Not All Virtual Tours Are Created Equal.

We are firm believers in the value of good quality photography in marketing your listings.  Never have there been so many choices for buyers.  It is quite overwhelming or buyers to look at so many potential homes.  Reports have it that up to 98 percent of homebuyers begin their search on the internet.  That means that they are looking at the listing, and looking at the photos.  It is your one chance to make a good impression.  This is where the next button will be the end of their interest in your listing if the pictures are dull and uninteresting.  A virtual tour gives you the opportunity to get the potential buyers to spend a bit more time with the home.   There are many different styles of virtual tours.  Many tours warp the house and curve the walls of the home. 

 Some tours are just slide shows with music.  We do use this but we make our own with a program from realestateshows.com for $125 annually you can make as many of these tours as you like.  We use these in addition to a professionally photographed and prepared virtual tour. You can also make an online flyer and submit it to ten different websites for free.  This is our real estate shows flyer for a home, prepared with photos from Inner Circle.  So if you are on a budget don't waste your money on slide shows, just log onto realestateshows.com, and do it yourself.  We also use this site  to blog our listings on active rain and to create a flyer to use for email.  We also link it on mlx  as an online brochure, there is space to add floor plans, which is not currently an option on mlx.  It is then also available on www.Realtor.ca.

If you want to spend a bit more and have the Limousine of virtual tours, there are two companies that I would recommend in Calgary.  Inner Circle and 360 Pics.

 We  are currently using Inner Circle Photography to professionally photograph our listings and prepare a virtual tour.  Take a look at this tour, this is the same home we used on our real estate show.  What we like is that there is a two-storey vault and you can look right up at the ceiling. 

 This is a tour that was done for us by 360 Pics, with their tours you can also view the property without the walls being warped and you can view the ceilings and you get a full 360 degree tour.

 So, if you want to improve your chances to have showings on your listings, you have to capture your audience with great photographs, and you can further improve your chances with a great virtual tour.