- Checklist to prep the property
- General guidelines for those new to Matterport
- What to expect from a technician on site
Matterport Virtual Tours for Houses
Deep Cleaning: Start with a thorough clean up of the property. Use industry-grade equipment to clean floors, doors, windows, fittings, and walls. If deep cleaners are not involved, ensure that no crucial areas are overlooked, such as chalky buildup on faucets.
2D Images Extraction: The virtual tour can also be used to create 2D images for real estate listings on sites like 99Acres. Unlike traditional photos, Matterport captures multiple perspectives from each scan.
Ensuring a High-Quality Virtual Tour
Minimize Distractions: Schedule the scan when there’s minimal foot traffic. Ideally, aim for early morning hours, such as 6:30 AM.
Handling Interference: If someone walks into the frame during scanning, we’ll pause and resume once they’ve passed. This avoids misalignments and errors in the final tour. Note that animals and birds are fine—they add a natural element to the images.
The Un-Editable Presentation
Unlike Photoshop, Matterport doesn’t allow extensive editing. If an item like a dustbin appears in multiple scan points, it can only be blurred, not removed. To avoid this, prepare the space in advance and remove unwanted items.
Staging for Residential Real Estate
An empty house can still be appealing, but staging with rented furniture can enhance its appeal. While CGI staging is an option, it often makes the tour look artificial. Ensure that any staged furniture is straightened and ready for the scan.
Checklist to Prep the House
- Floors: Polish tiles and mop all floors, including patios.
- Reflective Surfaces: Clean glass windows, mirrors, and steel handles to remove smudges.
- Monitors: Ensure TV and computer screens are clean. If on, display a static image.
- Shelves: Dust-free surfaces are a must.
- Bathrooms: Floors should be dry, toilet seats down, and towels neatly folded. Hide garbage bins.
- Exterior Floors: Water wash stone floors in villas.
Lighting for a Virtual Walkthrough
- Turn On All Lights: This includes lamps, exterior lights, and kitchen chimney lights (without fans). Electronic items with indicators should be on. Ceiling fans should be off.
- Windows and Curtains: Open all windows and curtains to maximize natural light.
The Excitement of a Virtual Tour
Two last points to keep in mind:
- As photographers, we often go to homes where the security gives us the keys. This is fine and we don’t have to have the homeowner present.
In this case, we’ll turn on all lights and open windows for the scan. Upon completion, we’ll close them and return the keys. That’s as far as we go – other cleaning and organising items mentioned above is beyond our scope. - There’s probably no upper limit to cleaning or setting up a place for a shoot. We’ve often seen people running around at the last minute trying to get things done. If perfection can’t be achieved, think of it as ‘natural’ or ‘charming’ instead of obsessing over every last detail.
Take our word for it – a Matterport tour for your house will look good anyways. These are checklists and guidelines, not mandates.
When we say “can’t”, it has to be read as “not recommended”. If we say we can’t scan when there are people walking around – we still can, but the image might come across blurry in those parts.
A Matterport virtual tour can help sell or rent a house faster by providing a virtual walkthrough experience. The preparation tips are designed to help you get the most out of the tour and ensure a high-quality presentation.
