Virtual Tours in Smithfield – Engaging Buyers Beyond Photos
In today’s Smithfield, NC real estate market, simply having beautiful listing photos is no longer enough. Buyers are increasingly tech-savvy and looking for more immersive ways to experience homes online before they ever set foot on the property. Virtual tours – especially interactive 3D tours like Matterport and Zillow 3D Home tours – are revolutionizing how properties are showcased. They engage buyers beyond what still photos can achieve, offering a 24/7 open-house experience that brings listings to life. If you’re a Smithfield seller or agent aiming to stand out, embracing virtual tours can captivate more buyers and even help sell your home faster.
A high-quality virtual tour can showcase a home's interior details, helping buyers envision living in the space.
Why Virtual Tours Engage Buyers Beyond Photos
Virtual tours allow potential buyers to walk through a home online, providing a sense of space and flow that static images can’t convey. This deeper engagement translates into real results. Consider these eye-opening facts about virtual tours versus traditional photos:
Longer Engagement: Web visitors spend 5 to 10 times longer on real estate websites with virtual tours compared to those without. The interactive experience keeps buyers clicking and exploring, which means they’re more invested in your listing.
Higher Click-Through & Views: Property listings featuring virtual tours get clicked on 40% more often than those with photos alone. In fact, listings with virtual tours receive 87% more views on Realtor.com than homes without tours – a massive boost in exposure.
Better Buyer Understanding: According to a Zillow consumer survey, 72% of buyers say that 3D virtual tours give them a better sense of a home’s layout than still photos do. Being able to virtually navigate room-to-room helps buyers understand the property’s flow and details, building confidence in the home.
Buyers Prioritize Tours: More than half of buyers (about 54%) will actually skip over listings that don’t include a virtual tour. With so many house hunters expecting tours, a listing without one may be ignored or seen as less informative. And when a tour is available, over 75% of prospects prefer viewing the tour as part of their decision-making process.
All these points highlight one thing: virtual tours keep buyers engaged and interested, far beyond what photos can do. Especially in a competitive market like Smithfield, providing a virtual tour can make your listing more memorable and persuasive to potential buyers. It’s not just about pretty pictures anymore – it’s about offering an experience of the home.
Matterport 3D Virtual Tours – The Immersive Gold Standard
Matterport is often considered the gold standard in 3D home tours, delivering an exceptionally immersive experience. A Matterport tour is like a realistic 24/7 open house – buyers can navigate through the property at their own pace, zoom in on details, and even get a “dollhouse” view of the entire home’s layout. This technology uses a specialized 3D camera to scan the property and create an interactive model. The result is a virtual walkthrough that truly feels like being there in person.
Some standout features and benefits of Matterport 3D tours include:
Interactive Dollhouse & Floor Plan Views: Matterport automatically generates a 3D dollhouse model of the home as well as a detailed floor plan view. This allows buyers to rotate a miniaturized version of the house and understand the spatial layout instantly. It’s an instant context tool – something photos alone can’t provide. Buyers love this because it helps them visualize how rooms connect and whether the layout fits their needs.
Fully Immersive Walkthrough: Users can virtually walk through every room, look up at ceilings, down halls, and even out windows. It’s a far more engaging, emotional experience than clicking through photo galleries. This interactive walkthrough builds a stronger connection – buyers can picture themselves living in the space, not just observe it.
24/7 Convenience & Wider Reach: A Matterport tour is accessible anytime, anywhere – perfect for out-of-town buyers or anyone busy with work and life. They can tour a Smithfield home from across the country as easily as a local buyer can. By offering a 3D tour, you expand your buyer pool, including remote shoppers, and cater to modern buyers who may even make offers sight-unseen. In one 2023 survey, 37% of home buyers said they would be confident making an offer on a property after only a virtual tour and no in-person visit – a testament to how convincing a good 3D tour can be.
Increased Seller Confidence: Home sellers recognize the value of Matterport tours as well. According to Matterport’s data, 99% of sellers feel that a 3D tour gives their listing a competitive edge over other homes on the market. It’s no surprise – offering a cutting-edge 3D tour signals that an agent is tech-forward and dedicated to showcasing the home in the best possible way. In fact, many sellers now prefer agents who provide virtual tours, understanding that it leads to better-qualified showings and less time on market.
Goodlook is proud to offer professional Matterport 3D virtual tours in Smithfield and surrounding areas. We handle everything – from capturing high-resolution 3D scans of your property to processing and delivering the interactive tour link. The end result is a seamless 3D tour that can be embedded in MLS listings, shared on Zillow/Realtor.com, and even posted on social media for maximum exposure. Matterport tours integrate easily with real estate websites and come with features like measurement tools and guided tour options. If you’re selling a premium property or want to truly wow buyers, a Matterport tour is the ultimate tool to make your listing shine.
(Did you know? Homes marketed with 3D/virtual tours often sell faster. One study found listings with virtual tours sold about 6% faster and for 3% more than similar homes without tours. Matterport’s own surveys report even higher impact – possibly up to 31% fewer days on market with a 3D tour added. While results vary, the message is clear: virtual tours can meaningfully speed up sales by attracting more interested, qualified buyers.)
