6 Questions That You Should Ask Every Virtual Tour Company
1. What type of virtual tour do they provide?
Some ‘virtual tour’ companies capture only still pictures and then use these pictures to create a motion effect in a flash slideshow. Make sure you are not paying a virtual tour price for a motion slide show. There are companies that charge as much as $70-$100 for these tours and the final product is nothing more than a $20 photo presentation.
2. Is the final version of the virtual tour interactive?
How do they define 'interactive'? Make sure that the final product being created looks professional and has in-tour controls. Links to the side and the bottom of the tour are distracting and unprofessional. Interactive tours combine the power of a virtual tour with the ‘point-and-click’ functionality of the internet. They have on tour ‘hot-spots’ that enable viewers to go from room to room without ever leaving the viewing area.
3. What kind of camera lens do they use?
If they use a fish-eye lens or one-shot solution, will the virtual tour software remove distortions in the tour (i.e. remove the fishbowl effect)? High-quality virtual tours should not distort any feature of your properties. If not corrected, fish eye lenses & one-shot solutions can cause countertops and walls to look rounded and windows to look bowed. When shopping around for virtual tours, be sure to opt for companies that use a wide-angle lens. The wide angle lens captures more of the property without sacrificing quality.
4. Do they have more than one photographer?
Face it, things go wrong and your time is limited. If they only have one photographer and that photographer gets sick or cannot make your appointment, make sure that the company can have an alternate photographer arrive at your scheduled appointment.
5. Are they experienced?
Find out right away if your virtual tour provider has experience. Although inexperienced companies will be very eager to sink their teeth into a job and will probably give you a very good 'deal', you do not want them 'practicing' on your dime. Make sure to get references or check out testimonials.
6. Can they provide additional services such as videography, video production, professional CD development, or other marketing support?
Some properties warrant additional services to enable you to compete with other real estate agents. If you are looking to list a high-end seller, be sure that you can offer high-end services.
4 Reasons Virtual Tours are NOT Do-It-Yourself
1. EXPERIENCE -
Face it, you don’t have the necessary experience. Yes, it’s true that you can spend a lot of money to get the proper camera equipment, proper software and a state of the art computer… BUT do YOU know what to do with it or how to use it correctly? Without experience you will still produce less than professional tours. You are essentially hiring yourself to produce a tour. Would YOU hire YOU? Think about this...
- Would you hire a carpet cleaner that just bought his cleaning truck yesterday?
- Would you contract an electrician that has never installed anything more complicated than a ceiling fan?
- How would your bathroom tile look if you hired a guy that is only experienced in the installation of carpet?
2. PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION -
Will your homeowner be satisfied with the final product? It is VERY important that your homeowner feels that you are doing everything necessary to market their home. When you present them with a less than professional product to market their home, you are making a very big statement about YOU and the way that you market their home. With total housing inventories rising and unpredictable time-on-market lengths, one small investment can mean the difference between a relist or the next fast talking agent taking your expired listing right out from under YOU.
3. QUALITY -
If your tour looks like a ten year old could have built the tour, then you are not marketing YOU. A virtual tour is much more than just slapping a few spins together on a page and calling it a ‘virtual tour' to make the seller ‘happy'. In order to be successful in today's competitive market, you need to market YOURSELF! Not just your listings!
4. TIME -
You are a Realtor® not a photographer. YOUR TIME should be spent listing and closing. The time that you spent playing with 'test shots', stitching the images and creating that less than professional tour is wasted! You COULD have been farming your area, keeping in contact with sellers, calling prospective sellers, following up on buyer leads, arranging showings and scheduling open houses....you could have spent YOUR TIME listing and selling more homes.
8 Reasons You Should Use A&D Marketing Solutions Virtual Tours
1. You offer sellers the best in technology! -
A&D Marketing Solutions is a certified Real Tour Vision FULL Service provider for the Volusia, Seminole & Orange County areas. Real Tour Vision (RTV) is the recognized leader in the virtual tour industry with virtual tour technology absolutely second to NONE. (RTV is ranked #1 for `Virtual Tour Company` on Google with a PR of 6/10 and growing)
2. You get more for your money! -
Our Central Florida provider agreement with RTV allows us to offer the most effective INTERACTIVE commercial-quality real estate marketing tool available today at amazing prices. We dare you to compare!
3. Your level of professionalism is automatically increased! -
Other providers simply cannot offer the level of product that we produce or the level of service that we provide. Why would you use just any virtual tour provider, when you can use a provider that mirrors your professionalism and offers commercial-quality, innovative and INTERACTIVE technology that markets both YOU and YOUR LISTINGS?
4. You save TIME! -
You don't need to do anything but give us an address and an MLS# and WE DO THE REST. No fussing with pictures or software; just one phone call or email...That's it.
5. Your service gains lightning speed! -
your tours are on the internet and can be uploaded directly to Realtor.com the very next business day!
6. Your interruptions are minimized –
Other realtors, brokers, developers, and marketing companies in your area are already using this amazing technology to showcase their properties and we all know that sellers look around at other agent's listings in the area while their home is on the market. Do YOU want to be the one that gets the phone call from...oh there's the phone again...'Mr. NothingToDoButDriveMeNuts', asking "Hey I was just on Realtor.com and... uhhh... why doesn't my house have the virtual tour that 'Agent UsesVolusia360' does?
7. You have a team of graphic artists, web developers and virtual tour professionals dedicated to impressing your next seller using your current listings
RTV is continually improving its software and virtual tour platform to keep on the cutting edge of technology. As technology changes and improves, we do all of the work for you. If the platform or software is upgraded, you do nothing but reap the rewards!
8. You get more exposure for your listings
Your tour can be linked to real estate internet portals through out the nation Click here to see all of the websites that your virtual tour can be linked to when you have your virtual tour produced by A&D Marketing Solutions!
You are now saying to yourself... "Maybe. Maybe. Maybe there’s something here. Maybe there’s a way for me to advertise better. Maybe there’s a way to spend my marketing dollars smarter.
If you said maybe, then you have to be concerned with this problem:
Other Realtors are out there right now, marketing themselves with Interactive Virtual Tours to YOUR next seller and the worst part is that they are probably doing it while they take a nap on their couch... That’s NOT a maybe.
What are you waiting for?
Aren't YOU ready to go BEYOND Virtual Tours?
Call us right now and get the marketing exposure YOU deserve.
