Technology makes viewing of live, virtual showhouses possible

As an example of this, last week saw Realtors International conduct a first for South Africa and possibly the real estate world internationally - the first live, virtual showhouse using Skype and an iPad.

The past few years have seen a sharp decline in traditional showhouses, placing as it does everything at risk from the safety of the agent on show, to the security of the home being shown. "However," explains Britt, "with a virtual showing in real time you not only deal with these challenges but you also open an avenue for people from all over the country and even globally to see a home over the web - and to see exactly what they want as they can literally call the shots - before they spend time and money to travel to Cape Town for viewings."

The proof of the system is that the particular property that was on show via Skype has been sold to a buyer from Johannesburg based on what they saw live online.

Mindshift will have to take place

The idea of the virtual, live showhouse has been brewing in Britt's mind for a while, but came to fruition recently with a prospective buyer from Durban: "I have a client that wants to fly down in a few weeks. By showing her a number of properties first via Skype, I have not only been able to work out what type of properties she would be interested in seeing, but I can concentrate on showing her, in real time and while we are having a live conversation about it, exactly what she wants to see more of."

For the meantime, all properties advertised as being on show via the live, virtual viewing system, will also continue to be advertised as open houses with on-site physical showings. Explains Enderli: "We acknowledge that it may take some time for a mindshift to happen with both clients and buyers. As with any innovation, particularly one that involves technology, it takes a while for people to get used to the idea of doing things differently. But all the clients that we have taken the idea to thus far are very excited by the live, online showhouse concept.

"In a world where technology is designed to reduce face time, we're using it to increase it and actually deliver a better service because in this instance the consumer actually has more time with our staff, building trust and long term relationships. It also increases our levels of efficiency, as we can deal with multiple enquires from different clients during one showhouse session," Enderli concludes.