Orange County Virtual Tours's Blog

Unique Orange County Marketing Opportunity with OC Virtual Tours!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:18:04 -0700

Deadline: Thursday, March 12^th at 5pm!

Awesome Sponsorship Opportunity!!

Orange County Virtual Tours is looking for 1 more "Official Sponsor" for our website at OCTours.com

Have you ever spent tons of money on a newspaper ad or magazine ad that simply cost too much and wasn't worth it??

In these changing times, you need to do something as a

OC Professional that is unique and effective to stand out from the herd of competition!

Do something different than everyone else that directly targets your market...

Orange County Home Buyers, Sellers and Real Estate Agents!

Picture your company information on all of the Orange County Virtual Tours we do in Orange County, which are viewed by Orange County Real Estate Agents, their clients and homebuyers searching Orange County homes on the internet. Be in front of them first, as they are at the exact moment of trying to make a decision to buy a home!

We have awesome exposure! All of our tours are on Realtor.com® and their entire affiliate network, the SoCal MLS, OCTours.com, Google®, Yahoo®, MSN® and many other major search engines for key words, search terms, phrases and placement.

According the National Association of Realtors®, over 85% of homebuyers start their search on the Internet. We have found that homebuyers love seeing virtual tours of homes, compared to crappy still shots of a home, as it gives them a much better perception of what the home really looks like.

Hundreds of unique visitors are visiting our website on a daily basis! If you don't know about website traffic, unique visitor statistics count computers IP address only once when that person visits the website. This is a much better indicator of monthly website traffic than "hits", which are misleading because the same person can visit the website multiple times and counted each time.

What will you get?

1.) We will create a custom sponsorship banner for you on our homepage and every property we do a virtual tour on. The banner will include a direct link back to your website, with all of your contact information on the banner. You will be the only company providing the services you offer on the website as an "Official Sponsor"

2.) You (or your office) will be on all future print and marketing materials with logo and contact info. We hit up many open houses during the "broker preview" days for MLS and open houses during the weekends!

We are looking for a minimum 6 month commitment. We're going to leave things open on a bidding platform. The highest bid by Thursday, March 12th at 5pm will be chosen.

The opening bid will start at $150/month.

You can place your bid by email or a phone call anytime between now and the cutoff time.

Payment in full will be required up front. We will be committed to creating the banner and placing your information on all of our marketing materials. All that we ask is for the same type of commitment in return :)

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get a hold of me...

Happy Bidding!

Scott Gormley
Owner
Orange County Virtual Tours
Direct: 949.916.1460
Email: Tours@OCTours.com

Website: http://www.octours.com/

"Virtually Simple!"^TM

Orange County Association of REALTORS® Beach Party 2008!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:04:28 -0700

Who? Members of OCAR, to include OCAR REALTORS®, Affiliates and their families.

What? An awesome day of fun in the sun, including Food,Drinks, Games for children, a Bocce Ball Tournament (Advance Registration Required) and Volleyball.

When? Friday, August 15th from 10:00am to 4:00pm

Where? Doheny State Beach in Dana Point,California

Why? Why not!?

This event is FREE and is intended for OCAR REALTOR®, Affiliate members and their families ONLY!

Please bring your business card or membership card for check in. Must check in at registration for wristband

(No Pets Please)

Parking costs $10

All proceeds benefit HomeAid Orange County, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
and OCAR Cares.

If you have any questions, please call Cassie at:
949-586-6800 ext. 113

Be sure to visit Orange County Virtual Tours and Escrow Leaders at the beer booth!

Orange County, California REALTORS® and Virtual Tours

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:51:05 -0700

Are you an Orange County, California REALTOR® looking to do a Virtual Tour on your property listing?

Please let me introduce ourselves...

We are Orange County Virtual Tours, the #1 Virtual Tour provider for homes and real estate in Orange County, California!

We are creating a search base of Orange County homes that online home searchers can look through to help them find the home they are looking for.

