3D Tours with the Matterport Camera

The National Association of Realtors reports that today, 51% of home buyers find the home they purchase online. That’s probably not so surprising. After all, more and more of our daily activities are moving online, and it’s just becoming natural to turn to the digital world first.

What you might not realize, though, is just how comfortable people are becoming with shopping online. Over the last three years, there have been sharp increases in home purchases sight-unseen.

What does that mean?

Redfin’s 2017 survey found that nearly one in four home buyers made offers without stepping foot in the home. In 2018, that percentage jumped to 45%!

One reason is that millennials are fast-becoming the largest real estate market segment, accounting for more than a third of all home purchases last year. Why would this matter? Because millennials are far more comfortable with technology than previous generations.

Nearly every home search begins online now, and with touchscreen laptops taking center stage, agents’ increased access to high-quality images, the continuous fine-tuning of search features, and the rollout of speedier online mortgage applications, more and more buyers are becoming comfortable with signing on the virtual dotted line.

The trick is to make potential buyers feel like they’ve already “seen” the property without ever going to it. How?

3D tours.

Immerse Potential Buyers in Your Property from the Comfort of… Wherever

Advances made in 3D-tour technology have made digital home search that much more immersive – something extremely important with such an emotional and expensive investment. Virtual tours can be especially vital in areas like Alaska, where we see a higher percentage of out-of-state buyers.

While the local real estate market across the state is experiencing an uptick – Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla, Palmer, and Fairbanks are all doing great – reaching that wider out-of-state audience only increases your potential of a sale. However, travel to Alaska can be expensive, and buyers want to be sure the trip out is worth it!

After extensive research and evaluation, we decided to go with a Matterport setup to create our 3-D tours here at DMD. The quality of the tours is amazing. We can have a tour online for our clients within a couple of hours. And the wide variety of angles and views offers potential buyers one of the best virtual tour experiences on the market.

Go ahead and take a virtual walk-through of a couple of our recent favorites below using almost any device you wish. Both touchscreen and mouse navigation work just fine.

Feels pretty darn close to the real thing, right?

Besides the home buyer’s personal experience, search engines are becoming more and more sophisticated with their spidering algorithms and how they crawl the web for the most interactive and up-to-date data. This means that a 3D home tour will rank higher than a gallery these days, getting your listing in front of more potential clients.

If you are a real estate agent who’s been considering a 3D component to your listings, we’re here to answer any burning questions, and happy to provide more detail. Just give us a shout.

Introducing Office Manager Brenda

We wouldn’t be able to provide top-notch customer service and real estate photography without the help of our staff who work behind the scenes. In this installment of our “Introducing” series, we’d like to introduce our office manager, Brenda!

Brenda has been rocking our world at DMD since 2013. She works from Florence, Oregon, and has lived in the area for just over 18 months. Her position is part of her New Life Path. We are so happy she found us, because she’s truly the glue that holds everything together.

Her amazing ability comes from her passion to help people. Outside of DMD, Brenda is a Holy Fire II Reiki Master. Reiki is a healing practice that uses energy and touch to restore balance and well-being within the body.

We always say that DMD is a family, but for Brenda that’s literal – her son Dave and grandson work here! She says her favorite part about working at DMD is getting to work with them, but, “I also love working with our team members and the clients we provide service. I love being able to visit my son and his family more often than I would have been able to do.”

Brenda is just one of the people that work to make DMD a business with wonderful customer service and high-quality photography. If you have any photography needs in Anchorage or Eagle River, please reach out. Brenda will work behind the scenes to make sure you get the best service in the area!

DMD Client Highlight: Century 21 Realty Solutions

Legend has it that when the founders of Century 21 finally settled on the name, it was based on the idea of nodding to the future while also giving the feeling of already having been around for a very long time.

Little did they know then that nearly half a century later, this firm would be the most recognized name in real estate – even as far out as the Alaskan backcountry. And the very reason they are so well-recognized even into the outreaches of Alaska is the level of professionalism each and every member of this firm upholds.

Folks like Michael Droege, a lifelong Alaskan more interested in fundraising for St. Jude’s on his birthday than anything else. Krystal Rogers, Team Leader of Wasilla and Owner bringing more than 18 years of experience to helping thousands of families relocating to this state. And Larry Burke, a former military man himself, who continues to demonstrate the loyalty and integrity ingrained in him through his service to the country.

These are the people keeping the Century 21 mission alive, and paving the way for newer agents like Ryan Kowal, who is already greatly praised by his own growing list of clients.

They bring knowledge and heart to homebuying, and DMD is so impressed with the way these guys work with us and other local-market vendors. We don’t know of any other company that so openly works to share with and educate everyone on the ins and outs of the industry.

We are always honored to be called on by any one of the agents throughout the handful of branches in the Anchorage area, and look forward to sliding into that “Century” mark with them… in another 50 years.

Century 21 Awards Gala 2019