Boost Your Home Sale: Leverage Virtual Tours to Attract More Buyers

Not so long ago, virtual tours were a technology that appeared almost exclusively in high-end listings. It’s astounding how drastically that has changed. Today, using a virtual house tour when selling is the standard. In fact, real estate virtual tours have become a must-have tool for marketing across all price ranges.
The practice of virtually touring properties for sale surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and has shown no signs of slowing down. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 43% of buyers began their home search online. The average buyer viewed seven homes, two of which were toured exclusively online.
If you’re a real estate agent looking to enhance your listings’ online appeal, attract more buyers –including those from out-of-state or overseas– and elevate your business, read on to discover how to make virtual tours to transform your home sale strategy.
What Are Virtual House Tours?
Virtual tours are innovative digital tools designed to let home buyers explore properties from anywhere using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Virtual tours generate a level of immersion beyond traditional listing photos.
These cutting-edge solutions leverage technologies such as 360-degree imaging, video walkthroughs, or advanced 3D modeling to virtually recreate the experience of navigating the house in person –—all without the need to physically step inside.
This seamless blend of convenience and realism complements (or eliminates) the hassle of in-person visits while offering a comprehensive view of a home for sale.
How Are Virtual Tours Created?
Real estate virtual tours make properties for sale more attractive and engaging, increasing the likelihood that potential buyers will prefer your home over others without this feature. A recent survey by Rocket Mortgage, cited in an NAR article, confirmed this. The research found that 60% of over 800 homebuyers surveyed would feel comfortable purchasing a home based solely on a virtual tour.
Therefore, investing in a virtual tour has many benefits, including cost-effective marketing and a serious boost to your online listings’ appeal, leading to faster sales. Virtual house tours are typically a job for professional real estate photographers and marketing agencies, but tech-savvy agents and brokers can also make their own. Here is the step-by-step of virtual tour creation:
Step 1: Pick the Right Camera For The Job
As a solution based on images, real estate agents creating a virtual home tour must invest in a high-quality, high-res 360-degree camera. These devices capture images of their surroundings with super wide-angle lenses, obtaining expansive images of the space. The Ricoh Theta SC2, the Matterport Pro3, and the Insta360 X3 are three coveted options.
Step 2 Capture Images of The Property
Place the tripod in the center of every room of the house, approximately at the height of the eyes. Step back and take the picture using a remote trigger app. Doing a preliminary walk through the home is a good idea to create a path that makes sense for the tour. A single photo of the room is usually enough, but take additional images if the space is extra big or you feel a different angle will be more appealing. Avoid shadowed and overexposed imagery.
Step 3 Upload The Images And Create Your Virtual Tour
Upload your photos to an editing tool like Photoshop or Lightroom to enhance them. Then, you can start stitching the edited images together to create your tour. Use specialized software like PTGui and Kolor Autopano to create a cohesive 360-degree view.
Step 4 Add Interactive And Multimedia Elements
Consider integrating interactive elements like floor plans, zooming, informational tags, or clickable hotspots. Other optional enhancements include multimedia components like audio narrations or background music.
Step 5 Publish Your Virtual Home Tour
Add the virtual tour to the listing on your website or share it on social media. You can host the tour on a platform and use embed codes or direct links to share it easily. Ensure your real estate online tour is optimized for mobile so that potential buyers can access it from computers and their phones.
DIY Virtual Tours VS. Professional Virtual Tours
Creating a virtual home tour can be approached in two ways: DIY (Do It Yourself) or outsourcing to professionals. If you are a tech-proficient real estate agent or broker –or at least digitally curious, you can try the DIY approach. It’s cheaper, and you will have total creative control over the process.
However, capturing, editing, and putting together a virtual home tour can be time-consuming, and you may not get professional results. Add to this equation the financial investment you must make that ascends to $350 for a basic setup or $1,200+ for an advanced setup. See a brief budget below:

