Thanks to everyone who has visited our current blog on the ActiveRain network.

As a quick note, we'll now be posting our Nashville real estate postings under our NEW (and hopefully you'll agree improved) SELL MY HOME NASHVILLE website - which is conveniently enough found at www.sell-my-home-nashville.com

Our reasons for creating this new website are many -

• Improved ability to highlight the real estate property listing virtual tours we provide within the Nashville metro area.
• Improved ability to highlight the TOP Middle TN Tennessee real estate agents we work with - these recommendations are meant to assist home buyers and sellers in Middle TN Tennessee who are in search of top realtors to assist them with the buying and selling of their real estate property.
• Ability to showcase some of our top video virtual tours which we are currently providing free of charge in addition to our normal showcase virtual tour and real estate photography offerings.
• COMING SOON - video interviews with realtors.  This is an additional offering we'll provide to assist real estate agents in Middle Tennessee to assist them with the branding of their image.  Please contact us for more information on having a customized real estate commercial created for you.

We invite you to visit the Sell My Home Nashville website, and while you are there please add any comments, ideas, or suggestions you have pertaining to just about anything as it relates to the real estate market in Middle TN (Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Mt Juliet, Henderonville, Hermitage, Madison, Murfreesboro, etc).

Thanks and warm regards,

Jason - Nashville Virtual Tours & Photography - www.nashvtp.com

I came across an interesting article today that discusses the benefits of hiring a professional real estate photographer - posted in a Canadian newpaper - For The Money Shot, Hire a Pro

My clients agree that professional photos do make a difference, but a great many of real estate agents I market to do not feel that it is very important to the selling of the property listing --- OR more to the point they agree that there is a benefit, but simply cannot afford it.

The vast majority of home buyers whom I've surveyed (and who have posted to blogs similar to this) agree that professional real estate photography and virtual tours make a huge difference when they conduct a MLS search listing.  Many realtors agree, and some excerpts from the article back this up:

"The days of lacklustre photos snapped by realtors may be numbered. Despite digital cameras, a growing number of real-estate agents are hiring professional photographers to showcase properties online, according to Ann Bosley, a Toronto real-estate broker and president of the Canadian Real Estate Association."

"Professional shots make sense even for low-end properties, according to Richard Silver, a real-estate agent who sells homes at all price levels in the Toronto area. Since Mr. Silver began using professional photography two years ago, his sales have gone up by about 25 per cent, he says. "I don't even put out a listing without the professional photos."

Lauretta Stewart, another Toronto real-estate agent, says she switched to professional photography two years ago after using a small condo unit as a marketing experiment.  Drawn by the professional photos online, "the buyer made a special trip from Guelph to see it," Ms. Stewart says.

Honest feedback?

Cheers,

Jason Bennett - Nashville Virtual Tours & Photography

Think good photos and accompanying 360 panorama's don't make a difference when selling a property? Think again.  I'm still amazed at the sub-par quality of photos I see posted on the internet...including homes in the $500K+ category.

An recent article appearing in the Nashville Tennessean Newspaper supports the return on investment to be realized from the utilization of a virtual tour - emphasising quality of photos as a key necessity successfully sell a property -

GOOD PHOTOS and VIRTUAL TOURs..."It's everything," says Trish Woolwine, a broker with Fridrich & Clark about posting good Internet photos. Last year she sold a house to a California couple, sight unseen, based solely on the Web photos. "People see the houses on the Internet, and a lot of them have told me if there aren't a lot of pictures they just pass that one over and go to the next. You have to compete, and you need to have the best pictures you can - and as many as you can - and just really showcase that property." If yours don't make the grade, potential buyers may never knock on the door. When the home looks photogenic and the professional-looking photos are posted online, sellers will reap an important benefit: Eliminating people who aren't serious about buying. And that means you don't have to pack up the family and leave every time someone wants to check out your digs. - Curb Appeal Moves to the Internet - The Nashville Tennessian - 05/20/07.

As the article states - "Potential buyers may never see house if pictures fail to impress"

As a friend of mine who was recently house hunting stated - "I would rule out 95% of the Realtor Agents in the area to represent the selling of my home, simply based on the poor photos they I see posted on their current listings.  I expect my home to be marketed fully, and very high quality photos (along with some solid 360 panos) are a part of that expectation."

Cheers,

Jason Bennett - Nashville Virtual Tours & Photography - http://www.nashvtp.com

An interesting article was posted on MSN.COM on 3/8/07 - "Weak housing market weighs on job growth".

Based on my research into the Nashville metro-area, this is no new news.  Realtors I have spoken with are feeling the crunch of the bloated housing market, which translates into larger inventories and slower sales.

The below references from the article highlight the ever growing need for Realtors to market their product as effectively as possible; one or two poor photos of a property posted to the local MLS or Realtor.com are not going to effectively get the job done.  The argument for quality Real Estate Photography and effective virtual tours - panoramic, interactive floorplans, video, etc. - are going to be paramount in 2007.

An excerpt from the article:

    "Sales of new homes plunged 17 percent in January, the latest monthly figures available. On Wednesday, D.R. Horton, the nation's largest homebuilder, said it would take until January 2008 for the industry to work through a glut of unsold homes. Company CEO Don Tomnitz summed up the outlook by bluntly saying that 2007 "is going to suck.""

I'de be interested to hear from Realtors and Real Estate Photographers as to how this is affecting their business.

Cheers,

Jason Bennett - Nashville Virtual Tours & Photography - http://www.nashvtp.com/

All,

NY TIMES article - Make Every Pixel Count (02/11/07)

I read this (be sure to check out the accompanying video as well) a few days ago and wanted to post it here to the ActiveRain RTV Forum.

My take on the article (aside from the obvious) is this - Realtors exist to better assist home buyers/sellers complete the transaction because they are "experts in their field".  Four out of five home sellers are better off employing the aid of a Realtor even though there is the commission invovled - they are virtually guaranteed to sell the home faster and/or for more $.  The headaches and "lack of quality" involved in trying to sell a home w/o the aid of a realtor is difficult, since they are the "experts in their field".

The same advice applies to the photography of the property; four out of five realtors are not experts at taking photos and/or applying the post-production techniques necessary for the best results.  Get an expert to assist you with this.

Another point - the pictures and 360 virtual tours that will be showcased with that property are not merely meant to assist with the sale of that property - they showcase the Realtor's professionalism and attention to details pertaining to every other aspect of his business.  Shoddy pictures indicate to me that this is a Realtor who "doesn't have his/her act together".  What else are they missing??

Cheers,

Jason Bennett - Nashville Virtual Tours & Photography - http://www.nashvtp.com