On average, almost five properties are viewed before a prospective buyer decides on one. In times of digital real estate marketing, the number of viewings should actually be decreasing. However, only a third of all prospective buyers find their perfect home without compromise. Real estate agents could much more easily clarify these perceived compromises and thereby save valuable viewing time, which in turn would benefit the environment. How does it all fit together? We’ll explain.
In Austria, as of Q1 2025, approximately 100,000 properties were listed on Immoscout24.at, roughly 30% of which were new builds and 15% private sales. An average property is viewed at least five times, with each viewing requiring a one-way trip of about 20 km for the real estate agent. Assuming a fuel consumption of 7 liters of diesel/petrol per 100 km and CO2 emissions of 138 g/km, this equates to roughly 759 tons of CO2 – and that’s just for Austria, without even considering the travel time of prospective buyers or the impact of private sales.
If all these variables were factored in, the figure would certainly reach several hundred thousand tons of CO2 in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) alone. Therefore, reducing the number of viewings is definitely worthwhile from a sustainability perspective.
For you as a real estate agent, numerous property viewings for a single property primarily mean a significant time commitment, both for travel and the viewings themselves. While mass viewings and open houses are offered by some agents, they often leave potential buyers with a negative impression of insufficient service – especially in countries like Austria, where buyers also pay a commission. If the property is still occupied, numerous viewings are additionally disruptive for the sellers or any tenants, and finding a suitable appointment time also takes time.
In summary, as a real estate agent, you should have a strong interest in selling the property with as few viewings as possible. Most prospective buyers feel the same way: Who wants to go on a viewing spree, looking at one property after another, only to realize on-site that none of them meet their needs – especially if they’re not necessarily moving to the immediate vicinity but are looking for a property far away due to a new job, family, etc.? There’s also the issue of time pressure: When a sought-after property is newly on the market, everyone naturally wants to be among the first to view it, as it could otherwise be snapped up by other interested parties. However, the flexibility of scheduling viewings depends on the individual work schedules of the prospective buyers.
In the worst-case scenario, prospective buyers have to take a day off work for a viewing, potentially face long commutes depending on their location, only to arrive at the property and immediately realize it doesn’t meet their needs. It’s a nightmare that should be resolved, even in your interest as a real estate agent.
Those who searched for an apartment in the past five years viewed an average of five properties (5.2) – more than in the 2000s (4.2) or the 1990s (3.5). Considering that the range of visualization options has changed significantly over the years, the question remains: Why?
Only 31% actually found their dream property after these average of five viewings; the rest of the prospective buyers make compromises, as shown below.
What all these compromises have in common is that you, as a real estate agent, cannot influence them: The property is where it is, looks the way it looks, and costs what the seller is asking (unless it remains on the market unsuccessfully until a seller relents, but that’s another story). What you can change, however, is when prospective buyers become aware of all these considerations and compromises – because this doesn’t have to happen only at the viewing appointment.
Source: Immoscout24.at
The more you, as a real estate agent, can show potential buyers about a property before an in-person viewing, the better. This way, your prospects are prepared for any compromises the property may have and can address them more effectively during the viewing.
The foundation for this: Our digital twins! The property’s size, room layout, and other details are visible at a glance in the digital twin, as is its specific features. Thanks to PriceHubble integration, infrastructure data for the surrounding area is also included, and together with shadowmaps, even the sunlight entering the property at any time of day is visualized – something you can’t even achieve during a physical viewing.
All these tools, combined with additional property information, documents, images, videos, and a 360° tour in a digital exposé (coming soon), ensure that your prospects truly know what to expect during the viewing. Spoiler alert: This will significantly reduce the number of viewings you conduct for a property – but they will be much more targeted. After all, why withhold information from potential buyers that they will see anyway during the viewing?
It’s common practice for prospective buyers to make their initial decision on a property after the first viewing, even if a decision period or a second viewing is required before a firm commitment. However, a comprehensive visualization can shift the point at which potential buyers decide on a property forward. This happens as soon as you send your prospective buyers the digital exposé, which already contains all the facts, including a visual representation of the property as an interactive model. If a viewing then takes place—the importance of which we certainly don’t deny—it’s usually because prospective buyers want to have their initial decision confirmed.
This new approach to real estate marketing may give you fewer opportunities to conduct sales pitches with potential buyers, but it also protects them from unpleasant disappointments during viewings. And let’s be honest: even the best real estate agent can’t convince a buyer who is disappointed with a property at first glance. Agents can also save themselves half the time during viewings, as potential buyers already know most of the facts about the property and can use the saved time to address their more specific questions.
At the same time, this comprehensive marketing presentation has a tremendous impact on sustainability. In a narrower sense, it relates to the environment because CO2 emissions from viewings are massively minimized; in a broader sense, it means that the viewings themselves are sustainably successful, leading to faster sales.
What’s good for the environment also brings real added value to real estate agents: the reduction of property viewings through comprehensive property visualization. Viewing trips, both for the agent and prospective buyers, represent an enormous CO2 burden – prospective buyers have to view several properties before finding their dream home, and real estate agents have to view properties with many interested parties before a successful sale is achieved.
Time, money, environmental impact – all of this can be sustainably saved by using a modern digital property listing with a digital twin and smart data. The short time you invest in creating the 3D model is negligible – you’re already on-site for taking property photos, and the average scan time for an 80 m² area is 5 minutes. Including minor post-processing in our editor, adding property data, creating an optional 360° tour, adding images, videos, and documents, etc., it takes you an average of half an hour to an hour. And that’s roughly the time you would otherwise need for a viewing.
Our offer to you: Exchange the average viewing time for a complete digital property listing with a digital twin, saving at least 50% of all property viewings and resulting in a significantly faster sale. And because sustainability is a priority, you’ll also be doing something good for the environment.
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