George Sheldon's Blog

Largest Local Real Estate Firm Switching to Prudential Franchise

George Photographer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:00:14 -0500

The Lancaster Newspapers reported that the Lancater County's largest real estate office is switch from a Coldwell Banker franchise to Prudential.

"HomeSale Realty Services Group, headquartered at 215 S. Centerville Road, announced Tuesday it will end its alliance with Coldwell Banker and instead team up with Prudential Real Estate.
It will operate as Prudential Homesale Services Group in Lancaster County, as well as in Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry, and Lebanon counties.
...The Lancaster headquarters oversees 1,000 real estate agents and 350 office personnel, including 500 employees here.
It said it represented buyers or sellers of $2.09 billion of real estate in 2007, the most in south-central Pennsylvania and 29th most in the nation."

The complete story is here.

George Sheldon - Virtual Tours Company . com

Single Property Web Sites with a Virtual Tour

George Photographer — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:05:19 -0500

Here is a nifty way to market a listing: use a single property web site.

It's easy! And cost effective, too!

Buy a domain name, like 123MainStreet.com, and point the domain to your virtual tour. Here is a good example:

www.1770eversedgedrive.com

Now, in any advertisement, include the Web site. All the information the prospective homebuyer needs is on your virtual tour. This is a great way to promote the listing and yourself!

Tip: you might want to try the .info domain -- they are even cheaper than the .com's!

The Do It Yourself Virtual Tour -- Gone Bad

George Photographer — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:01:03 -0500

Sometimes, real estate agents just want to do the virtual tours all by themself. They don't want (or think they need) a professional photographer or tour builder. Maybe it's the economics. But here is proof that you get what you pay for: this is what happens with the Do It Yourself Virtual Tour -- and how things can go bad.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and take this tour. You won't believe it!

Virtual Tours Coming to Cell Phones...

George Photographer — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:43:09 -0500

It is just a matter of time until I'll be offering my clients the ability to download a virtual tour to cell phones. And it's coming faster than you may think.

I just read this in USAToday:

Microsoft has licensed Adobe's software for viewing online videos and other files on cellphones, the companies said Monday.
Microsoft will distribute Flash Lite and Reader programs from Adobe Systems to cellphone makers who use its Windows Mobile software.
Flash also allows users to interact with more websites. It's the software behind most shopping sites where you can view an item in different colors or try out house paint colors on a virtual home.
"Flash content is the most prolific content on the web today; it is the way people express themselves on the Internet," Adobe spokesman Gary Kovacs said.
Julie Ask, an analyst at Juniper Research, said cell customers are more likely to browse the Web when they have more capable phones, and that's good news for advertisers.

The complete story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2008-03-17-microsoft-adobe-cellphone_N.htm

What this means is that potential home buyers will be able to take a virtual tour by using their cell phones. Yes, they can drive by a property, see an agent's sign that says there is a virtual tour available, and poof! There is an open house readily available via the virtual tour.

Ahoy! Virtual Tours Sell Boats, Too!

George Photographer — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:33:11 -0500

Ahoy, matey!

Did you know a virtual tour can sell a boat?

One of my fellow full service dealer of Real Tour Vision recently completed a virtual tour of a boat. Looks like owners wanting to sell their boats have turned to virtual tours to get the job done.

Here is the virtual tour.

Recreational vehicles are just one more thing that virtual tours can help sell to computer users.

Even More No-No Photos

George Photographer — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:19:47 -0600

Here are two more No-No Photos:

Both of today's examples depict bowing walls...

Is it just me, or are those walls leaning out?

When I look at the stove, it looks like it is rolling into the left wall. In fact, the whole home looks like it is leaning left, until I look at the refrigerator, which looks like it is leaning right...

These are two more good exampls of No-No photos -- and how NOT to market a property with bad digital images.

Reason #2 - Why Virtual Tours Should Be A Part of Your Marketing Effort

George Photographer — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:40:05 -0600

Virtual tours cost less than print advertising.

Consider these three print options:

10-day classified advertising in local newspaper

Weekend display ad
Ad in local real estate magazine
What are your costs for each?

