Archive for June 15th, 2010

Orange County Real Estate in a Virtual World

Posted on June 15, 2010. Filed under: First Time Buyer help, Making Life Easier, Orange County Real Estate | Tags: buying a home, Orange County Real Estate |

To Be There or Not to Be There

How can you be someplace and not someplace at the same time?… By entering a virtual world. But you won’t find these realms on a conventional map. Virtual worlds are available only in cyberspace. They are simulated, 3-D worlds, much like video game environments. The big difference is you can use your computer to actually enter a virtual world, just as easily as you’d access any other website. There you’ll be in the form of a 3-D representation called an avatar, which you’ll control – actions, conversations, etc. And you’ll be able to interact with other users, who are also represented as avatars. You can design your avatar to look any way you want.  You could look like a walking carrot stick if you preferred. People from all over the world can be brought together in a shared space, interacting in their chosen virtual community. It’s the chat room concept taken to the next level.

Alright, so what are the implications for real estate in Orange County and beyond?  Well, taken to the limit, you could literally go house hunting, transact a purchase, and send everything to the local escrow office all from the comfort of your favorite sofa. Here’s how it would work. You arrange for your avatar to meet your Realtor’s avatar in the virtual neighborhood of your choice. Maybe a virtual Mission Viejo. Once you connect, you get in virtual transportation of some type, cruise through the local communities, and explore perfect 3-D simulations of homes that exist in the real Mission Viejo. You could walk through the houses, turn on the faucets, draw the shades, tap the woodwork —  the whole ball of wax. Once you find the home of your choice, you just sign on the electronic dotted line.

This is an oversimplification, of course. But it’s basically what happens in a virtual world.  Sooner or later, most people probably will want to get off their comfy sofas and actually go inside of the very real place where they intend to hang their very real hats. Nevertheless, a virtual real estate hunt would save time, and let’s face it, could prove to be a very fascinating experience.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. Would you like to go on a real estate hunt in a virtual world? Or would you prefer cruising around chosen communities in real metal and walking around in real brick, stucco, and wood structures?  You can reach me at 949.338.7408 or angie@askangie.com. And be sure to follow me @AngieWeeks or @WeeksTeam. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!