Norman, OK 02-08-2008 - With more than six months of listing inventory on the Oklahoma City Multiple Listing Service, buyers definitely have the advantage. They have the luxury of plenty of homes to choose from, and the leverage to negotiate lower purchases prices. So what is a home seller to do?

Daron Dunn, a Realtor with Century 21 Clinkenbeard Group in Moore, OK will tell you that virtual home tours are the key to selling you home at top dollar.  "With so much inventory right now, you need to have a marketing plan that brings buyers to your home, rather than someone else's. The virtual tours done by Home Tours of Oklahoma give my listings the kind of market exposure they need, so my clients have plenty of interested buyers competing to purchase their homes" said Darron.

How does it work? Home Tours of Oklahoma is a Full Service Dealer for Real Tour Vision, a leader in 360° virtual tour technology. Through this affiliation, Home Tours of Oklahoma can send the virtual tour of your home to over 80 websites, including the number one real estate web site in the world, Realtor.com.  "We don't just put your home on a single, little-known website", says Cori Warner, Owner of Home Tours. "We syndicate it through our affiliation with RTV and Picture Path, so it really does get seen, and when it gets seen, it gets sold. In addition to Realtor.com, our tours go to MSN Real Estate, Juno, Move.com, even KOCO.com, Oklahoma City's Channel 5."

The results are impressive. According to Realtor.com, listings with virtual tours are viewed 38% more than homes without virtual tours, 13 times a day on average. "It's like having 13 people walk through your house every day, without the hassles and the stress of repeated showings that often go along with selling a home in a buyer's market" states Cori. And that is exactly what a home seller needs.

For more information, contact Cori 405-408-6368 or email admin@hometoursok.net

About Moore Public Schools

The Moore School District has been providing high quality education to students in the metropolitan area of Moore and south Oklahoma City for more than 100 years.  The principles that guide this district include high student achievement, outstanding instruction, and strong community involvement.  Success in these areas continues to make Moore one of the state's finest school systems.

Moore Public Schools offers pre-K through 12th grade in the suburban areas of Moore and south Oklahoma City. With a student population of about 20,000, the system is the third largest in the state. It encompasses 28 schools in 159 square miles. Through the years, the district has maintained a tradition of high student achievement, outstanding instruction, and strong community support.

The staff of some 2,200 employees includes about 1,250 certified personnel who have an average of 13 years of experience and more than 500 advanced degrees. The low student to teacher ratio of 18 to one demonstrates the district's commitment to providing a place where children can receive special attention as well as be encouraged to reach their potential.

Moore Public School Report Card

In grade 3-8, instructional exams reveal that more than 84% of all students score in the "satisfactory" or "advanced" categories for all subjects. In the "End of Instruction" tests,  57% of students scored "Satisfactory" or "Advanced" in Algebra,  69% of students scored "Satisfactory" or "Advanced"in Biology, 84% of students scored "Satisfactory" or "Advanced"in English, and 86% of students scored "Satisfactory" or "Advanced"in US History. 13.8% of students in the Moore Public School system participate in Gifted or Advance Placement classes, while 12.2% of students participate in Special Education programs.

75% of parents attended their child's Parent-Teacher conference, and averaged  2.1 volunteer hours per student.

Recent Bond Election Passes with Huge Margin

The recent Bond Election passed with over a 73% approval! Some of the projects that will be advanced with this $69,900,000 funding include:

Building two elementary schools, one to be located on the east side of the school district and one to be located on the west side of the district, including, but not limited to, constructing, equipping, and providing instructional materials and furnishings - $24,860,000

Improving the existing Moore High School, located at 300 N. Eastern, to include, but not limited to, constructing and equipping a fine arts center - $12,000,000

Improving the existing Westmoore High School, located at 12613 S. Western, to include, but not limited to, constructing and equipping a new gymnasium, band room, and athletic facilities for wrestling - $10,000,000

Paving district wide to include, but not limited to, repairing paving, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $750,000

Roofing to include, but not limited to, repairing/replacing roofing, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $1,023,500

Remodeling to include, but not limited to, remodeling portions of the existing school facilities, including restrooms, common areas, and/or classroom space, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $1,005,000

Repairing/replacing fencing, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $611,000

Providing lighting and sound equipment, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $2,100,500

Acquiring equipment and materials for instructional programs, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $2,570,000

Acquiring athletic supplies and equipment to be used as needed throughout the district - $300,000