Now consider a virtual tour cost - which will probably be from $80 to $135. How does the cost of print advertising compare to the cost of creating a virtual tour?

The cost of creating a virtual tour and placing on your web site is just less than print - or certainly competitive.

Anyone Have Any Advice on Starting a Networking or Tip Club?

George Photographer — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:23:40 -0600

Does anyone here on Active Rain have any advice, tips, or suggestions on starting a networking or tips club? I have been thinking about starting one here locally. I assume most of these are started on the fly - with a few rules, such as only one real estate agent, one attorney, one CPA, etc. Any suggestions on the "rules" or how to get started? What's the best size for the club to be? Where should the meetings be held? And how often? Anything else that I should consider?

Threatening Death Messages to Agents Traced to Nigeria

George Photographer — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 08:43:20 -0600

Those threatening e-mail messages -- which included death threats to Lancaster County real estate agents -- originated in Nigeria, police announced.

For the complete story, see my blog entry here.

According to the updated report in the Lancaster Newspapers,

"A number of local real estate agents reportedly received the e-mails two weeks ago, which happened to coincide with Valentine's Day, describing the correspondence as "just hateful."

The complete Lancaster Newspaper story is here.

The Return of the No-No Photos

George Photographer — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:18:21 -0600

A couple of months ago, I was posting what I called the "no-no" photos. A book project and working on virtual tours kept me busy. So the no-no photos faded away. And just when you thought it safe, here comes some more!

No-no photos are what not to do to sell/market a property. Here are some examples sent to me by an out-of-state associate:

Both of these images were used in an advertisement that said "the walls are not yellow, even though they appear to be so in the pictures."

Translation: my white balance on my camera is so messed up that I can't figure out how to fix it.

A pair of true no-no photos!

(don't you love the way the walls are leaning in the first shot?)

Tour Disc - a Better Marketing Tool

George Photographer — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:35:49 -0600

Tour Discs are a unique marketing tool that is the perfect upgrade to your Virtual Tours! Give your clients something they will remember. Available on CD or DVD, VirtualToursCompany.com now creates a custom disc of your virtual tour with a slideshow for distribution. Tour Discs are great for sales centers, open houses, investor opportunities, and much more.

Leave your customers remembering what you have to offer by handing them out as a keepsake for your client and even as a business card!

New Service from Google: FREE WEBSITE!

George Photographer — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:14:26 -0600

Check this out:

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/02/new-google-site.html

Setting up a new website in Google Sites is just a matter of clicking a button and choosing a default page look. From there you can set up the site however you like - control who can view it, who can edit it and more.
Google Sites provides a set of page templates (five different pages at the moment), a rich-text editor, 10GB of storage per account and of course integration with other Google services which makes it easy to embed things like Google gadgets, calendars, spreadsheets, presentations, slideshows and videos directly into your pages.
Thankfully Google Sites eschews the markup languages common to most wikis and just offers a rich text editor, which you can use just like the word processor in Google Docs (there's also an option to edit the HTML source directly).

No reason for you not to have a FREE web site.

George Sheldon
Virtual Tours Company . com
Lancaster, PA

Agents: How Far Does Your Virtual Tour Reach?

George Photographer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:28:59 -0600

I am just releasing a new brochure designed to help agents understand how far they're virtual tour is traveling on the Internet. Too many agents think that once they have a virtual tour created, everyone in the world can see it.

To get the message out, the tour needs broadcast or submitted to many sites. VirtualToursCompany.com does this automatically with out standard real estate virtual tours.

To understand more about this concept, click here to download the brochure What is Your Reach?

Added benefit: the more sites that have your virtual tour, the more sites that have your name and contact information...and that is a VERY good thing for you and your business.

Reason #1 - Why Virtual Tours Should Be A Part of Your Marketing Effort

George Photographer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:10:39 -0600

A few days ago, I mentioned in my blog that I would be posting the reasons why virtual tours should be a part of your marketing effort. This is the first of that series of posts. I will continue to post these important reasons over the coming weeks.

Reason #1 - Virtual tours touch both the audible and visual senses. When computer users start a virtual tour, not only are they watching it on their computer screen, but they are also listening to the music. The combination of both creates a powerful presentation.

