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Online agency sellmyhome.co.uk is claiming to be holding the first-ever virtual open house' on its Facebook page at noon today.

The event will showcase a two bed flat in Hackney owned by a young family and being sold through the agency.

Sellmyhome claims this kind of facility will chime with the demographic of first time buyers in Hackney and wider London, who struggle to take the time out of hectic schedules to visit numerous properties.

The property will be seen through HDR 4k resolution cameras which will systematically film the flat, creating a high definition virtual tour that can be used by sellers on all devices, and - in the agent's words - ensuring the most transparent and fair representation of the property's quality and size.

Customers have been crying out for a way to cut down the hours spent on the business of property viewings says Will Clark, the agency's director.

Comments

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    Well said! You will always have to visit properties physically before investing in them. This technology just enables the screening process to be far easier.

    • 27 March 2015 15:40 PM
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    Rob thanks for doing my job for me here! I work for Virtual Walkthrough, the company who did the virtual tours for Sellmyhome.co.uk.

    I have said this a million times now, we NEVER discourage buyers from physically visiting properties before they invest in them, we just provide more information online so that they can better decide which properties they want to physically visit.

    [url="www.virtualwalkthrough.com/agent"]www.virtualwalkthrough.com/agent[/url]

    • 27 March 2015 15:39 PM
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    I work for Virtual Walkthrough, the company that produces the virtual tours to sellmyhome.co.uk. We sell our virtual tours to Estate Agents as well as online agents. In fact sellmyhome.co.uk is our first online agent.

    Our ultimate aim is to better match buyers with properties. Instead of having a few photos to represent a property, buyers are able to fully walk around properties online.

    This makes the buying process far less time consuming for both buyers, vendors and agents. [url="virtualwalkthrough.com/agent"]virtualwalkthrough.com/agent[/url]

    • 27 March 2015 15:36 PM
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    www.virtualwalkthrough.com/agent

    We respectively disagree. You are able to view 8 properties online fully before physically visiting the ones you are actually interested. Not a gimmick, just save huge amounts of time for both agents and buyers.

    • 27 March 2015 15:30 PM
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    Hi, I work for Virtual Walkthrough, the company that produced the 'virtual tours'.

    The vendor has the full right to not capture anything they don't want to show. We can also photoshop details e.g. locks, expensive art to minimise security risks.

    • 27 March 2015 15:29 PM
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    Makes it very easy for a burglar to check on the location of type of windows, locks, cameras, valuable pictures and other valuables. The same applies to virtual tours. No way would I allow it.

    • 27 March 2015 13:43 PM
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    Nonsense. This is just a first step, it doesn't mean an actual viewing won't happen at a later date. This is just to make it more convenient for time-poor Londoners with hectic schedules. Don't you think they'd appreciate not having to take time out of their busy working day to view a property by doing it online instead.

    This isn't the traditional estate agency model turning into the online model as some here seem to think. It's just a logical step, using innovation and technology to offer clients (the most important people in this) what they want.

    It smacks of fear of the unknown. Understandable, yes, but even tried and tested formulas need modernising.

    • 27 March 2015 10:03 AM
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    Some good points, but I can't help feel that you're going to say that as it looks like you're an online agent!

    • 27 March 2015 09:56 AM
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    More gimmicky nonsense.

    • 27 March 2015 09:56 AM
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    For an online agency like Sell My Home I can see why this will draw the attention of the demographic they are targeting. For most of us, this just wouldn't work but hats off for trying something 'different'. All that said, I am still in the meeting and talking to 'real' people camp!

    • 27 March 2015 09:55 AM
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    This is the future of estate agency. If you have the technology and ability to offer this service, why would you not use it Makes perfect sense to me - gives prospective buyers a chance to scrutinise a property from the comfort of their own home or on the Tube. Obviously, it can't replicate an actual viewing but it's the closest you're going to get.

    Virtual tours will also help to rule out buyers who are on the fence or unsure. Why would you visit a property in person if you've seen a virtual tour of it and had reservations

    • 27 March 2015 09:55 AM
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    clap clap, well done 'Sellmyhome' (never heard of 'em). What an ingenious idea, another step in the right direction to make buying and selling houses completely devoid of emotion and human interaction.

    • 27 March 2015 09:51 AM
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    What's wrong with innovation Estate agency has to move with the times like any other industry otherwise it will just get left behind.

    Whether you like it or not, most people will now start their property search online, that's just the way it is these days. If a virtual tour saves them time and hassle, then I can't see how it's bad idea. If, after the virtual tour, they are still interested, they can then arrange a proper viewing. By this point, they're more likely to have a proper emotional investment in the house they are seeing. Win-win.

    • 27 March 2015 09:51 AM
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    nonsense
    Just publicity
    Not a real item of news
    Fine to have full information on a property
    Just qualify buyers properly and sell to them -don't leave it to self service
    Arrange an open day and show the property to serious buyers
    People buy on emotion and reality
    Real estate agents talk to and meet people

    • 27 March 2015 07:02 AM
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