Purchasing and installing computers, computer software and computer-related equipment at all district school locations, including, but not limited to, purchasing and installing additional external security cameras, upgrading existing fire and security hardware throughout the district, and providing automatic defibrillators throughout the district and for checkout at offsite activities - $12,997,500

Purchasing and installing equipment for the district's Child Nutrition Program, as funds will allow, and as needed throughout the district - $557,500

Purchasing transportation equipment to include, but not limited to, one or more of the following: a) route buses; b) trucks; and c) transportation-related equipment such as security cameras for buses - $1,125,000

For more information on Moore Public Schools, go to http://www.mooreschools.com

Different from traditional cinemas, the still-under-construction Warren theatre on the I-35 Service Road in Moore is being dubbed as the world's largest luxury 20-plex complex, complete with a diner, a fireplace , a special room for parents with fussy children, and classically styled balconies harking back to the glory days of classic movie houses. The theater's ground floor will be 150,000 square feet and seat 7000 happy movie-goers. The lobby will compete with the grandest hotels or casinos, with sculpted ceilings, custom-crafted door handles and terrazzo floors with marble and granite throughout set the mood. An art deco 1930s and '40s movie theater ambiance will be the hallmark of the 20-plex. The Warren will be hard to miss with its towering neon marquee continuing the Art-Deco appearance that Warren Theatres are known for.

The 30 million dollar construction project is expected to bring in excess of $400,000 annually for the city of Moore, not including revenues from other retail chains that may move into the area in response to the expected success of the theatre. The Warren will also bring an additional 200 jobs to Moore's Riverwalk district.

This theatre is definitely the jewel in Moore's crown...

It's SUPER-SPINNING-HOUSE!!

Ever been on Realtor.com and noticed the little red spinning houses that show up on listings for virtual tours? If you haven't, it would seem you are in the minority!!

I put a virtual tour up for a client (who happens to also be my spouse), for a moderately priced home. Incidentally, one of the other agents in his office also had a listing in the same area. Similar prices ($116,500 and $117,000), similar square footage (about 1500), and similar amenities. According to the Realtor.com control panel, My husband's listing, with the "SUPER-SPINNING-HOUSE" has been viewed, on average, 3100 times a month. The other listing, no spinning house, has been viewed only 548 times a month. Therefore, the listing with "SUPER-SPINNING-HOUSE gets as many views in ONE MONTH as the other listing gets in nearly 6 months. My husband's listing got 4 offers in four months, all very good, but the seller has so much traffic she's holding out for full price. The poor seller with no spinning house on her listing took the one and only offer she got after six months on the market, and it wasn't what she had hoped to make on her house.

Honestly, I was stunned and amazed at the results when I saw them.
Folks, if people don't look at your property, they are not going to buy it....SO:

NEWS FLASH FOR ALL REALTORS: IF YOU WANT YOUR LISTINGS TO BE SEEN BY BUYERS, INVEST IN A VIRTUAL TOUR.

If you use a Real Tour Vision Full Service Dealer, like Home Tours of Oklahoma, your virtual tour goes not only to Realtor.com, but to more than 80 partner websites. You can also link it to the MLS, your broker's website, your website, or any other website you choose. So, skip the newspaper ads (cheesy and ineffective) and put your marketing where it matters!

That's the best tip you will get from this blog or anywhere else for that matter!

Cori Warner
Owner and Photographer,
Home Tours of Oklahoma

Today, it seems that people are so busy they don't have time to do anything. Between job, volunteer, and family responsibilities, people have very limited time to complete even the smallest of tasks. So, it is becoming increasingly common for folks to turn to the power of internet for help. From bill management and appointment scheduling, to car buying and real estate searches, the internet helps people manage their "to do" list and save precious time. Fortunately, the real estate industry is coming into its own when it comes to the internet and the use of online marketing tools such as virtual tours.

For potential buyers, finding time to search for a new home is becoming more and more difficult, and particularly stressful when trying to juggle professional and personal responsibilities under the shadow of trying to pack and move. Just ten years ago, the only option for finding a new home was looking at grainy photos in the classified ads, followed by the overwhelming task of driving to visit dozens of properties. Technological advancements have made this process much simpler, by placing homes for sale on the internet. But are your listings receiving the maximum amount of exposure to these potential buyers? Home Tours of Oklahoma can place a premium virtual tour of your listing on our website, the MLS, your website, realtor.com, homes.com, and many others! For literally pennies a day, your listings will be viewed on dozens of websites!