We understand that REALTORS® already have a busy schedule and our job is to make your life easier and online marketing efforts more effective.

That's why we place all of our Virtual Tour on the SoCal MLS, Realtor.com and our website...OCTours.com

There are many benefits to using an Orange County Virtual Tour to market your listing, but we have now added a new one!

Orange County Virtual Tours is owned by Scott Gormley, who has a California Brokers License and pays MLS dues.

What does that mean for you as an Orange County, California REALTORS®?

We have Lock Box access, so you and/or the homeowners DON'T need to be at the property for us to do a virtual tour!

That's right....Focus on other things during your busy schedule, besides watching us do our job.

To order your next Orange County Virtual Tour, click here!

It's "Virtually Simple!" ^TM

Scott Gormley

Owner

Orange County Virtual Tours

Direct: 949-916-1460

Email: Tours@OCTours.com

"Virtually Simple!" ^TM

Search Orange County Real Estate with Virtual Tours!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:25:07 -0700

Are you looking to buy or sell a home in Orange County,California? Many would agree that simply looking at pictures of homes is not good enough, when you are narrowing down your search for a great property! Rather, you would like to see great virtual tours of the home. Well...That's what we're doing! We're creating a website where homebuyers can search Orange County, California Real Estate by city and number of bedrooms to find all of the homes in that area that have an Orange County Virtual Tour! We feel that this will help homebuyers find homes that match their tastes much easier than looking at simple pictures.

Search Orange County Real Estate for the cities you're interested in here:

Aliso Viejo, incorporated in 2001
Anaheim, incorporated in 1870
Brea, incorporated in 1917
Buena Park, incorporated in 1953
Costa Mesa, incorporated in 1953
Cypress, incorporated in 1956
Dana Point, incorporated in 1989
Fountain Valley, incorporated in 1953
Fullerton, incorporated in 1904
Garden Grove, incorporated in 1956
Huntington Beach, incorporated in 1909
Irvine, incorporated in 1971
La Habra, incorporated in 1925
La Palma, incorporated in 1955
Laguna Beach, incorporated in 1927
Laguna Hills, incorporated in 1991
Laguna Niguel, incorporated in 1989

Laguna Woods, incorporated in 1999
Lake Forest, incorporated in 1991
Los Alamitos, incorporated in 1960
Mission Viejo, incorporated in 1988
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906
Orange, incorporated in 1888
Placentia, incorporated in 1926
Rancho Santa Margarita, incorporated in 2000
San Clemente, incorporated in 1928
San Juan Capistrano, incorporated in 1961
Santa Ana, incorporated in 1886
Seal Beach, incorporated in 1915
Stanton, incorporated in 1956
Tustin, incorporated in 1927
Villa Park, incorporated in 1962
Westminster, incorporated in 1957
Yorba Linda, incorporated in 1967

Noteworthy communities

Some of the communities that exist within city limits are listed below:

Anaheim Hills, Anaheim
Balboa Island, Newport Beach
Corona del Mar, Newport Beach
Crystal Cove/Pelican Hill, Newport Beach
Capistrano Beach, Dana Point
El Modena, Orange
Monarch Beach, Dana Point

Newport Coast, Newport Beach
Olive, Orange
San Joaquin Hills, Laguna Niguel
San Joaquin Hills, Newport Beach
Tustin Ranch, Tustin
Talega, San Clemente
West Garden Grove, Garden Grove
Yorba Hills, Yorba Linda
Mesa Verde, Costa Mesa

Unincorporated communities

These communities are outside of the city limits in unincorporated county territory:

Coto de Caza
Dove Canyon
Ladera Ranch
Las Flores
Midway City
Orange Park Acres

Rossmoor
Santa Ana Heights
Silverado Canyon
Sunset Beach
Trabuco Canyon
Tustin Foothills

If you have any questions about how to list a home in our database, feel free to get a hold of me. Here is all of my contact information:

Scott Gormley

Owner

Orange County Virtual Tours

Tours@OCTours.com

http://www.octours.com/

Direct: 949-916-1460

5 Reasons To Use An Orange County Real Estate Virtual Tour!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:32:47 -0700

Here are the TOP 5 REASONS to use an Orange County Virtual Tour, when selling/listing your next home!

