How 3D visualisation can help sell your unbuilt homes
Most estate agents will tell you it's easier to sell magic beans, than sell from plan.
Both require someone to buy into your vision and a leap of faith from the potential buyer.
Make no mistake, selling residential properties from plan is possible, but it is a difficult task.
However, there is a way you can load the dice in your favour.
Most developers know in their mind's eye what they are working towards, however sharing that vision with potential buyers or future tenants can prove tricky.
Plans and elevations can be helpful when explaining a layout to someone, but the viewer is unlikely to form an emotional connection with a 2D line drawing. When trying to 'sell the dream', photographs of a half completed structure and a messy building site are not going to inspire a buyer or convince them to take the next steps and purchase a property.
For someone to commit to purchasing their future home from plan, they need to get excited about a scheme. When choosing a new property, buyers need to envision how it would suit their lifestyle, how they would use a space with their family and friends, and how it would look with their furniture and belongings.
While a scheme is under construction the developer and their estate agents are left with few options when it comes to marketing. The obvious starting point is to use the CAD layouts provided by their architect, however just showing line drawings of the proposals will mean the building has no personality and the scheme is more likely to be overlooked.
An alternative is waiting until the development is finished and then taking photos of the completed scheme or, if the scale is large enough, opening a sample ‘show home’. But even then the overall impression will be lacking a sense of homeliness, and inevitably it takes time for landscaping to bed in, so the developer would be selling themselves short. Although the properties have been completed they would still not look their best for some time.
However, there is a better way,
- a way that means the marketing process can be started much sooner
- a way that means a potential buyer can see what is being built and
- a way to bridge the gap between a developer’s vision and the finished article!!
A smart developer will be running their marketing material and gaining interest in the scheme while the building is taking shape. It is the use of 3D visualisation that allows them to do this. A 3D visualisation of your development can grab your potential buyers’ attention and start to generate interest and confidence in your scheme. This can be done even before work has started on site.
Although still unbuilt, potential buyers would be able to get a flavour of how the completed scheme would look, both internally and externally. By seeing interior images of the homes they can start thinking about how they would use the space, thereby forming an emotional connection with the property.
Using 3D visualisations as part of your marketing material means you can start using them as soon as you've had the design confirmed. Your estate agents can be working alongside the developer generating interest in the scheme whilst the building is under construction.
Multiple images of a scheme can be produced giving a potential buyer a flavour of the whole development as well as close up views of individual units. Interior visuals can be produced to showcase certain rooms or 360 degree interactive walk-throughs can be set up to give an immersive tour.
The images can be generated to show inviting weather conditions and at the ideal time of day to present a property in its best light, invoking an emotional response from the buyer who will then show more interest in the proposed dwelling.
Internal 3D visualisations can be set up to suit your target audience and dressed to suit your chosen demographic. For example, if a development is aimed at young professionals the décor could be minimalistic with clean lines, or if your scheme is aimed at families it can be set up to reflect this with children's art work on display and a child’s bedroom laid out to show availability of space.
As a result your potential buyers will have an understanding of the features and finishes of your unbuilt home and they will be falling over themselves to find out more information.
Conclusion
3D visualisation is the perfect tool for helping developers and estate agents to ‘sell the dream’ to potential buyers. Each image can be tailored to the potential buyer and show the proposed design at its best.
Communication is everything and 3D visualisation will help you to communicate your proposed scheme to buyers who otherwise may overlook your scheme. And all of this can be done at the same time the buildings are being built.
A small investment in 3D visualisations can speed up the sales process and give you a massive return on investment.
About the Author
Jamie Wilkes has worked as a 3D visualiser and has over 20 years experience working with 3D CAD in the architectural industry. He is now owner and director of Resolution Studios, a 3D visualisation firm based in Hagley in the West Midlands.
Starting out as an Architectural Technician, Jamie worked on a number of commercial and residential schemes, producing CAD plans, elevations & sections of buildings. After completing his Masters in Digital Architecture Jamie then followed his passion for 3D & took a role as a full time 3D visualiser working mainly in the leisure sector.
Resolution Studios was established by Jamie in 2008 and has since provided 3D visualisations, animations and interactive imagery for planning applications and marketing developments in many sectors throughout the UK and abroad.
Do you want to be making use of the latest tools and technology with your next project, if so then please get in touch and we can see how we can work together.
Email me at jamie.wilkes@resolution-studios.co.uk or 0121 674 40 20