GRUNDUM Immobilien Sells and Rents Homes Faster and More Efficiently, Boosting Buyer Interest by 80% with Matterport

Selling real estate can be a tough business. Agents need to make sure their properties stand out so they can get the highest price. In Germany, where laws changed in 2021 so that home sellers now pay half the real estate agent commissions instead of none, listing agents need to do more to prove the value of their listing services to home sellers. They can do that by demonstrating their professionalism and using the best set of tools. 

Claudio Bonelli proves it. He has more than 20 years’ experience as an agent in his hometown of Wiesbaden, Germany, and he managed to expand his operation from a solo enterprise to a company— GRUNDUM Immobilien GmbH—with offices in three cities. And he did it in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Bonelli’s mission has always been to bring more engagement, reliability, and clarity to the real estate market. Rather than focusing strictly on a home’s general attributes—location, lot size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms—Bonelli wants to know everything there is to know about a house or apartment, and he makes sure buyers and renters know everything too. He has always been keenly interested in digital marketing as well as sales. So when he discovered Matterport in 2020, he knew right away that he found a solution to help him accomplish his goals. 

“Even a solo real estate agent can enjoy business growth with the right technology,” he says.

With Matterport, we can offer buyers and renters a truly comprehensive presentation of the homes we list, from the best 360-degree virtual tours and high-resolution photographs to the most accurate floor plans.”

Better Digital Marketing with 3D Tours

Bonelli’s firm uses a Matterport Pro2 camera to capture 3D visual imagery in 4k resolution and spatial data with great accuracy and combines it all into a digital twin. Buyers interested in one of GRUNDUM Immobilien's properties can access the digital twin online and virtually tour the home, navigating, panning, and zooming in and out with a couple of mouse clicks. 

“At GRUNDUM Immobilien we go all-in on digital marketing, and Matterport provides us the best possible solution for the best possible service,” Bonelli says. “Buyers can see our properties without leaving home. They can see every room from every conceivable angle, and they can zoom in on whatever they like. Those who visit later in person are 80 percent more likely to buy or rent since they’ve already experienced the space and know that they like it.”

The largest number of people possible are able to explore properties from a distance before scheduling visits. Even so, the number of in-person visits is down by 60 percent—and that’s a good thing. Because Matterport reveals everything, clients who ultimately won’t purchase or rent a home can see in advance that it won’t work for them, making the search process faster and more efficient for everybody involved.  

GRUNDUM Immobilien uses Matterport for every house and apartment it lists, not just for a select few. “Matterport is especially crucial when selling since buyers more than renters want to inspect every corner,” Bonelli says. “And with Matterport they can do that in high definition.”

GRUNDUM Immobilien stands out from the competition by including 3D property tours in its own digital marketing, in emails, and on its website. Over the past eight months, virtual walkthroughs have increased by more than 400 percent.

Matterport helps GRUNDUM Immobilien with sellers as well as with buyers. “We won work for two large housing projects because our proposal promised Matterport virtual tours,” Bonelli says.

Saving Time and Money on Photography and Floor Plans

Because Matterport captures imagery in 4k from every angle, GRUNDUM Immobilien also uses digital twins to generate high-resolution still photography. “We save money with Matterport because we don’t have to hire a photographer,” Bonelli says. “And sometimes a client will ask for a photograph that we haven’t included on the website or in our marketing. We can generate it in seconds from the digital twin.”

And since Matterport captures spatial data in addition to imagery, GRUNDUM Immobilien uses digital twins to generate accurate floor plans. “We sold one apartment building which would have been a challenge for most real estate brokers because it was built in the 1960s and the owner didn’t have the floor plans,” he says. “It was a major problem. The building was worth millions of dollars, but no one would buy it without the floor plans, and creating new ones from hand measurements would have been expensive and time-consuming.”

Outpacing the Competition

Matterport was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic when owners didn’t want dozens of people visiting their homes in person, but GRUNDUM Immobilien never saw Matterport strictly as a pandemic solution. “Matterport helps us sell houses more quickly and with fewer in-person visits,” Bonelli says. “Of course our clients will still reap these benefits after COVID is over. With Matterport as a differentiator, we’re continuing to grow even as the pandemic recedes.”

ABOUT GRUNDUM IMMOBILIEN GMBH

GRUNDUM Immobilien GmbH  is a family-run German real-estate agency with offices in Wiesbaden, Mainz, and Frankfurt. Customers benefit from award-winning expertise in the sale and rental of properties.

http://www.grundum.de

HEADQUARTERSWiesbaden, Germany

INDUSTRY Residential real estate

EMPLOYEES6

CHALLENGEIncrease residential real estate sales with cutting-edge digital marketing

PRODUCTS Matterport Pro2 3D Camera

SOLUTIONGRUNDUM Immobilien uses Matterport digital twins to offer 3D virtual tours, still photography from every angle, and floor plans to residential real estate buyers, renters, sellers, property managers, and landlords.

RESULTS

• 400 percent increase in average monthly virtual walkthroughs over eight months

• 80 percent increase in proven interested buyers and renters after a virtual tour

• 60 percent overall reduction of in-person property visits