Gas prices are still through the roof! Do you think someone would rather drive all around Orange County, sifting through homes to find the right one? Or...do you think people would rather search for homes online and narrow their findings down to a few options that "REALLY STUCK OUT TO THEM!" Now, you're getting more SERIOUS people looking at your home for sale!

According to the National Association of Realtors®, over 77% of hombuyers start their real estate search online! If you were looking at prospective properties in Orange County, would you want to see still pictures or an awesome Orange County Virtual Tour of the property?

Do you really want all of that foot traffic going through your home? An Orange County Virtual Tour will reduce all of those "I'm just looking" people and bring in the REAL BUYERS that are serious about buying a home.

At Orange County Virtual Tours, we will "Broadcast" your listing/home to EVERY Realtor® that is a member of the Orange County Association of Realtors® for greater exposure. Be sure to let them ALL know that your home is for sale. You never know if a Realtor has a new buyer that is looking for exactly what your property offers!

Do you live in a Gated Community? If so, "How many potential homebuyers are there out there that may never be able to see your home because you live in a gated community?" By having an Orange County Virtual Tour, homeseekers can see exactly what your home looks like!

Feel free to visit our website at http://www.OCTours.com, where you can order a new Virtual Tour online and get answers to more of your questions!

Scott Gormley

Owner

Orange County Virtual Tours

Email: Tours@OCTours.com

Are You Looking for a Home or Real Estate in Orange County,California?

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:54:23 -0700

Are you looking to buy or sell a home in Orange County,California?

Orange County Virtual Tours is setting out to become the #1 spot on the Internet to search Homes and Real Estate in Orange County,California.

Our easy to search database of homes and Virtual Tours across Orange County,California will make it easier for homebuyers across the United States to find, "That perfect home" in Orange County,California.

Be sure to check out our website at OCTours.com!

Home searchers will start to see our "Sign Riders" below agents signs on the front of homes. On each of our Sign Riders, there will be a Virtual Tour ID #. Simply go to our website and type in the Tour ID # for the home you saw on our Sign Rider and you will automatically be able to pull up the property you saw and see a Virtual Tour on it!

Pretty Cool!

There is no need for a subscription to search our database.

If you are looking to market your home and maximize your exposure on the Internet as a homeseller, be sure to tell your agent or Realtor that you want an Orange County Virtual Tour!

We have fast turnaround time and help you to sell your home faster. Period!

Orange County Virtual Tour Team

Tours@OCTours.com

SoCal MLS® Compliant Virtual Tours

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:33:40 -0700

Hey Realtors® and Real Estate Agents....

Are you looking for a Virtual Tour company in Orange County, California that is SoCal MLS® compliant?

Orange County Virtual Tours is!

In addition to the "Brandable" Virtual Tour that we create for Realtors®, for Realtor.com® and agent promotion, we also create a "Non-Branded" Virtual Tour, which abides to the rules and regulations of SoCal MLS®!

And...

We get it on the MLS for you!

For more information, check us out at OCTours.com

The Orange County Virtual Tour Team

Hey Orange County,California Realtors®!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:57:38 -0700

Hey Orange County Realtors!

We're offering Realtors their first Full Service Virtual Tour with us for only $149!

Tours Include:	Full Tour
Spins of All Areas of Interest
Realtor.com®, SoCal MLS® and OCTours.com Placement
Agent Contact Information Displayed
Property Information
Ability to "Enlarge Tour" to a Full Screen Shot
Music to Match the Home's Personality
Non-Distorted Views. Forget the "Fishbowl Look!"
Ability to "View Visitor Traffic"

Orange County's #1 Choice for Virtual Tours!

We are a full service virtual tour company, exclusively serving the Orange County market.

We are the only virtual tour provider affiliated with the Orange County Association of Realtors!

