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Virtual Tours: Pictures can make or break a sale!

I was playing a bit on MLS looking through various expired listings and I found myself "judging many books by their covers". If I thought the first picture looked pretty bad I clicked on to the next listing. So if our buyers are thinking the same thing...who is going to look at the listing? They say that you get 4 seconds to capture someone's attention before they will move on to something different... which also applies to our listings. If our listing is not appealing then potential buyers are not going to give it the time of day. If our first picture looks bad then they are not going to waste their time reading about the home or looking at the rest of the pictures. It is all about those 4 seconds! We stress to our homeowners that they need to have curb appeal to make sure their home looks appealing when we put it on the market. As a realtor it is our job to then do the same with the listing.

Generally when I have a higher selling house, I hire someone to come in and make a nice video virtual tour to add to the listing. However, I noticed that a lot of agents had virtual tours on houses that were in the 100's - 200's range. So I decided to look into other virtual tour programs that are a little less costly (its not cheap to have someone make you a video!). I found that there are some good sites that allow you to make your own virtual tour for FREE! All you do is upload your photos, write the descriptions and pick your settings. I found a few sites that I like but I have not picked one yet. Has anyone ever used: Property Previews, Virtuallyshow.com, Mapwing, Realtour, or Flyinside? So far these were the sites that I found that looked pretty good. If you have used them, what do you like or dislike about them? If you don't use them, what do you use?

"It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful, it's artistic from my standpoint, and I just love real estate."
~ Donald Trump

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Contact Jason Tolley, Realtor, Backyard Realty Group LLC. Licensed Realtor in Georgia at 770-315-0789 to list your property for sale, to purchase a property or to manage your rental in Northwest Atlanta: Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, Bartow, Fulton and Dekalb counties.

To view properties for sale visit Backyard Realty Homes for Sale. You can search for listings as well as view our listings. We know the Atlanta Area and will help you with your real estate needs.

Jason Tolley - Real Estate Agent, Property Manager, Community Manager

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The Closers Real Estate Team

Jason Tolley & Jen Schingeck

Backyard Realty Group, LLC

www.backyardrealty.com

www.jasontolley.com

Posted by Jason Tolley & Jen Schingeck on 08/10/2008 11:15 PM

Comments (15)

virtual tours, curb appeal, listings, pictures

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15 Comments on Virtual Tours: Pictures can make or break a sale!

AUG

2008

Jason~ I have used flyinside.com and it was pretty good. I will have to go and check out the others you mentioned and see how they are.

Jason -

I'm really impressed with the ease and quality of VisualTour.com - only $30/month for unlimited tours including a stitching software to create panographic shots.

Regarding videos, I haven't used them to this point due to cost, but might add to higher-end homes. I'm still not confident in my own ability to produce quality video presentations on my own.

Thanks for your share!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

I had to laugh because I will do the same thing when choosing which listings to go after in my market so if we do it you know buyers must do it too.

I have not looked into virtual tours but it sounds like a great idea. I do however believe in using a bundle of nice quality pictures. I to pass on the listings with no pictures.

Thanks and take care.

Cheers.

AUG

2008

Your info is right on. One has only a few seconds to capture the buyer. 90% of the real estate agents could do a much better job with their photos. I cannot believe some take no pictures at all.

Jason,

I'm not a real estate agent but I do like to look at houses online from time to time. There are so many bad pictures out there that I have to wonder what the agent was thinking when they posted it. Messy houses, people in the background, pets...

For example, I recently saw a house online that had an updated kitchen. Apparently the buyers added some extra cabinets/countertops in a section where there had been none before. Great. Who doesn't want more counterspace right?

Well, I stared at the picture for awhile because the cabinets looked odd. Then I looked closer and saw that they were added in a spot that had baseboard heating and rather than block off the heat whoever installed it did not install the cabinets on the floor but on the wall above the baseboards so the heat could pass thru. They then propped a small piece of wood in the center for support. As a result the cabinets appeared to be floating (kind of gives new meaning to kitchen island).

