WE/AR Blog The Ultimate Guide to Augmented Reality for Real Estate
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The Ultimate Guide to Augmented Reality for Real Estate

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By Daria Fedko
9 min read
09.05.2022

Before augmented reality in real estate started innovating this demanding market, real estate stood firm on the principle of apartment visits. Unfortunately, this took time and, most often, additional costs spent on covering the distance and staying near the apartment if it was located far from home.

Real estate agents are constantly working to close the need of people to have a comfortable place to live, and people are in an unstoppable search of a cozy home. So if the real estate company wants to start closing deals using augmented technology, here are the exact steps it has to take.

What is AR in real estate?

AR in real estate applies augmented reality and advanced visualization to represent real-world environments, such as apartments. In other words, the use of AR allows prospective buyers of real estate to visit the property in 3D. This approach saves real estate agents and interested customers time and money.

One of the most common problems real estate companies face is time spent on apartment or house tours. Customers and realtors book the extended periods in their calendars to look at the chosen buildings. Often, the deals are not getting closed because of the issues that could have been detected in the earlier stages. This is where AR in real estate comes to aid.

The technology helps the real estate industry show the apartments or houses to the customers using real-time visualizations. When customers see augmented reality apartments, they can better understand how comfortable living in them will be, which heavily influences their choice.

Benefits of augmented reality for real estate

The use of AR in the real estate market can encompass numerous benefits, both for real estate agents and end customers. Below, you’ll find some of the principal advantages of AR in real estate, both for real estate agents and customers.

Saves time and resources

ar for real estate
Image from zealar.com.au

By showing the customers augmented reality real estate, companies can save an essential part of business — time. The more time and resources they save, the more budget they keep. Also, when realtors have trips to the apartments to make a lookover, they spend the company’s resources, which is not beneficial for the business either. AR allows real estate agents to lead the lookovers via smartphones while staying at their workplaces.

Better product visualization

One of the most valuable qualities of virtual reality visualization is that it allows us to see something yet not real. For instance, real estate agencies’ customers can see the final result of a new construction they plan on buying already during consultation. The same applies to property renovation plans and visualizations.

User behavior data analysis

Realtors can see more valuable data about their customers when using augmented reality for real estate companies. For example, when customers attend tours of virtual houses, data analytics can notice where they look first and what catches their attention. As a result, agencies can improve their presentations and offer more quality products. Another benefit of using data analytics is that it helps filter out apartments and presentation formats. Eventually, it boosts customer satisfaction, making it a win-win for all sides.

Cost optimization

Even though augmented technology feels like an expensive investment, it saves money in the long run. Not only by the skipped trips for apartment lookovers but also by how the companies can increase profits by creating great product offerings. The costs agencies previously spent on advertising, business trips, and narrowing the customer reach could be diminished.

Reinventing the market

This benefit was felt the most by the hotel industry. The hotels could offer virtual tours of the rooms they offer to visitors, and, on the other hand, people could have a clearer picture of the place where they will be staying. It impacts the reviews and the customer experience so much that the person will be sure the stay at the hotel where they felt so good.

Better advertising options

Augmented reality technology is often used in advertising as the virtual pictures of the property allow us to appreciate more of its features. It relates to the building’s size, the space in the rooms, and the furniture that comes with the house. There are a lot of augmented reality apps for architects that allow making models for marketing purposes.

Augmented reality in real estate market share

In the recent study made by The Insight Partners agency, the augmented reality market, in general, was estimated to be worth $27.96 billion in 2021 and expected to grow to $252.16 billion by 2028. That makes it one of the most popular and in-demand growing markets globally. The real estate industry holds a significant share out of these numbers.

The global VR and AR in the real estate market was valued at $298.6 million and is expected to reach $1,151.9 million in 2023. The major companies that take a significant share in the market are Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and HTC. The study even pointed out the most popular services these companies offer — head-mounted displays, smart glass, and head held devices.

Best Real estate AR examples

There is no better way to see how AR can be implemented into the real estate market than by looking through a few tangible examples.

AirMeasure

AirMeasure helps measure the size of any furniture or the space in the room with only a telephone. This augmented reality architecture app only needs you to point the phone camera at the furniture you want to be measured and, if needed, trace the whole length, and you will see the numbers on the screen.

Street Peak Realtor App

Street Peak Realtor App is an augmented reality real estate app that shows all details about real estate just when the person points their phone at the building. These details include the number of rooms and bathrooms, estimated value, and other relevant information.

Astralink

The application that allows construction workers to visualize the final product of their making is called Astralink. The app can show how much work is needed to finish the construction piece and where the details should go. Imagine how much work the application can save the construction industry through the demo stage.

RealAR

RealAR is a dream come true for architects. It helps to see the design of your home created by specialists in virtual surroundings. You can feel what it will be like living in the house and see by yourself what lived once in your imagination.

IKEA

In 2017, IKEA presented an AR application for real estate that allows customers to furnish their apartments virtually using the pieces from their online catalog. Users of the app can place furniture in the space as if it was there and get a whole experience before deciding on a purchase.

What Will You Show at B2B Meeting: a Sketch or 3D Model Animated in AR?

You probably got used to coming to the meetings with agencies with a notebook showing all of your sketched ideas. So imagine how simple showing them in AR can be? Where clients can see the 3D model of the architecture design you created.

Many companies now choose the latter. They can make real estate models even more understandable for clients by showing their ideas and proposals in augmented reality projects. The construction industry can showcase the final results of their products that are still in the making. Real estate agents show their customers AR apartments for them to see without overcoming long distances. In addition, the hotel owners can offer their visitors a much better look over the rooms they provide by showing 3D models.

So what would you take on a business meeting: your notebook with sketches or an AR project?

Stages of Implementing AR in an Existing Real Estate Business

If you intend on implementing AR technology into your real estate business, you might think of these simple steps.

Step 1. Designing

If you have a project in mind, you should pay great attention to creating mockups and design sketches. Gather your team of creators, discuss all the details and create a design with all information included. Creating a proper design in the real estate project is crucial for bringing the most benefits to all sides involved. Not to mention that a well-thought design and documentation guidelines, all other steps would be easier to implement.

Step 2. Creating 3D

It’s no surprise that 3D models are the ancestors of the AR framework. After your team has come up with a well-thought design, you can proceed with creating 3D models that will be used to make up an AR. The work of 3D artists is crucial here, especially in the context of creating a custom AR solution for the real estate industry.

Step 3. Moving to the AR framework

After the 3D model is done, you can create the AR framework and add all the missing details, like atmosphere and sounds. Throughout the design stage, you should also consider how such details would match the intent of the real estate project. This type of work is less creative but is still crucial for developers to deliver the requested AR solution. 

Step 4. Testing

Don’t forget about the testing phase. Take your time to test the project’s functionality with your team, show it to the audience, and gather data. If your project presents AR private property tours for prospective buyers, gather a corresponding focus group. Testing is crucial for delivering a functional AR project that won’t disappoint real estate agents and property buyers.

If you don’t have the specialists inside the company that can manage all these steps, you shouldn’t worry. Here, at WE/AR, we have a team of dedicated professionals that will provide the most suitable AR solution for real estate. We can cover anything, from ideation and prototyping to development, testing, and maintenance.

Feel free to drop us a line at hello@wear-studio.com so we can schedule a consultation. Regardless of how complex the project is, our team will discover a custom solution that would match your business needs.