Prices are approximate and may vary based on retailer and location.
Entrusting your virtual tour to professionals can be a great option if you have the budget and want high-quality, consistent results. Pros have top-tier equipment, expertise, a dedicated team, and proven workflows.
Yet, keep in mind that they may approach the project in their own style, which means you’ll have less control over the final product. Additionally, you’ll need to account for their service fees. Key players in the virtual tour industry include:
- Professional real estate photographers
- Virtual tour companies
- Marketing agencies
- 3D modelers / Software experts
Benefits of Virtual Tours for Sellers And Agents

Virtual tours in real estate have many benefits for buyers, including the ability to view properties from anywhere, narrow down properties before heading to open houses or scheduling in-person walk-throughs, and easily share their prospective homes with friends and family. Continue reading to learn how virtual tours also benefit agents and sellers.
Virtual Tours Benefits For Real Estate Agents
Fast-lightning Sales And Higher Sale Prices
Recent statistics reveal that properties with virtual tours sold an impressive 31% faster and achieved, on average, 9% higher sale prices than those without.
Broadens The Reach of Marketing Efforts
Virtual tours let agents expand their listings globally, reaching out-of-state and international buyers or local purchasers who can’t attend an in-person showing but still want a front-row seat to explore and potentially acquire their dream home.
Gives a Competitive Edge
Agents who use virtual tours appear tech-smart and ahead of the curve, appealing to younger buyers. NAR’s 2023 report shows that Millennials and Gen Z prioritize virtual tours before contacting an agent.
Use Data To Better Your Portfolio
Agents can use virtual tour data to boost their professional portfolios, so it is key to pick a virtual tour provider that values data ownership. This way, you control your content without worrying about losing access if a subscription ends.
Virtual Tours Benefits For Sellers
Virtual Tours Showcases Only The Best Features
Virtual tours provide a dynamic and interactive way to showcase a home’s selling points: spacious layouts, modern designs, or waterfront views. Features like zooming in and interactive floor plans let buyers see those details easily and as often as they want.
Streamline Sales with Minimal Disruptions
Virtual tours make selling a home a smoother and less disruptive transaction. By eliminating unnecessary in-person showings, sellers see fewer disruptions to their daily lives—no more constant tidying up or rearranging plans for last-minute showings.
Weed Out Unqualified Buyers
Virtual tours are an excellent way for sellers to filter out casual or unqualified buyers.
They allow buyers to explore their desired home upfront, helping them decide if it’s a good fit before requesting a visit. This reduces unnecessary showings and increases the chances that only serious prospects will schedule in-person tours.

Now that you know how to make a virtual tour and the benefits of a virtual house tour, here are 5 effective strategies to unlock the full potential of online real estate tours:
- Invest in Goo-Quality Hardware and Software: The quality of your virtual tour is directly proportional to the equipment and the platforms you invest in.
- Consider Incorporating 3D Resources: 3D real estate virtual tours are more interactive and detailed than 360-degree tours because they better showcase enclosed, smaller spaces.
- Harness Email Campaigns: Send newsletters showcasing your virtual tours to keep buyers in the loop.
- Share on Social Media: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok allow you to showcase your virtual tours visually, engage potential buyers directly, and target specific demographics through paid ads.
- Leverage Traditional Marketing Techniques: Real estate networking events, open houses, flyers and brochures, and QR codes are great to direct buyers to virtual tours.
- Keep Ahead of the Curve: With new technology like AI customizing tours to fit buyers’ needs and Augmented Reality (AR) letting them picture their furniture in the space, virtual tours are changing how homes are marketed and sold.
Final Thoughts: Virtual House Tour When Selling
Whether you decide to craft your virtual tour yourself or hire a professional, investing in this impactful real estate tech solution is a must in today’s quickly evolving real estate industry, where remote everything is a growing trend, and mobile devices are the main channel buyers use to surf through listings.
We hope this guide has been helpful and that you’re ready to harness the full potential of real estate virtual tours. If you’re interested in more tips, insights, or trends to elevate your real estate game, explore our other articles in the ez Home Search Blog!
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Preston Guyton
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