Virtual this and virtual that is definitely the order of the day, during these times especially. The Covid-19 saga has meant more people working from home, internet sales on the up and now on offer…VIRTUAL TOURS of your favourite ‘wish for’ abode…Yes, the ‘Des Res’ you would like to rent or buy and begin to negotiate from home!
It’s a fact, when seeking a new home or rental apartment all you need to do is click on to a virtual tour of your favourite Estate Agent and check out all you need to know about a potential move to a new address. It’s just like being shown around a house or flat physically but scrutinising every nook and cranny to your heart’s content, taking your time in the complete privacy and comfort of your own home. You can fiddle around with your browser viewing the property from any spot or corner.
Do as you wish, from a 360 degree viewpoint from any angle ‘walking’ through corridors, rooms, kitchen and bathrooms – even balconies and terraces if available. You can also spend your time measuring floors and walls just to check if the odd piece of furniture (or many pieces) you want to take with you would neatly fit in any particular space.
Individuals wanting to move to Gibraltar from abroad have no need to travel all the way here initially, at perhaps great expense, to then find they haven’t been able to find what they’re looking for, and this idea, of the Virtual Tour from home, would suit potential buyers from Gibraltar and the hinterland also. This way they can peruse or take all the time in the world they wish to spend, choosing two or three properties that sound and now, LOOK very promising as they’ve sauntered through the flat or house and felt like they are already there and own the place, just by sampling and enjoying that very revealing virtual tour: just like you see on those property TV programmes where would-be clients are being shown around the Show House! Yes, you can do anything on a virtual tour.
It would not be at all surprising many properties have been sold or rented during the Covid lockdowns we’ve been experiencing with so much time spent on laptops and other social gadgets. Perhaps you were planning a move but couldn’t visit an estate agent because Covid dictated, ‘stay home!’ Well, what a fabulous idea to go on a virtual tour and see as many properties as you like from your favourite, comfy armchair whilst meanwhile don’t forget we’re not in the clear yet, so who’s to say there won’t be another lockdown!
And you, the Estate Agent could have more free time dealing with potential ‘walk in’ clients seeking accommodation for rental or purchasing because, those other potential clients strolling around properties on their informative and – great to watch – virtual tours, will most certainly reduce the likelihood of your secretary having to declare… “Oh sorry, she’s not in all morning, she’s out viewing properties with clients, sorry!” So it would be better, would it not, if you were at your desk saving your employee, what in essence is a negative response and the probability of a lost sale with that individual (and perhaps many others) seeking contentment elsewhere…You’ve lost what could have been, ‘a nice sale!’
There’s no doubt the use of the internet and all that it entails is becoming more and more the way to do business these days whether it be for food shopping, clothes buying, booking your travel requirements, spare parts for your car and a million other services you may require, which you can now do from home by just tapping away on your keyboard, including just Googling for any kind of information you would otherwise have to check in books or even making you pop out to a library.
Well now, the daunting and stressful task of visiting any number of Estate Agents to find a suitable new place to live in going from property to property, is also there on your tablet as you sip a glass of wine and meander through well furnished homes strolling from room to room enjoying and really being impressed with what you’re discovering as you go, to the point you can’t believe how simple the whole process of house hunting can be, viewing it there on your small screen…technology at its best and it really is the winner! So you really need to make a note, if you’re searching for a new flat, apartment or house to become your favourite home, try the Virtual Tour way…look out for it, you’ll love it!
Text By Richard Cartwright
