Special offer

Bad markets need better marketing

By
Real Estate Appraiser with CT Appraisal Group, LLC

When the market is a little slower, and properties are not selling, you're last resort is the best marketing techniques. First off, it will get you the clients and listings. Prove to potential clients that you are doing everything necessary to get their house in front of everybody with the best marketing tools available. FloorPlanOnline.com is the most innovative new "virtual tour" out there. We incorporate an online interactive floor plan with high quality photos to give online buyers the most information about your listings. Your clients will LOVE the special attention their house gets. Your service provider will come out and measure the house and take high quality photos of the entire house; you client will see you have hired another professional to assist you. When the other agents are telling the prospective clients that they will be doing all the regular marketing techniques, you will be the one agent with the newest high tech marketing techniques; and everybody knows the buyers are starting their search on the internet.

Once you have the listing, the interactive floor plan will help to get the most information to the potential buyers. As well as the interactive floor plan, their is the more typical virtual walk through, you can make cds of all the high quality pics, flyers with floor plans and high quality photos and more. Get more information about the tours at http://www.floorplanonline.com/ or http://www.trottaappraisal.com/ under the virtual tours link. And please call me directly with any questions!

Heres a recent sample tour:

http://www.seetheproperty.com/33704

Set yourself apart from the competition and offer your clients the best!

-Shane

Comments (6)

Glenda and Steven McDaniel
Long and Foster Smith Mountain Lake Office - Smith Mountain Lake, VA
In our area, we have the luck to have a company called Graphic Dimensions, who add a floor plan to every tour.   The Buyers love it.  View this Example: Waterfront Home at Compass Cove on Smith Mountain Lake
Apr 13, 2008 02:55 PM
Susan Walters
Keller Williams Realty, Ann Arbor, MI - Ann Arbor, MI
I love interactive floorplans!  They were too expensive to do on modest homes a few short years ago but pricing has come way down it seems.  One company did a presentation recently in our office and the prices were square footage based.  There was a furniture library and even a car library with makes and models to see if your car would fit in the garage.  I expect to use interactive floorplans on nearly everything now after seeing this demo.
Apr 13, 2008 03:47 PM
Chris Drayer
FloorPlanOnline & Finch Mktg - Shawnee, KS

Shane, Just wanted to say Great Post and really well said!

Apr 14, 2008 04:34 AM
Shane Trotta
CT Appraisal Group, LLC - Guilford, CT

Glenda - That is nice; just even having a floor plan next to the pics is helpful; now imagine if that floor plan was interactive and buyers could click on an icon in each room and see exactly where they are and what room the photo is of! It just makes it easier for them to visualize!

Susan - I'm glad you like them, they are here to stay; they are the future of virtual tours and an online presence. FloorPlanOnline is squarefootage based as well. Prices are very reasonable, and their are options for the agents. Do it yourself, you take the photos and draw the floorplan (or provide one you already have) or pay a little more to have a service provider come out and measure and photograph for you with high end cameras to get high quality photos! (service providers available in most markets, i believe)

Chris - Thanks!

Apr 14, 2008 05:16 AM
James Wexler
wexzilla.com - Scottsdale, AZ

shane - just wanted to get a sense if you are seeing appraisals going up  , down, or flat

seems the appraised values are there, just nobody wants to make an offer  unless its a short-sale or bank owned?

do you use those in your comps?

Jun 07, 2008 04:00 AM
Shane Trotta
CT Appraisal Group, LLC - Guilford, CT

James,

Good question, wish i had an easy answer for you. It depends on what you're doing in what market. You've got to remember, in a tough market like this, buyers are looking for the deals. If there are a lot of short sales in the area then the buyers will have them as options to purchase and they should be looked at when estimating market value IF they are viable substitutes for the subject you are appraising.

In the past 6 months I have been doing about 80% REO/Short sales (for the current loan holder) so I have not been very busy doing refi's and sales. When I do, I have to research each market and choose the BEST comparables; whether they be short sales or not. Every market area is different.

Hope business is well!

-Shane

 

Jun 07, 2008 04:49 AM