Our PlanOlabs team partnered with a leading provider of well-kept single-family rental homes nationwide, to measure the impact of using a Zillow 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan for rental property marketing.
Challenge
The client wanted to understand if there was a return on investment if they adopted Zillow 3D Tours and Interactive Floor Plans when marketing their properties nationwide. In addition, they wanted to measure ROI on lead generation, submitted applications, and vacant days on the market.
Solution
Our data set showed that using a Zillow 3D Tour to market a property online has a significantly positive impact on leasing activity, specifically looking at lead generation, submitted applications, and reducing the need for an in-person showing.
Details
ROI
The data showed a positive impact on leasing activity:
- Lead Activities per property per day increased by 55% in Atlanta, GA when a Zillow 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan was used to market the property, compared with properties that only had photos
- Lead Activities per property per day increased by 121% in Atlanta, GA for properties above the median price per square foot when a Zillow 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan was used to market the property, compared with properties that only had photos
- Applications per property increased 42% in Atlanta, GA when a Zillow 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan was used to market the property, compared with properties that only had photos.
- The percentage of applicants that scheduled an in-person showing decreased from 27% to 19% when a 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan were used to market the property. In addition, the data suggest that an applicant was more likely to rely on the virtual tour instead of setting up an in-person showing.
3D Tour Concentration
One additional finding from our research is that 3D Tours are gaining traction in the single-family rental marketing space. For the four markets in this study, the percentage of single-family rental properties that are marketed with a 3D Tour has consistently increased between June 2022 and December 2022 (see chart below).
Competitive Benchmarking
3D Tours are becoming more common in the SFR industry. This clearly states the impact of using a Zillow 3D Tour and an Interactive Floor Plan. Here is a list of large SFR operators that are actively using 3D Tour technology:
- Invitation Homes
- FirstKey Homes
- ResiHome
- Mynd
- HomeRiver Group
- Renters Warehouse
- Darwin Homes
Method
We tracked 150 properties across four markets: Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Orlando, FL, and Phoenix, AZ. First, we created a test group in each market by adding a Zillow 3D Tour and Interactive Floor Plan on approximately half the properties in each market. Then, we compared that to a control group (the other half) that received the normal marketing services from the client’s existing solution (Photos Only). After that, we created this test group and tracked the properties from October 1, 2022, to December 8, 2022.