VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) IN REAL ESTATE: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS FOR VIRTUAL PROPERTY TOURS

The real estate industry is experiencing a revolution through Virtual Reality (VR) by giving buyers counterfactual property viewing experiences, instead of viewing physical properties. VR allows buyers to view homes from remote locations and reduces the need for physical verifications, which ultimately improves decision making. This project evaluates the usability of VR technology in conjunction with real estate, with a focus on the opportunities of VR, the obstacles of VR, and the solutions for those obstacles. The project draws on information from existing literature. And outlines a framework for successfully using VR for real estate. The findings of the project indicate that VR has the potential to improve property marketing efficiency, but obstacles such as high implementation costs, and the need for technical skills, impede the larger implementation of VR technologies. However, there are solutions, such as cloud VR, mobile VR, and hybrid tours to improve accessibility and integration.