House hunting completely transformed in a New Zealand first

25 June 2018

House hunting completely transformed in a New Zealand first with Barfoot & Thompson

Barfoot & Thompson has opened the door to world-class interactive property marketing tools set to revolutionise the way Aucklanders buy and sell real estate.

In a New Zealand first, the partnership with global digital visualisation specialists DIAKRIT means the real estate company is the first to introduce the suite of interactive and engaging marketing tools across its residential listings.

The new property marketing packages include high quality, magazine-style photography taken only by professional, DIAKRIT-trained photographers to ensure a consistent look and feel across every listing. Listings will be further brought to life by:

• Interactive floor plans: inspiring buyers to ‘mentally move in’ and plan their next home with digital furniture and decor
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• 3600 photo panorama tours: inviting buyers for virtual viewings onscreen or using a VR headset, from anywhere and at any time
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• Virtual renovation tools: encouraging buyers to create their perfect kitchen by digitally customising the colour and material of cupboards, flooring, bench top and splash back.

“These new tools lift the standard in property marketing, providing a better quality and more true-to-life online experience with every Barfoot & Thompson listing,” explains Chief Executive Officer Chris Dobbie.

With strict quality guidelines, there will be no shadow-filled or fish-eyed photography in sight. The focus is on visual clarity with straight-forward and engaging angles, natural light and colours, and snapshots that give a sense of the home’s true character.

“Every shot by DIAKRIT’s trained photography team will make the viewer feel more at home in the photo, and the 3600 photo panorama tours are almost like stepping through the door in person.”

Better yet, the interactive tools allow house hunters to digitally move in furniture and even renovate their prospective new home, helping them better envisage what the spaces might look like with their personal touch.

“It’s great fun, but also helpful if you struggle to imagine where you’d put the sofa, or what the kitchen would look like with a lick of paint.”

And it’s not just for multi-million-dollar homes – all Barfoot & Thompson’s residential properties will soon use the DIAKRIT tools as part of their marketing plan.

Mr Dobbie says the quality and capability of the new tools will put Barfoot & Thompson’s vendors streets ahead of their competition, no matter their property’s price bracket.

“For example, a smaller home will benefit from photos, tours and floor plans that better demonstrate how the spaces can be used. Or a house with a tired old kitchen or a less than neutral palette can be transformed by a prospective buyer through the virtual styling tools.

“With so much more to explore, we are anticipating unprecedented levels of engagement with our listings. People will be able to emotionally connect with a property and imagine what it is like to live there before they walk through the door at the first open home.”

Far from replacing the traditional open home, potential buyers will be better prepared to make the most of physical viewings, and able to refresh their memory afterwards.

“All of this increases the likelihood of a successful sale for our vendors.”

Barfoot & Thompson is currently introducing the DIAKRIT suite across all new listings through seven pilot-branches: Epsom, Greenlane, Papakura, Pukekohe, Remuera, Tuakau and Waiuku. Roll-out across the company’s full network of 75 branches will be completed by September this year.

Online listings using the new photography and tools are already engaging visitors for longer than traditional listings, recording around double the average engagement time. International insights suggest this will increase further still, to as much a four to five times original engagement times.

The full suite of DIAKRIT tools are available exclusively on listings hosted on the Barfoot & Thompson website www.barfoot.co.nz, which recently won the award for best New Zealand website in the Asia Pacific Property Awards.

DIAKRIT Executive Director and Co-founder Dick Karlsson says the company is delighted to be launching in the New Zealand market in partnership with Auckland’s leading agency Barfoot & Thompson.

“Our approach to property photography, coupled with our visualisation tools, raises the bar for how to market properties today. It offers a view that is both accurate and genuine, providing buyers more personalised relevant information with their new home sooner.

“Barfoot & Thompson is driven to do the very best for its clients, and through DIAKRIT’s range of solutions, are providing industry-leading technology that is already pervading in other progressive markets such as Scandinavia, Australia and the USA.

“New Zealanders have a reputation for being innovators and early adopters, and we are excited to see how the Auckland market embraces this new technology.”

Established in Sweden in 2001, DIAKRIT is present in Australia, USA, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Thailand and now New Zealand. With more than 600 employees, DIAKRIT create industry leading property marketing solutions for over 2,000 major real estate partners worldwide.

See the DIAKRIT tools in action here:

• 23 Mars Avenue, Sandringham

• 1/19 Upland Road, Remuera

• 67 Rutherford Road, Pukekohe

• 8 Rewi Road, Royal Oak

Click here to view of short video introducing the DIAKRIT tools.

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