Special Tip: Consider adding a professional narration to a virtual tour. They are not that expensive but they add tremendous impact. Your narration will get attention.

Search Engine Optomization - SEO - Made Easy

George Photographer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:18:39 -0600

So you need some help with your SEO? You don't know what SEO is? You heard of it, and you think you need it?

Well, fear not: there is help - and it's free! We have a 19 page document that will explain SEO to you. Easy to read, and easy to follow. It will help you move your web site from oblivion in the search engines to the top of the lists.

Did I mention this guide is FREE? So what do you have to lose? To get your FREE copy, just drop me an e-mail at:

info@virtualtourscompany.com

George Sheldon
VirtualToursCompany.com
Lancaster, PA

Here is the Table of Contents:

VirtualToursCompany.comSearch Engine Optimization Guide

Contents. 3

What is Search Engine Optimization?. 4

Getting Started. 4

What are Robots?. 5

What are SERPs?. 6

What is Page Rank?. 7

What Are Meta Tags?. 8

Meta Tags - Keywords. 8

Meta Tags - Description. 9

Meta Tags - Finding Your Keywords. 10

Optimizing Your Website. 10

Meta Tags - Developing Your Descriptions. 11

The Importance of Site Content 12

Avoiding the Mirror Site Dilemma. 15

Linking To Other Sites - Reciprocal Links. 16

Reciprocal Links. 17

Getting listed in DMOZ.org. 17

Blogging. 18

Summary. 19

NEWS: Century 21 Laffey Associates, Long Island Inks Deal for Virtual Tours

George Photographer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:49:23 -0600

Direct from the news release:

Previsite Signs Deal with Long Island-Based Laffey Associates to Deliver Cost-Effective, All-in-One Advanced Virtual Tour Solution to Its over 500 Agents

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Previsite, the worldwide leader in rich media content creation for the Real Estate industry, today announced a deal with CENTURY 21 Laffey Associates, Long Island's largest independently owned & operated real estate company, to provide the company's over 500 agents with Previsite's state-of-the-art, all-in-one Virtual Tour package. This marks the second such agreement for Previsite in 2008 and comes on the heels of its Citi Habitats deal, solidifying Previsite's commitment to delivering interactive content on the Web that today's home shoppers crave while increasing efficiency for brokers and agents in a cost-effective way.
"Laffey Associates is one of Long Island's premier real estate agencies, and we're excited to be entering into a relationship with them where their agents can now provide more engaging and rich content on the Web for homebuyers," said Jeffrey Nortman, managing director, Previsite North America. "The Previsite all-in-one virtual tour solution will significantly enhance listings and the user experience, helping Laffey's Realtors ‘move' properties for sale more quickly and cost-effectively."
Previsite's Virtual Tour Solution includes a digital camera kit, patented magnetic fish-eye lens, and Web-based software to create, manage and showcase countless virtual tours, instantly and affordably. With no formal training required, agents capture the virtual tour in three simple steps: take the photos, upload the images to a PC and the Previsite Solution Web-based application does the rest instantly and automatically, for a fraction of the cost.
"Previsite's Virtual Tour Solution will be a great marketing tool for our agents and will enhance the way our customers view real estate on the Web," said Emmett Laffey, Principal, Laffey Associates. "Prospective homebuyers can now ‘virtually' visit a home before physically being there, which saves valuable time and effort for everyone involved."

Headquartered in France, Previsite has rapidly grown into a multinational corporation since its inception in 2000, conducting business in 22 countries throughout Europe, Asia and now North America.

What this means:

More proof that virtual tours are proven smart marketing for all real estate agents.

Arizona's Home Listings to Appear on Apple's iTunes Music Store & Homebuyers' iPods

George Photographer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:28:48 -0600

Are you ready to place your open houses on iPods? That's what Arizona agents are doing.

