Somethings Can't Be All Virtual

Shubham Dhage/Unsplash

Here's something that got us thinking.

While the pandemic raged and lockdowns ran amok across the globe, ecommerce boomed, people stocked up on digital gold, and the stock market inched to new highs everyday. 

Let's leave aside travel and other services that were untenable but in reality, purchases of all sorts continued right through our dark days. 

However, home sales tanked across the world. Could it be that no matter how good virtual reality gets, home buyers are still not buying till they land up and see what their home-to-be looks like for real?

Real Estate Just Has To Be Experienced

Some things, you just have to see for yourself. They have to feel like they are yours and when it comes to highly involved purchase decisions, like, buying a home, there is no online experience that can replace what a human offers you in person, at the site.

Take the example of Zillow - one of the world’s largest digital real estate companies. Earlier this month, it shuttered its home-buying division. 

In one sip, the company that showcases homes and allows you to compare, contrast and even contact agents to set up appointments, tried to convert to an actual brokerage and, in three years, called the movers and packed up.

All its digital prowess, reduced to zero as it ran out of manpower and its iBuying business kept losing billions till it had to be given the elbow. 

For Real Please

Home buying is more than a transaction; it is a large decision that impacts everyone in your life. 

Trusting it to an algorithm, a metaverse, an online form or someone sitting behind a screen in Bengaluru to tell you what your home in Dubai, Delhi or Mumbai is worth just doesn’t seem like the most personal way your biggest purchase should be handled.

And that's why it isn't working 

The reason a realtor/agent/broker will always be the best option for buying or selling your home is the emotional component that you get to share when you successfully complete your transaction. 

We are humans after all and this is a home we are talking about. And its just doesn't cut it because you can’t smile with a confirmation screen, you can’t hug an email, and you can’t shake hands with a device.