“It was really user-friendly, and you didn’t feel pressure,” says Nguyen, who purchased a two-bedroom unit priced in the mid-$700,000s. “It made it really easy to make a decision.” In fact, though Nguyen signed a contract last summer, he still drops by the sales center occasionally to check on how the remaining units are selling.

The Legacy’s sales office, which cost $1 million to create, “shows you care a little more,” says Andrew Warner, vice president of Chicago’s Equity Marketing Services. “People think that if you take this much care in the sales office, you’ll take that much care in the building.”

At 77 Hudson, a luxury condo building rising in Jersey City, New Jersey, the 10,000-square-foot sales center has views of Manhattan, the Hudson River, and the condominium’s construction site, as well as interactive displays that allow buyers to select their ideal layout, floor, finishes, and view. “The customers want an interactive experience,” says Tom Graham, senior community manager at the building, where prices start in the $500,000s. “It gives them a sense of ownership right when they walk in the door. They pick the finishes; they pick the view. They feel they’re participating in the sales dynamic—it helps advance the sale.”

Indeed, as a major goal for developers is to sell most units before a shovel hits the ground, technology leaves little to a buyer’s imagination. In Los Angeles, the Century condominium has the special challenge of persuading well-heeled buyers to trade sprawling estates for vertical homes. (Prices in the development, at the site of the former St. Regis Hotel, start at $3.5 million for a two-bedroom.) “Views have always been one of the most coveted attributes of any property,” says Susan de Franca, president of Related Residential Sales. So the Century’s sales office has an interactive model of the 42-story development; potential buyers can select a unit, view the floor plan, and see the condo’s actual view, thanks to a miniature blimp that captured the views from all floors. “We’re demonstrating the dream,” de Franca says.

Technology also allows for more flexibility than ever before. At Luxuria, a 26-unit development in Boca Raton, Florida, with prices starting at $4.7 million, potential buyers can customize their layouts on a screen. “I can touch the floor plan and move all the walls,” says Michael Goldstein, president of the Trump Group (no relation to Donald). “I can show people how it looks if they want a bigger kitchen or bathroom.”

Buyers can also sketch furniture and even superimpose images onto the floor plan. In fact, some have already brought their designers to the sales center.

“Buyers in the high end don’t like to wait until the building is done,” Goldstein says. “They write the check; they want instant gratification.”