ADVICE
“A good virtual tour keeps both buyers and sellers safe.” — PRESTON KALLSHIAN, AN AGENT WITH WINDERMERE'S NORTH CREEK OFFICE
Online (Home) Shopping What to know about shopping for a home through virtual tours BY LAU RA F U R R M E R I CAS
COURTESY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DESPITE VARIOUS KINDS OF UPHEAVAL,
the world has in fact continued to turn in 2020. People are getting new jobs, having babies, moving across the country—and with these milestones often comes the purchase of a new home. Techsavvy tools can help buyers balance the need to limit exposure to COVID-19 with the desire to find an abode that fits the bill. Still, navigating this new virtual reality can be tricky. “A good virtual tour keeps both buyers and sellers safe,” explains Preston Kallshian, an agent with Windermere’s North Creek office who’s
helped the firm deploy its digital strategy. “It eliminates any looky-loos.” Kallshian says his serious buyers study the 360 tours and videos that are commonplace on today’s online home listings before setting up in-person visits. What used to require countless open houses and Saturday walkthroughs gets done via a handful of tours throughout the entire search process, with some buyers only seeing the house in person for the first time on moving day. But how does one get there? Right off the bat, Kallshian recommends setting up a videoconference call so that buyer and agent can get a better understanding of each other. Texts and emails can only go so far. “We might not be meeting for coffee. They might have found us online, and we have never been face-to-face or really discussed their wants and needs,” he says. But going through your wish list can give you and your agent an advantage. Think of it this way: A good agent wouldn’t set you loose in a city without guidance and expect you to score your dream home, so don’t expect to have success with the same autonomy on the world wide web. Instead, ask your real estate agent to share a few links to homes they’ve vetted that line up with the priorities you’ve discussed.
Next, look through each listing’s online assets with a discerning eye. Then look through them again … and again. Remember, these photos, videos, and 3D components were taken to show the home on its very best day through the very best camera lens. If you can’t live with the worn-in carpet in the photos or the tiny closet in the video, chances are it’ll be a deal breaker in person. Keep in mind that some of your questions will likely go unanswered through this digital-only process. When this happens, ask your agent to employ what Kallshian calls “Agent 2.0” functions. That could mean pulling satellite photos of the backyard to help you understand the landscape, sending an audio clip of the traffic noise, or producing their own unfiltered videos (though in some states this requires special permissions). Often a basic floor plan or questions for the sellers can go a long way toward building understanding, too. Still, some things never change. Even when the world seems upside-down, buyers still have to compete with other offers and ultimately close the deal for the house they fell in love with—albeit virtually. “They might see it and love it and want it,” Kallshian says. “They still have to win.” WINDERMERE.COM
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