To schedule your tours, simply visit OCTours.com and click on the "Schedule a Tour" page.

Your full featured Virtual Tour is linked to your listing on Realtor.com. Because your full featured Virtual Tour will be linked to REALTOR.com®, you will gain maximum personal promotion benefits as every consumer will see your branding, photo and contact information!

Exposure
Your contact information is shown with your tour on Realtor and on our website. This means that the person viewing your listing (and your tour) can now contact you via phone, email, pager or even be directed to your website by using the links and information displayed on your Virtual Tour that's linked to your listing. You can even pay to have Realtor.com include your personal contact information for all your listings in general.
Visibility
Your listing will appear when customers search for homes with virtual tours on REALTOR.com®, and the "spinning red house" icon will appear near the top of the listing indicating that it has a virtual tour.
Increased Distribution of your tours.
Homestore's distribution network has agreements in place with many national franchise gateway sites (e.g. www.REMAX.com, www.Prudential.com), portals such as AOL.com, MSN.com, Netscape.com, Excite.com and several websites for local real estate companies, etc. This distribution network allows your tour to be automatically linked to the listing data sent to the appropriate sites on this distribution list.

Scott Gormley

Owner

Orange County Virtual Tours

Direct: 949-916-1460

Email: Tours@OCTours.com

Orange County Association of Realtors Only Virtual Tour Affiliate!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:31:02 -0700

It's Official!

Orange County Virtual Tours is the only Official Virtual Tours Affiliate with the Orange County Association of Realtors in Orange County, California. We are looking forward to serving the Orange County Association of Realtors!

If you are a Realtor looking to do a great virtual tour on your listing, feel free to visit us online at www.OCTours.com

We are an Official Affiliate of Realtor.com, allowing us to place ALL of our virtual tours on their website as a "Feature Tour", which show with the distinguished "red spinning house" that consumers and Realtors have grown to know.

We are SoCal MLS compliant, allowing us to add your Virtual Tours to the SoCal MLS for you...giving you more time to do what you do best...Sell homes!

Want to see an example? Click Here!

Feel free to visit our website or shoot us an email. We have a 24 hour turnaround time from photography shooting to getting your listing posted on the Internet!

Scott Gormley

Owner

Orange County Virtual Tours

Email: Tours@OCTours.com

Orange County Virtual Tours-Help Wanted

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:32:03 -0700

Orange County Virtual Tours is a full service Virtual Tour company offering serives to the Real Estate community in Orange County, California.

We are looking for a special person to join our team and take our new adventure to the next level. If you're looking to get involved with a new startup and have what we're looking for below, feel free to shoot me an email with your resume attached. If you're a match, I'll give you a call so we can talk.

We're looking for a a person that enjoys people,photography,real estate and computers.

Are you a quick learner on computers?

Applicants must hold the following qualtities:
Reliable-A credit check may be required
Honest-A background check may be required
Have good people skills
Able to learn photo editing software quickly and take good pictures
Must have own transportation (We will compensate for logged miles)

Compensation is negotiable, based on experience and skills.

If this sounds like a great job for you, shoot us an email with your resume attached. We'll give you a call and talk. If you sound like a good fit, we'll do a face-to-face interview.

Email your resume to: Scott@OakValleyMortgage.com

Real Estate Slide Shows Vs. Virtual Tours

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:08:54 -0700

There is alot of confusion out there in the Real Estate Industry about what constitutes a true Virtual Tour. I'm here to tell you that placing photos into a program that spits back a glamortized slide show of individual pictures should not be considered a true Virtual Tour.

A great virtual tour will allow your viewers and potential home buyers to:

Navigate between rooms in the house easily WITHOUT the need to watch the entire slideshow to see the 1 room they really care about.

See a true reflection of the home and not a distorted version that looks like your looking through a fish tank with Mr. Magoo glasses.

If you're looking for the real deal, with awesome quality in Orange County, California, feel free to check out our website at:

OCTours.com

We will go out to your listing, take all of the footage and have your virtual tour live and on Realtor.com within 24 hours!

