Why Full 360 degree tours can save you money in the end!

Virtual Tour Facts, Statistics, and Interesting Tidbits:

• 84% of buyers look on the internet before contacting real estate professionals, according to www.realtor.com (the public website of the National Association of Realtors).
• 93% of home buyers are turning to the internet to look for homes, and 72% drove by or looked at a home that they viewed online, according to Realty Times reporting on the NAR 2003 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
• "...of survey respondents who used the Internet in their home search, 47% said virtual tours were very important to a listing.  Statistics from REALTOR.COM show that listings with virtual tours get clicked on 40% more than listings without virtual tours." -- Susan Barber in the Business Development section of RISMedia's Real Estate magazine (May 2006)
• If there's any lingering doubt about how the Internet is transforming the way people buy and sell homes, here's eye-widening proof: Marnie Azadian and her husband just moved from Scottsdale, Ariz., into a $410,000 home in Tulsa that they bought 100% over the Internet.  They never visited Tulsa, where Marnie had accepted a job. They never opened the front door, or a kitchen drawer. Never drove around the neighborhood.  "I did have some moments of 'Oh my gosh, what did we just do?' " says Azadian, 57, but no regrets about the house they'd fallen in love with from a virtual tour."  Read the full story at Home Shoppers Do Their Hunting Online - USA Today (Feb 2007)
• GOOD PHOTOS and VIRTUAL TOURs..."It's everything," says Trish Woolwine, a broker with Fridrich & Clark about posting good Internet photos. Last year she sold a house to a California couple, sight unseen, based solely on the Web photos. "People see the houses on the Internet, and a lot of them have told me if there aren't a lot of pictures they just pass that one over and go to the next. You have to compete, and you need to have the best pictures you can — and as many as you can — and just really showcase that property."  If yours don't make the grade, potential buyers may never knock on the door.  When the home looks photogenic and the professional-looking photos are posted online, sellers will reap an important benefit: Eliminating people who aren't serious about buying. And that means you don't have to pack up the family and leave every time someone wants to check out your digs. - Curb Appeal Moves to the Internet - The Nashville Tennessian - 05/20/07
• "The days of lackluster photos snapped by realtors may be numbered. Despite digital cameras, a growing number of real-estate agents are hiring professional photographers to showcase properties online, according to Ann Bosley, a real-estate broker and president of the Canadian Real Estate Association."......."Since Mr. Silver began using professional photography two years ago, his sales have gone up by about 25 per cent, he says. "I don't even put out a listing without the professional photos."......"I think you get what you pay for," says Sylvia Therrien, a real-estate agent who sells multi-million-dollar properties.

What the Blogs are saying:

• When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first — and sometimes the only — chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses.  Rosalind Clarke, a senior sales associate with the Corcoran Group in Palm Beach, Fla. says “It’s so important to have photos that are professionally presented." She added that she uses only pictures taken by professional photographers, because “if things look shoddy or unprofessional, not only are buyers going to find the property unappealing, they’re going to associate you with being shoddy and unprofessional.” NY Times Article, "Make Every Pixel Count" (FEB 2007)
• The Difference Between Good Realtors and Bad Agents - "And if an agent doesn’t want to pay for a virtual tour do you think they are going to say to the seller, “I’d rather not pay for a virtual tour, even though it would really help us sell your home, is that okay with you?” Of course not! They’ll tell the seller that they don’t need a virtual tour or that tours don’t sell homes or they just won’t bring it up at all. But no matter which of these options they choose the seller loses. The seller, their client, is the one who is hurt. And this is from the person they are asking to help protect them."
• The old adage that you are only as strong as your weakest link was never more true than in the online advertising of listings. Showcasing listings with few photos, no virtual tours and spotty information may still get the phone to ring back home, but on the Internet, the practice will get your listing ignored by online consumers. (Realty Times, "Get Strict About Internet Marketing For Your Listings", (Oct 2003) by Blanche Evans)

• "First time poster here: Glad to see some recognition of this problem! The most important thing an agent can do for their sellers today is to get lots of superior images up on the web. Here in St. Louis I am continually astounded at the plethora of dark, awful images, and "what were they thinking" photos of toilets, ceiling fans, etc, or NO PHOTOS at all! How do these [realtors] even get listings? For most of my listings, I take a lot of my own photos, as I have a background in photography and image correction, so I have hi-res images for color flyers, but I ALSO have a great local photographer who comes in and shoots a batch of wonderful web-ready wideangle shots and virtual tours...