From the Press Release:

VisitMyLuxuryHome.com Obtains Apple Approval to Put Video Open Houses on
                     World's Most Popular Podcast Site

    PHOENIX, Feb. 26 -- Arizona-based VisitMyLuxuryHome.com
announced today that its Online Open House video service has been approved
for inclusion on Apple's iTunes Music Store, enabling buyers and realtors
to have narrated video tours of homes for sale in Arizona delivered
directly to their computers and Apple iPods. Video delivery is available
free of charge from the 'Podcast' category of the iTunes website.

    This new service eliminates the need for homeshoppers and realtors to
proactively check multiple listing sites and other Web destinations for the
latest Online Open House listings. Instead, new video tours will be waiting
on the user's computer when the iTunes application is opened as well as on
his or her iPod after an iTunes sync.

    Each Online Open House showcases a residential property with
state-of-the- art full-motion video and professional presenters providing
room-by-room narration. This 'you are there' virtual tour conveys a sense
of each property unavailable with traditional photos or slideshows.

    The ability to view the tours on one's iPod simplifies the process of
sharing the information with family, friends or clients, particularly on
the go.

    "The popularity of Apple iTunes makes it an ideal medium for
distributing our Online Open House videos," said Benjamin Freedman, CEO of
VisitMyLuxuryHome.com. "It's great exposure for homesellers and realtors
who use our service, and it's the fastest way for homebuyers as well as
other realtors to stay up-to-date on the latest luxury listings around the
valley."

    "I take my iPod with me everywhere," said Arizona realtor Tiffany
Young. "Now when I'm with homebuyers, I can show them the latest Online
Open House without even pulling out my laptop."

    VisitMyLuxuryHome.com is currently offering introductory discount
pricing and is accepting homes that meet the company's property guidelines.

Agents Need Virtual Tours as Home Resales Fall to Nine-Year Low

George Photographer — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:04:23 -0600

It's all over the news:

"Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell in January to the lowest level since records began nine years ago and prices slid for the sixth time in seven months, posing a threat to consumer spending, the largest part of the economy.
Resales declined 0.4 percent, less than forecast, to an annual rate of 4.89 million from a revised 4.91 million in December that was higher than previously reported, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. "

-- from Bloomburg, the complete story is here.

So what's an agent to do to get a listing sold in today's stalled market? I'd suggest they need to think out of the box during the market process. That means getting the attention of those buyers that are out there. The best way to get the attention of online house shoppers are with virtual tours.

Over the coming days, I am going to be blogging much more about this. I am also going to be developing a list of reasons why agents need virtual tours as part of their marketing strategy. Stay tuned for the details...

The I Love George Sheldon Tee Shirt!

George Photographer — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:51:12 -0600

I can't believe it! I finally made it!

Check this out:

THE I LOVE GEORGE SHELDON T-Shirt!

I just found this on Amazon.com! (I was looking to see if my next three books were listed there yet.) I had no idea that people love me enough to make up tee-shirts. I guess I finally made it!

I am going to print this out, and take it over to the nearby Dunkin Donuts. I think when I show it to the counter person, I can buy a cup of coffee and two donuts for $2.99!

Yippee!

Foreclosure Auctioneer in VA: Sad Tale of Today's Market

George Photographer — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:46:54 -0600

No one is showing up at foreclosure auctions. At least that's the prospective of one foreclosure auctioneer working in Virginina. As reported in the Washington Post (the story is here), no one is paying much attention as the lonely auctioneer stands on the courthouse steps, reading the public sales notice.

From the article,

"As prices have fallen over the past few months and the number of foreclosed properties has increased, Crossley has seen the ranks of bidders dwindle and then disappear. The small-scale investors who used to show up for auctions -- the "regulars" -- stopped coming months ago. "They say they're already carrying too many properties," Crossley said. "

The whole story is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102790.html?sub=new

Gettysburg National Military Park to Open April 14

George Photographer — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 08:09:53 -0600

The Gettysburg Foundation announced February 20, that the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park will open to visitors at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 14, 2008.

"We want this new Gettysburg experience to inspire visitors about the past, to encourage them to want to learn more about the events that have shaped our country and, in the process, to become better citizens," said Robert C. Wilburn, president of the Gettysburg Foundation. "The new Museum and Visitor Center is designed to meet visitors' expectations of a 21st-century museum. At the same time, we want to tell the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, within the context of the causes and consequences of the Civil War, in a way that showcases the Battlefield. And we want to encourage people to extend their stays and return more often."

