Exploring the natural partnership between property auctions & virtual tours

The excitement and appeal of buying at a traditional property auction is the speed of which everything happens – no protracted negotiations, a deposit paid when the gavel falls and completion within 28 days - but some purchasers who ‘seize the day’ do so at great risk.  

In October 2019, Town & Country Property Auctions reported a rising number of buyers who were coming to its auctions prepared to ‘buy blind’ – which means bidding on a property without actually having visited the home in person.

While buying blind generally doesn’t perturb builders or investors, who are in the market for a project and therefore unconcerned with the condition of the property, making an offer without physically seeing a property can be a daunting experience for the general public – a sector of the buying market who are being encouraged to engage more with property auctions. 

A common complaint amoung the moving masses is the quick timeframe in which the auction process happens, often with the interested party only chancing on an listing a few days before the auction itself. In many cases, this leaves no time for the potential purchaser to visit the property and a successful bidder may be lost because of logistics.

This is where virtual tours can play a pivotal role, allowing people to tour a property in a matter of minutes, as well as giving extra confidence when blind buying. Every property listed in an online auction catalogue could have a virtual tour attached and the same tour can become part of a portal listing and wider marketing strategy too. 

What’s more, with Matterport’s equipment, a single camera yields a floor plan, a 3D dolls house view of a property and a set of HD-quality still photographs as well as a virtual tour – amplifying the return on investment and making auction houses just as competitive and viable as High Street estate agents.

Seamless navigation in a real estate digital twin 3D walkthough

There’s also the ability to embed further details into our virtual tours, such as PDF property details, ‘how to buy at auction’ explainer videos, and even elements such as mortgage and stamp duty calculators – making them an all-round resource for purchasers.

With a virtual tour created, all buyers - whether they are developers, investors or potential owner-occupiers - will have the chance to tour a property, no matter how quickly the auction date is coming around or how far they live from the property. Even if a buyer visits the property in person once, a virtual tour allows them to relive the experience ahead of the auction at a time that suits them – a real plus point when access issues attached to auction properties often prevent repeat viewings. 

Virtual tours, when combined with wifi and smart devices, even allow bidders to engage with a property while sitting in the auction house itself – a fantastic opportunity should a property catch their eye at the last minute or there’s an impulsive decision to make a bid on an unfamiliar lot.

Additionally, virtual tours are a natural partner for the increasing number of virtual property auctions that are hosted live on the internet, affording the ability to conduct the complete purchasing process online and remotely from anywhere in the world. 

If you’d like to add virtual tours to your auction set up, contact Matterport today for a full demonstration and further details.