First off, let me preface by saying that I think technology is just awesome. The fact that a piece of equipment exists that allows us look around a room and get a sense of how big the room is, is pretty remarkable! You can also use a desktop or mobile device, but like I told my wife, the VR headset is just a way better experience.
I put my house on the real-estate market during, what some would say, probably the worst time possible. COVID-19 has slowed home showings almost to a halt. So, being the problem solver that I am, I thought to myself “I’ll just create a way for people to walk through my home without actually having to walk through my home”. So I purchased a 360 VR camera and created a virtual tour. My realtor was impressed and showed his colleagues and they showed their’ colleagues and so on and so on… I was getting several text by the end of the first week. My reaction – “ok, I guess I’m going to do this”.
“I’ll just create a way for people to walk through my home without actually having to walk through my home”
With the current state of the world, and our local real-estate economies, we have to get creative. I’ve received some great feedback from the few real-estate pros that I’ve helped out over the past few days. So, I took that feedback and came up with Virtual Lubbock. Who knows if it will stick, but me having the entrepreneurial spirit that I have, I must try, right? Plus, there is a sense of gratitude being able to help realtors who are desperate for showings and get listings in front of as many leads as possible.
So back to the question: Is it really that bad? My opinion – we should error on the side of caution. It is a little scary as a seller to let strangers into my home while a very contagious virus is spreading rapidly. Real-state is still considered an essential business so we must continue with our normal business practices, but adopt new ones during this time such as: wearing a mask if you have one, washing your hands as much as possible, keeping a safe distance from those outside of your home, and work from home if it’s possible. We need to practice all of these things so that COVID-19 doesn’t get as bad here in Lubbock as is in other areas of our country.
I just want to provide a helpful service, plus I think we all look pretty cool wearing a VR headset looking around like we are lost!
