Millennials & Virtual Tours are Carving the Future of Real Estate

The technological generation and virtual tours are upon us and this is more prevalent in the housing and real estate market than any other today.

Technology usage

With a staggering 77% of adults now owning a smartphone in the United States, the majority of us have access to a whole wealth of information at the tap of a finger. Everywhere we look; technology is prospering and in most cases making our life a whole lot easier. Arranging you're financing, organizing the next day’s work meetings, and even booking a romantic getaway with your spouse can now all be done on the way home from work on the subway. Rewind back 20 years ago, and those common duties would fill up almost a full working day.

From 2010 onwards a staggering 96% of us have shopped online at some point. From ordering your local groceries from Walmart or even ordering a stove for the winter months from your favorite designer, all of our shopping habits are heading solely online.

With technology being all around us, this has given immense growth to many businesses and markets, particularly the real estate and housing market. For those part of the baby boomer years (1946-1964) or generation X (1965 – 1980), you will no doubt remember the lengthy process of actually finding a home not to mention purchasing one. From viewing a real estate advert on an advertisement board to visiting the estate agents and letting them show you potential homes to finally putting an offer in. The current market has certainly changed and changed for the better. Without this new technology, home buyers need a lot of time as viewing several properties could take weeks or even months.

Virtual tours & property searching online

Fast forward to the 21^st century and we have all the power technology has to offer at our fingertips. Simply search for a house, anywhere, any place and you can view virtually everything. From the interior photos to the neighborhood 30 years ago to the styles of homes in completely different countries, we have the most comprehensive information available to us than ever before.

With the sheer availability and ease of using smartphones, tablets, and desktops, it comes to no surprise that millennial's have changed the future of real estate. A staggering 90% of home buyers have searched online for homes at some point whilst a whopping 100% of shoppers have used the internet to research a specific home at some point.

With consumers utilizing the latest technology like virtual tours that use virtual reality tech, it comes as no surprise that realtors also have to be very tech savvy when advertising their services with a mighty 89% searching online for reputable real estate.

An interesting statistic shows that millennial's are the largest share of home buyers. Currently standing at 35%, this figure is expected to rise year on year.

What does this mean for the future?

With both millennial's and the generations before willing to search online for a property, it’s no shock that most are willing or wanting to take it further. Fin-techs and realtors are aware of this and that’s why home ‘virtual tours’ or ‘interactive home tours’ will soon be available and accessible to the masses. With virtual tours from companies like Zenplace of your potential home available, why would you need to even venture outside to buy a home? Imagine the new ideas that may arise in real estate in 2019 onwards.

Long gone are the dreaded 30+ page mortgage application. With many mortgage lenders preferring to handle applications online, it gives citizens the power to apply for a mortgage from the comfort of their homes. Lenders are even revamping their criteria and algorithm to provide answers to applications in just a matter of minutes, keeping the process as simple and time efficient as possible.

As we grow and evolve, real estate photo editing and virtual home tours coupled with super fast and instant online mortgage applications will change the future of the real estate market forever.

Older generations may not be entirely on board with the changes just yet, but the millennial's certainly are. Millennial's and younger generations are expecting technology to grow with them, revolutionizing every aspect of their lives whilst embracing it fully.