Scott Gormley

Orange County Virtual Tours

Gettin Ready to Put the "Squeeze" on Orange County,California Real Estate!

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:49:10 -0700

We're getting ready to put the squeeze on homes in Orange County,California. My plans are BIG for OCTours.com and our intentions are to be THE PLACE to have a virtual tour in OC!

We plan on creating a brand that is easily recognized by Realtors and Consumers alike. Trusting that the quality of our virtual tours will present their home for the best chance of selling in a short period of time for the highest dollar amount.

So, if you start seeing our OC Virtual Tour sign riders around your neighborhood....Don't make it a mystery!

Why?

We'll be helping agents and home sellers get the most "juice" out of their listings!

Do you need some juice?

Scott Gormley

Owner

OCTours.com

Orange County, California Virtual Tours and Realtor.com

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:15:22 -0700

Orange County Tours & Realtor.com

All our tours are posted on Realtor.com. Realtor.com is the official site of the National Association of REALTORS and is the No. 1 consumer destination for real estate related information with more than 6.5 million monthly unique users.

Your Tour will have a spinning red house, a designation only available for those listings with virtual tours. Our Company has been approved and is allowed to post such virtual tours directly on Realtor.com

More Information

Your full featured Virtual Tour is linked to your listing on Realtor.com. Because your full featured Virtual Tour will be linked to REALTOR.com® , you will gain maximum personal promotion benefits as every consumer will see your branding, photo and contact information!

Exposure
Your contact information is shown with your tour on Realtor and on our website. This means that the person viewing your listing (and your tour) can now contact you via phone, email, pager or even be directed to your website by using the links and information displayed on your Virtual Tour that's linked to your listing. You can even pay to have Realtor.com include your personal contact information for all your listings in general.

Visibility
Your listing will appear when customers search for homes with virtual tours on REALTOR.com®, and the "spinning red house" icon will appear near the top of the listing indicating that it has a virtual tour.

Increased Distribution of your tours.
Homestore's distribution network has agreements in place with many national franchise gateway sites (e.g. www.REMAX.com, www.Prudential.com), portals such as AOL.com, MSN.com, Netscape.com, Excite.com and several websites for local real estate companies, etc. This distribution network allows your tour to be automatically linked to the listing data sent to the appropriate sites on this distribution list.

Orange County Tours is not affiliated in any legal or financial manor with Move, Inc or Realtor.com, Inc. Orange County Tours is simply allowed to post virtual tours on Realtor.com listings.

Why use an Orange County,Calfiornia Virtual Tour?

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:38:17 -0700

Why Virtual Tours?

Save Time
Be more productive with virtual tours.
Cut the balloons off the mailbox, and spend Saturday mornings with your kids.

Did you know that 81% of U.S. Homebuyers use the Internet and Virtual Tours as a resource when they are searching for a new home, and only 35% attend Open Houses? Why inconvenience yourself and your sellers? Once we've created your virtual tour, you have essentially created a round-the-clock online open house that buyers can conveniently experience from their home or office computer.

For the price of the balloons you would usually tie to the mailbox and the ad in the paper, you can spend Saturday morning at your home, not somebody else's!

Reserve your time for the most productive appointments.

How many hours have you spent taxiing shoppers from one listing to another that you knew from the beginning wouldn't interest them? On average, Agents who don't use virtual tours show twice as many homes to each buyer before a purchase decision is reached. Twice as many!

While a virtual tour will never be a substitute for a personal walkthrough, it is an essential first step for helping a buyer hone in on the listings that fit their needs and taste.

With a virtual tour, a buyer can very quickly determine if they are interested in taking the next step of making an appointment to go out and visit a listing, which saves your time and theirs. Buyers who have taken a virtual tour before they arrive already have a general idea of what they are going to see, and are often more focused and prepared to do business. Buyers who don't use virtual tours spend an average of three times longer with an Agent before making a purchase decision. Our virtual tours allow you to reserve your time for the most productive appointments, and spend more time relaxing, or cultivating new business.