Zillow 3D Home Tours – Budget-Friendly Visibility Boost
For sellers and agents focused on maximizing their Zillow presence (which is nearly everyone these days!), Zillow 3D Home tours are an excellent option. A Zillow 3D Home tour is a type of panoramic virtual tour that can be created quickly and viewed directly on Zillow listings. Goodlook is a Zillow Certified Photographer, meaning we can create and publish Zillow 3D tours for your Smithfield listing so it gains extra visibility on the platform.
One of the biggest advantages of a Zillow 3D Home tour is the built-in boost it gives your listing on Zillow’s search results. Zillow is the nation’s most popular real estate site, and it actively promotes listings that have a 3D Home tour:
Top of Search Results: Zillow’s algorithm will feature your listing higher in search rankings for the first 7 dayson market if it includes a 3D Home tour. Early exposure is critical, and this boost can translate into thousands of extra views in that first week. Essentially, Zillow rewards you for using their 3D tour by putting a “spotlight” on your property.
Eye-Catching Tags and Filters: Listings with a Zillow 3D tour get special tags/badges on the Zillow map and search interface, making them stand out to shoppers. Plus, buyers can even filter their home search to show only properties with virtual tours. You don’t want to be the one missing out on those filtered searches by not having a tour.
Includes Floor Plans: Every Zillow 3D Home tour we create comes with an autogenerated 2D floor plan of the property – at no extra charge. Floor plans are actually highly valued by buyers (the second-most requested listing feature, according to a 2022 NAR report) because they provide a quick overview of room dimensions and layout. By offering a tour and a floor plan, you cater to what modern buyers want to see.
Perhaps the best part about Zillow 3D tours is that they are very budget-friendly. They don’t offer all the bells and whistles of a Matterport (no dollhouse view or advanced measurements), but they still deliver an interactive experience where buyers can click through from room to room in 360° views. For everyday listings or tighter budgets, Zillow 3D tours are an ideal choice. You get the benefit of increased Zillow exposure and an engaging panorama tour, at a fraction of the cost and file size.
At Goodlook, we handle the entire process of creating a Zillow 3D Home tour for you – using high-quality 360° cameras to capture each room and then uploading the tour to Zillow so it appears on your listing. There’s no hassle on your end. The result is a smooth, clickable walkthrough on Zillow that buyers can use to explore the home’s interior. It’s an easy way to elevate your Smithfield listing above the competition, without breaking the bank.
Faster Sales, More Qualified Buyers
Ultimately, the goal of any real estate marketing tool is to help sell the property faster and for the best possible price. Virtual tours have proven that they do exactly that by attracting more interest and helping buyers qualify a homebefore setting up a showing. When buyers can tour a home virtually, they come to in-person showings better informed and more serious – or they may decide a home isn’t for them, saving everyone time on fruitless appointments. According to industry data, 55% of buyers say that virtual tours help them eliminate or confirm whether a listing is a good fit, effectively pre-qualifying themselves and focusing only on homes that truly interest them. This means the leads you get after someone has viewed your tour are warmer and more likely to result in an offer.
The increased engagement and transparency of virtual tours also correlates with speedier sales. We mentioned earlier that some studies found homes with virtual tours sold faster on average (ranging from about 6% faster in one analysis to as much as 31% faster in Matterport’s client data). Fewer days on market can translate to cost savings (less time paying a mortgage on an empty house) and often a higher final sale price. Moreover, virtual tours can expand your buyer pool by capturing out-of-area buyers. For example, someone relocating to Smithfield from another state can explore homes remotely via Matterport or Zillow 3D tours. By the time they fly in for a visit, they might already be sold on the house – or even make an offer entirely virtually, which isn’t unheard of in today’s market (about 63% of buyers in a Redfin survey had made an offer on a home they toured only virtually!).
From a seller’s perspective, offering a virtual tour is a no-brainer. It makes your listing more competitive and signals quality. Agents who use virtual tours also tend to win more listings, since savvy sellers know the value. As one study noted, homes with tours not only sold faster but even about 3% closer to list price on average. Buyers feel more confident, and confident buyers are willing to act quickly and pay a fair price for a home that captured their hearts online.
Bringing Virtual Tours to Your Smithfield Listings
It’s clear that virtual tours – whether via an immersive Matterport 3D tour or a convenient Zillow 3D Home tour – are a powerful way to engage buyers beyond what photos can achieve. They tell a more complete story of your property, spark more interest, and ultimately help you sell in less time. In a community like Smithfield, where charm and details matter, giving buyers the ability to experience a home online can make all the difference.
Goodlook is here to help you leverage these modern tools. We’re a local real estate media company serving Smithfield and greater Johnston County, specializing in high-quality photography and virtual tours. Our team provides both Matterport 3D virtual tours and Zillow 3D Home tours for your listings, tailored to your needs and budget. By integrating virtual tours into your marketing, you can showcase properties in the best light and keep buyers engaged from the moment they find your listing online.
Ready to engage more buyers and go beyond photos? Contact Goodlook today to book a virtual tour for your next listing in Smithfield. With our Matterport and Zillow 3D tour services, you’ll make your property impossible to ignore – and give buyers exactly what they’re looking for in 2025 and beyond: an immersive, informative, and convenient home shopping experience.