"The new museum will better prepare visitors to walk the sacred ground of the Gettysburg battlefield and see it through the soldier's eyes," said John Latschar, superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park.

To date, the Foundation has secured more than $105 million toward its $125 million Campaign to Preserve Gettysburg. Funds from the campaign are being used to build, furnish and operate the new Museum and Visitor Center, to preserve the park's extensive collection of Civil War artifacts and archives, including the massive Cyclorama painting, to support battlefield rehabilitation and preservation programs, including the return of Ziegler's Grove to its 1863 appearance, to improve the visitor experience at Gettysburg, and to create an endowment to support future preservation and maintenance needs.

Park curatorial staff has begun moving objects and artifacts into the collection storage area on the lower level. Staff from the Foundation is moving into the administrative offices at the new Museum and Visitor Center this week. National Park Service staff will make the move into the new facilities from their offices in the Visitor Center on Taneytown Road just prior to the mid-April opening.

Good Bye, Newspapers: Is this the future we have before us?

George Photographer — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:04:53 -0600

One newspaper is done, and another has quit publishing a print edition, switching totally to publishing on the web. Is this the future?

One paper is Madison, WI, and the other is in Albuquerque, NM. Here are the news stories:

"Madison's afternoon newspaper, The Capital Times, will move to an all-Internet edition in a transition that could be the first of its kind in the struggling industry.

The 17,000-circulation newspaper announced the changes to staff and in a story published on its Web site Thursday. The moves include publishing twice-weekly free print editions."

The complete story is here: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/02/07/afx4628758.html

The second story:

The Albuquerque Tribune will publish its last edition tomorrow. Here is the story:

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2008/feb/20/saturday-will-mark-last-edition-albuquerque-tribun/

"The Trib's daily circulation in January was about 9,600, Casaus said. In 1988, the newspaper sold about 42,000 copies a day."

Newspapers are dying. Smart real estate agents are already switching their marketing efforts to where the buyers are: on the web. It's sad to see newspapers die, but it is happening.

Virtual Tours Work for Insurance Agents, Too

George Photographer — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:52:15 -0600

As an active Full Service Dealer of Real Tour Vision located in Lancaster, PA, my virtual tour technology can also be used by insurance agents.

Directly from my new brochure:

VIRTUAL HOME TOUR

A full 360 interactive virtual tour of your clients possessions in digital CD format including all rooms inside and outside.

STILL IMAGES OF VALUABLES

Digital photographs are taken to supplement the virtual tour. These high quality images record in detail all items of value.

SCENE DESCRIPTIONS

Detailed scene by scene descriptions guide you through the home room by room.

INVENTORY WORKSHEET

A written record listing each item of value with a description, serial/model number, cost, estimated, or appraised value.

To download the brochure in PDF format, click here.

Virtual tours are just not for real estate agents anymore!

George Sheldon, Virtual Tour Company . com, Lancaster, PA

Elvis' Graceland Web Site Features Virtual Tour

George Photographer — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:16:04 -0600

Now Graceland offers a virtual tour:

http://www.elvis.com/graceland/vtour/default.asp

You can see the interior and exterior scenes of the Memphis mansion.

The web site does not deploy the same technology that I deploy to my clients, but it does have many different scenes and shows the power of virtual tours. Even the King of Rock and Roll now offers web site visitors the ability to see and enjoy the magic of Graceland.

Verizon, AT&T Offer New Flat-Fee Unlimited Wireless Plans

George Photographer — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:58:21 -0600

From the USATODAY:

NEW YORK - Verizon Wireless (VZ) introduced an unlimited domestic calling for a flat fee of $99.99 to $139.99 a month, an offer that was quickly matched by AT&T Mobility (T).

Verizon's unlimited plans for BlackBerry devices and other smartphones will start at $129.99 a month. The pricier plans offer extra features, such as unlimited messaging, global e-mail and video.

The complete story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2008-02-18-verizon_N.htm