Coming Soon Community Boasts Virtual Home Walking Tours
Odessa / Tampa, Fla. – Pulte Homes recently started sales with virtual reality tours of its new Life Tested single-family home designs at Starkey Ranch located northwest of Tampa bordering the J.B. Starkey Wilderness Preserve off S.R. 54 and Heart Pine Ave in Odessa, while models are being built.
Folks who visit Pulte’s office at the Starkey Ranch welcome center can sit in a comfortable swivel chair, wear a Samsung preloaded headset and virtually walk through entire decorated model homes without leaving the room, according to Sean Strickler, West Florida Division President for Pulte Homes.
“It’s a phenomenal selling tool,” he said. “The home sites with breathtaking views speak for themselves, but homeowners want to immediately see the inside of our homes and this is the next best thing.” Strickler added, “With the virtual reality headset, guests can physically see the features they’d like in a new home, and get a sense of what their spaces will feel like as they walk through them, without having to drive to a model already built in one of our other communities, which may be several miles away.”
Pulte sales consultants at Starkey Ranch have been using the VR headsets for about a month and they have already attributed the headsets to the sale of the homebuilder’s two-story Valleybrook, one of 15 different Pulte floor plans offered at Starkey Ranch, with 3,320 square feet of living area, priced from $364,990.
Pulte sales consultant Angela Hobbs said guests who visit Starkey Ranch will select one of the Pulte floor plans that fills their needs, “and once they slip on the headset, walk through the rooms – see colors of granite, ceramic floor tile, textures of window treatments – it really helps them move forward with their decision on their home design,” she said.
Pulte’s Life Tested homes – with a limited 10-year transferrable structural warranty — are designed for how families live, giving homeowners the flexibility to create spaces and options that fit their needs, said Strickler. “The configurations and options are hard to feel in simple photographic formats and we want to quickly cater to the customers of today in this fast-paced homebuilding industry,” he said.
Prospective homeowners can also learn more about Pulte Homes at Starkey Ranch at www.pulte.com/starkeyranch and register there to receive exclusive VIP updates, including home site details, grand opening information, or to schedule a virtual reality tour at the welcome center, or by calling 813-391-7580.
Photo caption: Pulte Sales Consultant Angela Hobbs demonstrates the Virtual Realty Headsets the homebuilder provides at the welcome center at Starkey Ranch so visitors can walk through the rooms of a model home.
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For more information contact
Heather Haight, Marketing Manager, West Florida Division/PulteGroup; 813-964-5110, heather.haight@pultegroup.com;
Sean C. Strickler, Division President, West Florida Division/PulteGroup sean.strickler@pultegroup.com;
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications Inc. 407-644-4142 lvershelco@aol.com
About Pulte Homes
Pulte Homes is a national brand of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM). Pulte Homes builds consumer inspired homes and communities that provide the move-up buyer the best quality of life. Only Pulte Homes offers the combination of innovative Life Tested Home Designs® with an unwavering commitment to quality and attention to detail. For more information about Pulte Homes, visit www.pulte.com.