What to look for in a 3D walkthrough demo before you hire anyone

When you're about to hire a 3D walkthrough for a project, the demo is the most honest piece of evidence you'll get. Not the sales deck, not the showreel: the working demo, opened from a link on your own phone. The key is to look at it the way your buyer will, not the way a provider presents it in a meeting. Here's what to check, in the order that matters.

First: test it like a buyer

Before you look at any detail, do what a buyer does. Ask for the link, open it on your phone (an ordinary one, not the latest model), on mobile data rather than office Wi-Fi, and use it without anyone explaining it to you.

Then ask yourself a few simple questions:

• Did it open without installing anything? If it asks for an app or a plugin, many buyers will stop right there.
• How long did you wait? If you stared at a blank or loading screen long enough to get impatient, so will they.
• Did you know what to do? Without instructions, did you understand how to move, where to tap, how to get to a unit?
• Did it work held upright? Most people don't turn their phone. If it only makes sense in landscape, part of the audience is lost.

If the demo fails here, everything else matters less. A beautiful walkthrough that buyers close in frustration doesn't sell anything. There's more on why the phone comes first in 3D walkthroughs on mobile.

Can you understand the space?

The point of a walkthrough is that buyers understand a home they can't visit. So check what you actually understood after a couple of minutes:

1. Scale. Could you tell how big the living room is, whether a table for six fits, how the bedroom compares to yours?
2. Connections. Did you understand how the rooms connect, where the kitchen is relative to the living room, how you get to the balcony?
3. Light. Could you tell where the light comes from and what the home looks like at different times? See day and night light in a 3D walkthrough.
4. Finishes and furniture. Did they look real and believable, at the right scale, in a style that fits the buyer?
5. Context. For a building, did you see it on its real street, with its surroundings? For a house, on its lot?

If after using it you still have to ask basic questions about the space, the demo isn't doing its main job.

Does it answer your buyer's questions?

Every project has its own buyer and its own questions. Think about the three or four things your salespeople get asked most and check whether the demo would answer them.

For a building, those are usually: which units are left, which floor is best for me, what the view is from up there, what's included. A demo that shows the building, the floors and the units with their availability answers a lot of that without a salesperson. See the interactive unit selector.

For a house, the questions are more about how it's lived in: the kitchen, the yard, the bedrooms for the kids, how it looks from the street.

A demo that impresses but doesn't answer what your buyer asks is decoration. One that answers those questions is a sales tool.

Can it be shared and kept up to date?

A walkthrough lives for months, sometimes years, through the whole sale. So it's worth checking what happens after delivery:

• Sharing. Can it go out as a single link on WhatsApp, by text, email, social media and listing sites? Can you send a link straight to a specific unit?
• Embedding. Can it go on your website, and on the websites of the agencies selling the project? See adding a 3D walkthrough to your website.
• Availability. If it shows which units are available, how is that updated, and who does it?
• Changes. If a finish or a unit type changes during the sale, what does it take to update it?

Questions worth asking the provider

Beyond the demo, a few direct questions help you compare:

• What do you need from me to start, and what do I approve along the way?
• What exactly do I receive, and in what form?
• How is the work organized for a building with several unit types? See one walkthrough per unit type.
• How do we communicate, in what language and in what time zone?
• How is the project quoted? Ask for the factors behind the price, not just a number.

The Recorrido 3D demos

There are two working demos you can test right now, on your phone. Both are unofficial demos, built from real projects to show the format, not work commissioned by those companies.

• The house: the Americana 35.64 demo, based on a model by Viviendas Roca. The paper floor plan rises into the house, and you walk through it by scrolling, in morning, afternoon and evening light.
• The building: the Maconda XXIV demo, based on a 12-story building in Quilmes, near Buenos Aires, marketed by Otamendi Propiedades. The building on its real block, floors you tap, the plan of each floor with its units and availability, and the walkthrough of each apartment.

Test them with the checklist above. If they pass, it's worth talking. I work remotely from Buenos Aires, Argentina (UTC−3), with delivery by link and meetings by video call. Message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email facundocampo100@gmail.com. I answer in English and Spanish.

Frequently asked questions

Is watching a video of the demo enough?

No. A video shows what the provider wants you to see, in the order they chose. Opening the demo yourself, on your phone, is the only way to know how your buyer will experience it.

Does the demo have to be a project like mine?

It helps, but it isn't essential. What you're evaluating is whether the format is clear, whether it works on a phone and whether it answers buyer questions. If those hold, the format adapts to your type of project.

What if the demo works well on a computer and badly on a phone?

Take it seriously. Most of your buyers will see it on their phone first. A walkthrough that only works well on a big screen is missing the place where most decisions start.

Can I show the demo to my team before deciding?

Yes, and it's a good idea. Send the link to your salespeople and ask them to use it as a buyer would. They know better than anyone what buyers ask, and they'll tell you whether the demo answers it.