As a real estate agent, your clients look to you for your expertise. They are relying on you as a marketing and real estate expert who can help them sell their home for the best price. Make sure that your marketing plan includes placing these properties on the internet. Using virtual tours will showcase the home more effectively than still shots, and reflect on your professionalism as well. Not only will these virtual tours help sell your listings, but they will become lead generators for you as well. Will virtual tour listings equate to more interest in your properties? Yes, they will. Does it make for better time management? Yes, it does!

To learn more about our products, and view our virtual tours, go to Home Tours of Oklahoma.

All about Virtual Tours

This Blog will discuss many aspects of virtual tours, real estate virtual tours, virtual home tours, site tours and various other aspects of the virtual tour field. So, let's start out by defining "Virtual Tours".

Virtual Tours Defined

What is a Virtual Tour?
A virtual tour is a graphical presentation of a place, property or object that is simulated on a computer or network and displayed on a computer monitor.

What are the different types of virtual tours?
Virtual Tours come in three general types or categories and have many different styles, which are geared towards several different types of audiences. Real estate Virtual Tours are meant to showcase homes for sale. Commercial Virtual Tours are designed to feature the amenties, usually of a hotel, spa, golf course, or other service-oriented business. And finally, Travel Virtual Tours are designed to preview vacation destinations.

For this post, we will focus on Real Estate Virtual Tours.

The Real Estate Virtual Tour market has a wide array of virtual tour providers who create and publish virtual tours in the following three categories.
1) Panning virtual tours, also known as 360 virtual tours.
2) Virtual Tours displayed as slide shows and/or galleries of images.
3) Virtual Tours presented in video format.

Although these categories may be broken down further, we'll start with these three for now.
Panning or 360 virtual tours uses technologies, wherein 2 or more pictures are "stitched" together and the virtual tour display is thereby able to render somewhat of a panning effect to display the inside or outside of a home or property. Panning and 360 virtual tours enable the viewer to scroll and pan through the images, in the directions of north, south, east and west, wherein some of these tours also enable diagonal panning effects.

The second types of real estate virtual tour are slide shows, also written Online as slideshows. Virtual Tour slideshows are rendered to be viewed by a Flash Player, although other multimedia players can be utilized, such as QuickTime Player, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player, along with others multimedia players, as well. Flash Player is used by virtual tour providers the majority of the time, because Flash Player is the most prevalent multimedia player found on the Internet, although each of the various multimedia players have positive and negative features.

Virtual Tour slideshows can also be rendered and be accompanied by Flash Galleries or JPEG Photo Galleries, to enable a more thorough viewing of the property, as well as enabling the viewer to be able to stop and study an image or images one at a time. Virtual Tour slideshows can be quite effective, as they can be loaded (displayed on the viewers computer) quickly. However, if the virtual tour provider does not render an Internet friendly virtual tour file, the opposite can also be true, thus providing a virtual tour that loads slowly or does not load at all. This occurrence can result in the viewer leaving the virtual tour before viewing it at all or before seeing it completely.

The third types of real estate virtual tour are virtual tours presented in video format. This type of virtual tour can be quite effective, although the opposite can be true, as well. Video virtual tours can render high quality motion and display a home or property in a beautiful way, giving the viewer a thorough and intriguing view of the home or property. However, video virtual tours can come with the following drawbacks. For one, they can be more expensive to create and can also be slow to view, as the download time will likely be increased, due to a larger virtual tour file size.

Above, we have presented the three main types of real estate virtual tours. However, there are newer technologies coming into the real estate virtual tour market place, bringing about other virtual tour viewing technologies. These newer methods of viewing virtual tours include that of the Podcast (also known as Podcasts or Podcasting), as well as viewing virtual tours on cell phones and other hand held devices. Another method of viewing a virtual tour is one of the oldest and is that of storing the files on CD and/or DVD.

Home Tours of Oklahoma offers virtual tours in 360 degree panoramic views, slide shows, and videos. Our tours can be place on any website, either as a link or embedded content, and can also be placed on portable media, such as CDs or DVDs for distribution. Our virtual tours are hosted by Real Tour Vision, literally the world's leader in virtual tour technology.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions about our blog, please feel free to post them on our site. In the coming weeks and months, the Virtual Tours Blog will provide rich and in-depth content about virtual tours and real estate marketing.

If you are a real estate broker or agent and wish to have your company or site discussed on our site, please let us know, as we may write a post about you and your services.

In the meantime, come back to our Blog soon, as we will be posting information for real estate brokers and agents, as well as virtual tour providers. To view an excellent virtual tour provider, visit Home Tours of Oklahoma.