Now I'm sure the agent's intention was to photograph the great extra cabinet space. Instead it just came off as look at this crappy remodeling job. Wonder what other kinds of "repairs" the house had?

Michelle

i have not done tours in a while. I take several pictures and make a slide show.

Jason: What do you think when you look at 12 photos on the MLS, then take the time to download a 'virtual tour', wait for a bit for it to load, then play a slideshow with exactly the same photos that you just saw on the MLS?

Do you feel that is a waste of time? Do you feel insulted that an agent thinks that because there's now music behind the photos and you're zooming in and out now, that you're presenting more information to the buyer?

This is what 90% of these slideshow tours are! Just regurgitating the same pictures that the buyer JUST viewed!

If you're going to do a virtual tour slideshow, then give the buyers what they WANT - MORE. More information, more angles, more details, larger photos, neighborhood info! I truly believe if most people realized that they were just downloading a repackaged set of photos, most people wouldn't even bother.

They want MORE.

That's where real estate video excels - it shows everything.... generally exactly what someone is seeking when they get to the point where they actually want to view the tour....

AUG

2008

Jason,

As with anything, you get out of something what you out into it. If you are going to create a virtual tour with bad photos then that's the perception people will have of the property. With today's technology, anyone can take a great photo. My recommendation to those wanting to create tours is when taking photos, TAKE LOTS OF THEM. Digital photography is free, no wasted film, so take multiple shots using different camera settings and angles and you'll be sure to get a good photo. Be sure to include as many panoramas as possible.

Then use sites that are simple and inexpensive. PersonalTourOnline.com is one and offers many features other companies don't offer. No set up fee and only $19.95 per month. Check it out.

Thank you everyone for your ideas and suggestions. My idea is to take my assistant with me to the home when I am ready to take pictures. Between the 2 of us and 2 different cameras we can get a lot of pictures from different angles with different cameras. I do not plan to use the same pictures on my listings...I like the idea of giving the buyer something extra. Maybe include maps from the neighborhood, pictures of the subdivision (if it is in one), etc. Thank you again for your suggestions!

AUG

2008

Hi Jason,

Good post. And you're so right about not having very much time to capture someone's attention. But actually, I'm kind of surprised at 4 seconds. I would think it would be even less than that, especially when people are looking at a listing site.

Comments above refer to virtual companies that are $30-mo, or $19.95-mo. And, ours are only $15-mo with no setup fee for unlimited tours. But the point is, people are paying for their service and know what they're getting.

Regarding 'free' virtual tour companies, people need to carefully read everything, including the 'Terms of Use' and 'Privacy Policy'. With many of companies they will typically find something that's not readily apparent, like: being charged for distribution, or charged for unbranded tours, or third party advertising on their tours, etc. Or, in the some cases they will blatantly say they have the right to transfer or sell all of your contact information to anyone they choose. That alone is something to avoid at all costs.

Just my 2¢

Thanks! CPG Tours

Jason...great post.

Michael Cole...are you talking about $15 per month, "PER TOUR"? I don't use Virtual Tour Slide Shows but I'm assuming they charge for each one you have. That wouldn't work for me with so many listings.

But I LOVE the agents Fred & Wilma Flintstone and all their relatives because it does make me look better! LOL If all the agents start doing their job properly and then even more...dang, I'll have to really step it up to stay ahead.

VIDEO RULES!

David: NO, NO.... it's a flat fee for unlimited tours with unlimited photos. But because we don't have any setup fee, or anything of that nature, we do charged it at $180 for the whole year. We also sell single tours, which in quantity can go as low as $7.50 each for a year.

Sorry if I wasn't very clear before.

: )

WOW Michael...that sounds pretty good. How about those other companies...do some of them charge on a per listing basis? I'm not really familiar with these services. I'm going to have to take a 2nd look at yours.

David: Some charge on a per-tour basis, and some don't. But then you have to look at their set-up fees, or other costs.

But instead of hijacking Jason's blog (sorry Jason), feel free to contact me offline. And please do check out our tours, we have a free two-week trial that will give you a good idea what we're all about.

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