Sell Listings Faster
Sell homes faster by using Tour Now virtual tours.
Every year, more U.S. Home Seekers use the Internet to search for homes. Over two-thirds of U.S. Homebuyers plan to use the Internet in their next home purchase, and that number is growing every year. Online buyers have come to value virtual tours as one of the most effective tools for conducting an online home search, and if a listing has a virtual tour, it will be viewed more frequently than one without. More eyes on your listings means more leads for you, and more leads typically result in more sales. Does this necessarily mean that your listings will sell faster if you use Virtual Tours?
You Bet!

Have more informed clients
According to the California Association of Realtors, the Average Internet Home Seeker in 2002 spent 41 days searching online before contacting an Agent, while the average Traditional Home Seeker (who didn't use the Internet or Virtual Tours), spent only 15 days searching before contacting an Agent.

Spend one-third the time with Buyers before closing the sale
The earlier an Agent is brought into the home buying process, the more time the Agent ends up spending with that buyer before a purchase decision is reached. An average Traditional Home Seeker will spend an average of 46 days consulting with an Agent before making a purchase, while an Average Internet Home Seeker will spend only 15 days.

Show half as many homes to each buyer
The same study revealed that the average traditional home buyer visited 14 homes with their agent, while the average Internet home buyer visited only 7 homes. In the end, 72% of Internet Home Buyers found the home they ended up buying through an Agent, compared with 63% of Traditional buyers.

All of this means that by using Virtual Tours, and marketing your listings online, you will:

Get more leads
Spend less time with each buyer
Show less homes to each buyer
Be less likely to lose a buyer to a FSBO

Sell more Listings
Differentiate yourself from other agents, and get more listings.
According to REALTOR magazine's annual survey of buyers and sellers, sellers interested in listing their home typically look for the Real Estate professional who will do the most to bring the most buyers to the table.

Everyone (including home sellers) knows that virtual tours help sell homes. Using them for every listing is a powerful way for you to differentiate yourself from other agents in your area, and secure more listings. Telling a prospective client that you will have a virtual tour of their listing created and posted online by the end of the day is a strong incentive for them to list with you.

This philosophy carries beyond the listing appointment and makes an impression with potential sellers every time they see an advertisement for your listings. Including a virtual tour with every listing shows potential clients that you go above and beyond your competitors that only post ‘front of house' photos on their websites and in their print advertisements, and makes them think of you when it is time to sell their home.

Scott Gormley
Owner
Orange County,CA Real Estate Virtual Tours
Direct: 530.592.8362
Fax: 530.267.5555
Website: http://www.OCTours.com

Orange County,California Real Estate Tours

Orange County Virtual Tours OCTours.com (Orange County Virtual Tours) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:11:38 -0700

I'm working on a new project, which will be a Virtual Tour company serving all of Orange County, California. Here are some fun Real Estate and Orange County,California Statistics, if you're wondering where and why.

OCTours.com will be setup to allow Realtors and Real Estate Agents 2 options:

1.) To have a professional go out to your new listing to take the Virtual Tour for you.

2.) To take the pictures yourself and put together unlimited virtual tours for a set monthly fee.

We are still working out all of the details on the project. But, I wanted to give everyone in Orange County a "heads up" on what's to come. We believe the quality and value will surpass anything available in the market today.

I've see some amazing growth take place over the past 17 years in Orange County, after moving to Laguna Niguel in 1990. I graduated from Aliso Niguel High School in 1997 as a first 4-year graduation student, being a new high school.

Orange County is a great place, with the ability to get to the ocean,desert and ski slopes all in the same day if you wanted to! How many places in the world can you say that about?

Stay tuned :)

Scott Gormley
Orange County Virtual Tours
Direct: 530.592.8362
Fax: 530.267.5555

Blog: http://carealestateblog.com/

"You find the perfect home, we'll find the perfect loan!"