{"id":112669,"date":"2026-08-19T08:15:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/?p=112669"},"modified":"2026-08-19T08:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:15:06","slug":"virtual-home-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/virtual-home-tours\/","title":{"rendered":"How Virtual Home Tours Help Sellers Reach Out-of-Town Buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most homebuyers today expect to be able to explore a property online before ever stepping inside, and for buyers relocating from across the country, a <\/span>virtual tour<\/span><\/a> isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s often the deciding factor between putting in an offer and scrolling past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you’re selling a condo in <\/span>Chicago, IL<\/span><\/a> or a family home in <\/span>Charlotte, NC<\/span><\/a>, out-of-town buyers are actively looking at your listing from hundreds \u2013 sometimes thousands \u2013 of miles away. Giving them a way to truly experience your home before booking a flight isn’t just convenient; it’s a competitive advantage that can translate into faster sales and stronger offers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why out-of-town buyers are a market you can’t ignore<\/span><\/h2>\n

Remote work, lifestyle changes, and rising home prices in major metros have pushed more buyers to search in cities and states they’ve never lived in. According to a <\/span>Redfin and Matterport survey<\/span><\/a>, 63% of buyers made an offer on a home they hadn’t seen in person, and sellers with a well-produced virtual tour are best positioned to capture that audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s a massive audience of motivated, serious buyers, and most of them are building their short list entirely online, long before they ever schedule a showing or book a plane ticket.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brooklyn Jenkins Cooper, founder and CEO of <\/span>RE-MEDIA<\/span><\/a>, sees this dynamic play out regularly in her market. \u201cMilitary families are often buying from the other side of the country, or the other side of the world, without ever stepping inside a home,\u201d she says. \u201cFor them, a virtual tour can truly mean the difference between an offer and a pass. Sellers benefit just as much; it puts your home in front of buyers far beyond the local market, which means more attention and more serious offers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

>> Read: <\/i><\/b>How Does Buying a House Out of State Work?<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

What virtual home tours do that photos simply can’t<\/span><\/h2>\n

Great <\/span>listing photos<\/span><\/a> are a staple for an attractive listing, but photos can’t answer the question every buyer is really asking: How does this home actually feel to move through?<\/span><\/p>\n

Grant Smith, co-owner of <\/span>Sold Visual<\/span><\/a>, puts it plainly: \u201cPhotos sell rooms well enough, but they never quite answer the layout question, and layout is what people are really trying to work out when they’re scrolling at eleven at night.\u201d He adds that a virtual tour gets a home onto an out-of-town buyer’s short list in a way that photos alone rarely accomplish.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alan Duggins of <\/span>Advantage Austin Properties<\/span><\/a> and owner of <\/span>V Tour Studios Austin<\/span><\/a> agrees. \u201cGreat photos are a good start, but a walkthrough really gives a buyer a feel for the layout of a home. For out-of-town buyers or buyers that don’t want to physically go to many houses, they are crucial.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The difference comes down to spatial understanding. A buyer scrolling through a photo gallery might love the kitchen and the backyard, but still feel uncertain about how the home flows. A <\/span>3D walkthrough<\/span><\/a> lets them move from the entryway to the living room to the primary suite and back again, as many times as they want, until the layout clicks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The business case for sellers: more reach, better showings<\/span><\/h2>\n

Virtual home tours don’t just expand your buyer pool, they make every in-person showing count more. When buyers have already \u2018walked\u2019 the home digitally, they arrive at showings with far more context and far fewer basic questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyle Breeden, market leader at <\/span>V6D<\/span><\/a>, a real estate media provider in the Denver, Northern Colorado, and Phoenix areas, has watched this dynamic play out firsthand. \u201cListings with immersive 3D tours hold buyer attention dramatically longer than photo-only listings, and that extra time on the page translates directly into more inquiries and stronger showing requests,\u201d he says. \u201cVirtual tours eliminate a major barrier for remote and busy buyers by allowing 24\/7 remote walkthroughs, expanding the seller’s market without additional showings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Breeden also makes a key point about how sellers should be thinking about their tour strategy. \u201cThe sellers who benefit most treat the tour as the front door of their marketing, not an add-on. It’s the first full experience of the home most buyers will ever have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith echoes this, noting that his team has observed a clear shift in showing quality once a tour is live. \u201cBuyers turn up having already walked the house once, so they’re asking about the roof and the <\/span>HOA<\/span><\/a> instead of hunting for the third bedroom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Who benefits most from virtual tours?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Not every listing gets the same lift from a virtual tour, but certain situations make them especially powerful:<\/span><\/p>\n