread the use of this technology,” Collins said. “(Virtual tours) are definitely a very important marketing component in today’s housing market.”

REAL ESTATE NEWS/BRIEFS

N.C. 68 property back on the market for $525,000

by CHRIS BURRITT

OAK RIDGE – Twenty-six acres on N.C. 68 is back on the market nearly two years after developer Paul Milam abandoned plans to build as many as 48 townhouses and twin homes on the property.

The asking price for the tract is $525,000, according to Tim Atkins, a Realtor with Allen Tate Realtors in Oak Ridge who is listing the wooded land with a roughly 3-acre pond.

Since coming onto the market about two weeks ago, the listing has drawn prospective buyers interested in building one or more houses for themselves and their extended families, but no one has yet made an offer, Atkins said in an interview earlier this week.

The property consists of two tracts – 19.3 acres and nearly 7 acres – owned by the Israel Family Limited Partnership, according to Guilford County property records. Years ago, the family visited the property for getaways, Atkins said.

The property is being marketed for residential development, such as a traditional house or houses, a horse farm or “a family compound with cabins for ...continued on p. 22

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