  It's worth the investment (typical agent-"you mean you actually PAY someone to shoot your listings? That costs MONEY!") My business would be a lot less successful without quality photos."

• "Marketing without photographs isn't marketing. In fact, according to Realtor.com, Internet shoppers pass over listings without photos, so the longer the homeseller and listing agent delay, the worse for the seller.....The lack of photo enhancements wouldn’t be so bad if the problem didn’t go on and on. Most of the listings that didn’t have photos weeks ago, still don’t have photos. Does the listing agent have something better to do than to market the listing s/he already has under listing agreement?"  (Realty Times, "The Sorry State of Internet Listings" (Aug 5 2003) by Blanche Evans)

• "The reality of internet marketing is that of an auction! That is why companies like eBay are so successful. Instead of selling to one consumer, you place your product before many! So, in real estate that means instead of relying on the agent that is familiar with the product or neighborhood to sell your home by their enthusiasm, why not take full advantage of the visual appeal?...Always use an online virtual tour of the home…..Post the maximum amount of photos into your MLS system that you are allowed."  (Realty Times, "Make Full Use of Internet Marketing With Listings Photos and Virtual Tours" (Feb 17 2005) by Jim Crawford)   

• By the time Internet buyers contact a real estate agent they have often:
  • Chosen the neighborhood they want to evaluate
  • Narrowed their choice of homes
  • Come up with a list of homes they want to see
  • Understood what they can afford and what their mortgage options are
• Avera Design is a PicturePath Partner with Move.com which allows virtual tours powered by Avera Design to be posted to the #1 real estate Web site – REALTOR.com® with more than 2.7 million listings. (Net Ratings, Sept 2006)

How A Virtual Tour Benefits Homesellers:

• Selling your property can be costly and time consuming. Traditional advertising such as newspaper ads, brochures, and open houses have a limited reach. These traditional forms of marketing don’t give buyers a feel for what your property actually looks like.
• The Internet is now being used to extend the marketing of your property. As of recent, realtors in the U.S. are now commonly using virtual tours. This now provides sellers with an enormous additional audience. Now buyer’s from all areas of the U.S. and beyond can view the property.
• A Premium Audio description of your home allows you to quickly communicate the selling points of your home.
• This online service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week so you can sell your property faster.
• Reach more buyers with our Virtual Tours than with any other comparable product or service on the Internet.
• With our Virtual Tour, you can avoid the hassles of having strangers visit your property unless they have seen your virtual tour and know they are qualified.
• You can also advertise your property through the real estate sections of leading Internet sites in addition to the links we provide.
• Email your property tour to prospects anywhere around the country.
• Offer people the chance to take a virtual tour from anywhere with Internet access—their home, office or from any remote location.

How A Virtual Tour Benefits Homebuyers:

• Searching for the right property can be time consuming and costly. Countless hours can be spent looking at properties and driving around to open houses. Virtual Tours can now eliminate hours of driving and viewing by optimizing time for both the buyer and their agent.
• The Internet is becoming a major factor in searching the majority of properties listed for sale. Rather than merely viewing a small exterior photo and a plain text description, we allow you to see full color 360º views of properties, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Our Virtual Tours enables out-of-town buyers to make qualified decisions efficiently and conveniently because now they now have the ability to visually walk through the property without having to be there.
• Our Tour’s are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
• Virtual tours can be taken and viewed from anywhere with Internet access. And all of our tours can be quickly downloaded and burned to a CD to be viewed offline.
• Navigate through the tour images without installing software, plug-ins or any long downloads.
• Buyers can literally show the property that they are thinking of buying, to family and friends before they make a buying decision.
• Use a Virtual Tour to look inside your future property when access to the property is limited -- visualize room sizes and decorating schemes before you move in!