Day Eight: Virtual Tours
So many free and fee based tools / services that allow you to create virtual tours of a property that there really is no excuse NOT to create virtual tours.
So far if you've been following along with this series you've learned some tips on why to add properties to the MLS, to your build in property search tools that came with your website or that you've had built (if any), on page property marketing through out your website, 3rd party vendors like Trulia, e-mail broadcasts to Realtors and past leads / clients, and press releases.
At the same time you may have started towards implimenting these different property marketing efforts and are probably amonst the top 75% of Realtors while everyone else won't even bother with that much effort with marketing homes.
People search for homes expecting to find property photos and descriptive content. Now why not provide them with yet another visually appealing way to discover properties?
VisualTour.com probably has one of the better technologies I've seen in a long while and I find them being used by many Realtors. Agents pay $199.95 setup fee and $29.95 a month thereafter for unlimitted tours with up to 50 photos per tour. Broker prices vary by number of agents in the office but offer private label branding and even allows a broker to advertise their company on tours created by agents in their office using the Visual Tour platform.
RealTourVision.com and other companies like it can help get you started with making your own fully functional 360 degree virtual tours. This would be ideal for an agent that wants to do virtual tour photo shoots themselves and need the software and equipment to accomplish the tasks. Here is a 360 virtual tour example with this kind of setup.
Many Realtor based hosting companies will also have their own style of virtual tour tour tools. You can almost always also look at what some of your competitors are doing and through that find the right virtual tour tools for your needs.
Tomorrow: Video Tours
Sincerely,
John F. Jones III
Find me on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Trulia | Active Rain
My Previous Post In This Series: Day Seven - Online Property Marketing
Hi John--
Thanks for the leads on the visual tours. They make such a difference to buyers--and to sellers too!
@Tamara,
Your making me home sick. I grew up in South Lake Tahoe. Trying slowly to convince my wife, a Southern Californian, to relocate back to Tahoe with me or at least El Dorado Hills.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Do you build virtual tours? What do you use to build them with? Care to share?
John what great info, I generally use the virtual tours that also do floor plans. I love the fact that I do not have to do anything they come measure and take pictures and load it up on all the websites...
@Endre,
I have some software called Super Home Suite by a company called Punch Software. While it is fairly new to me and more advanced than what I used previously, it does allow me to create 3d floor plans fairly accurately. If I was proficient with it and used it in a timely manner I'd probably start a small side business where I'd build 3d homes with Realtor specifications. Here are a few examples:
Home 1
Home 2
Home 2 Floorplan
Want to provide me with a breakdown of measurements for a property you have on the market? I can take a crack at turning the data into a 3d floorplan like above. I'd need room sizes and if at all possible an existing floorplan to see where rooms should go but in the end I might be able to create you a 3d walktrhough video of the property. :-)
Hi John--
Homesick for Tahoe is understandable. It's so amazing here. Your wife would probably like El Dorado Hills and then it's just a hop, skip and jump to Tahoe! Let me know if you decide to relocate!
I'm also spending about 1/2 my time in the Napa area. Learning that market and loving the area. Sooooo beautiful.
For virtual tours, I have been using Point2Agent's tool. Have been a member for a while with their free website after taking the ePro class. They've decided to start charging for the site, which is understandable, but since I've not gotten any leads in the 2+ years I've been with them, I don't know that I'll continue. Though it is pretty easy to build the virtual tours there.
@Everyone,
Day 9 & 10 will be completed this weekend. I've come down with a really nasty cold that has landed me in bed trying to kill this thing.
@Tamara,
It does kind of help if your website ranked for more than, "truckee coldwell" and "truckee Sacramento". I used to do Internet marketing for vacation rentals in the area; both real estate and vacation rentals are tough markets to compete in up there.
Sometimes free isn't always the best way to go to begin with; you kind of get what you pay for when it comes to websites. Though I certainly understand how many wallets are these days, mine included!
So will you be relocating to Napa eventually or just trying to expand your market? Talk about two totally different areas; I'm sure you are learning and growing a lot.
Hop, Skip & Jump only between May & October as far as my wife is concerned. :-)
- JJ
Good Morning John--
The only part of Point2 that I used were the virtual tours. I connected them to my regular website, newsletters, and any other internet based marketing.
I was engaged last fall and moved to Napa, but that didn't work out quite the way intended... I love the area and am having a great time learning the market. My intention is to be there most of the time within the next year. Can't give up my connection to Tahoe/Truckee though!
The similarities revolve around the resort market side. A lot more full time residents in Napa though!
May thru October is nice! Have a great Friday and I hope you and your wife have a wonderful Valentine's Day.
Hey John--
I really hope you kick out that nasty little bug soon! Feel better!