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It is now 2020. How do we go about buying a home? We start by logging on to one of the thousands of real estate websites to research neighborhoods and homes. Then, we call to set up a showing with a real estate agent. They bring us into the property and walk us through, room by room, with a folder filled with property and neighborhood details. Once the offer is made and accepted, looking for financing and shopping around for the best mortgage is a whole different story.
But the process of thinking of becoming a homeowner, researching properties, viewing the property and eventually making an offer is still not as digital as we hoped and is very much fragmented. How different will this process look in 2025?
I predict the way people research, view and purchase a home in 2025 will be more digital, less cumbersome and all done from the comfort of your own home.
The iBuyer
Instead of visiting listing aggregator sites like Zillow and making an offer to an individual seller, the future buyer will browse available homes for sale from companies that actually own the homes, otherwise known as iBuyers. IBuyers are companies that aim to make the homebuying and selling process simpler and more convenient for all parties involved by using data to make the seller an all-cash offer and then remarketing the property to potential buyers.
What makes buying a home from an iBuyer more attractive as opposed to buying from an individual seller is not having to deal with the emotions of sellers and contingent move-in dates. The best part, however, is being able to tour the home on-demand, on your schedule using virtual reality.
Virtual And Augmented Reality
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are more than marketing buzzwords. They represent an impactful way of making the homebuying process easier and more efficient. By 2025, VR is predicted to be an $80 billion market.
Using a virtual reality headset and display, homebuyers will tour as many properties as they like, all from the comfort of their own home. Instead of contacting an agent to set up an appointment to physically view the property, the buyer will simply put on a headset and remotely walk through the home, room by room. Using augmented reality can provide an even deeper experience where the buyer can choose different color schemes and decor styles and actually envision themselves living in the home, creating the same immersive experience as a physical walk-through.
Data-driven augmented reality can also highlight key features of the property in real time. Property data such as property taxes, floor plans, construction materials and lighting will all be on display while touring the home.
The Real Estate Agent As An Advisor
With the vast amounts of data available to any prospective homeowner, real estate agents’ roles will change from data presenter to data interpreter. Gone are the days of simply presenting the data most important to anyone searching for a home, like the quality of the schools or proximity to the best shopping center. Agents are becoming more like trusted advisors. In the near future, buyers will look to real estate agents as strategic experts to help make sense of all this data. Of course, agents will still help negotiate the price and assist in the documentation required for a successful closing, but will take a backseat when it comes to presenting data.
In 2025, the homebuyer’s journey will look slightly different than it does today. The new starting point will be using VR to tour homes, and it will end with connecting with a real estate agent as a trusted advisor.