The Value of Using Virtual Tours
Imagine a home tour beginning with an agent profile, cutting to a sweeping
panorama of a gated community, and finally settling on shots of the home and its
interior. Augmented by voice, text, and additional links, the virtual home tour could
be the most significant visual marketing tool of all time. When compared to the onedimensional
and very expensive photos in local newspapers, a real-time tour online
is particularly attractive, especially when you can use advertising to drive people to
view the tours. Add phone technologies that call the agent directly from the buyer's
PC, and you have a compelling lead generation tool.
Most real estate professionals now use the virtual tour as a part of their marketing
strategy," observes J. L. Winn, vice president of marketing with VisualTour.com.
"Today's sellers want immediacy. Showing them how soon you can have their
property showcased on the Web can help capture the listing. Virtual tours are one of
the best ways to show eager buyers what you have that's new today," says Winn.
Why are virtual tours important, and what do they do?
They stick
Buyers usually look through many properties as part of a home search, so these
homes may blend together without some sort of memory aid. Virtual tours add
stickiness to the viewing by giving the buyer a simulated tour of the property.
They amplify
Complementing the textual descriptions written about a property, virtual tours
provide a visual help for the buyer, giving something to link the written facts with.
Virtual Tours also allow for professionally recorded text to combine with the tour,
maximizing the impact and using content to draw the buyer in!
They showcase
Online virtual tours are beautifully interactive: they allow viewers to scroll, zoom or
pause on a specific shot. Boasting 360° visibility, the tours give buyers a chance to
tour your home without leaving their computer. In a unique way, they show off your
home at its best.
They compete
Because virtual tours are growing increasingly popular in real estate advertising,
they're becoming more and more necessary. Think about it: if you were a little
interested in a home, what would tip you towards wanting to buy? A beautiful virtual
tour, complete with spoken descriptions, or one with no other information
whatsoever?
According to a Borrell Associates Home Seeker Survey 81% of U.S. Homebuyers use
the Internet and Virtual Tours as a resource when they are searching for a new
home, and only 35% attend Open Houses. Once your virtual tour has been created,
you have essentially created a round-the-clock online open house that buyers can
conveniently experience from their home or office computer.
Sitting in front of a computer while clicking and dragging the mouse, a buyer can
take in 360-degree views of houses and inspect rooms from corner to corner and
floor to ceiling, with descriptive text or audio accompanying them along the way.
Without leaving the room, a buyer now spends far less time viewing far more
choices. Buyers who don't use virtual tours spend an average of three times longer
with an agent before making a purchase decision.
While a virtual tour will never be a substitute for a personal walkthrough, it is an
essential first step for helping a buyer hone in on the listings that fit their needs and
taste. With a virtual tour, a buyer can very quickly determine if they are interested in
taking the next step of making an appointment to go out and visit a listing, which
saves your time and theirs.
Does this necessarily mean that your listings will sell faster if you use Virtual Tours?
Consider the benefits:
Have more informed clients. According to the California Association of Realtors,
the Average Internet Home Seeker spent 41 days searching online before contacting
an agent, while the average Traditional Home Seeker (who didn't use the Internet or
Virtual Tours), spent only 15 days searching before contacting an agent.
Spend one-third the time with Buyers before closing the sale. The earlier an
agent is brought into the home buying process, the more time the agent ends up
spending with that buyer before a purchase decision is reached. An average
Traditional Home Seeker will spend an average of 46 days consulting with an agent
before making a purchase, while an Average Internet Home Seeker will spend only
15 days.
Show half as many homes to each buyer. The same study revealed that the
average traditional homebuyer visited 14 homes with their agent, while the average
Internet homebuyer visited only 7 homes. In the end, 72% of Internet Home Buyers
found the home they ended up buying through an agent, compared with 63% of
traditional buyers.
By using Virtual tours and marketing your listings online, you may gain these
benefits:
• Get more leads
• Spend less time with each buyer
• Show less homes to each buyer
Virtual tours can help sell homes. Using them for every listing is a powerful way for
you to differentiate yourself from other agents in your area, and secure more
listings. Telling a prospective client that you will have a virtual tour of their listing
created and posted online is a strong incentive for them to list with you.
Including a virtual tour with every listing shows potential clients that you go above
and beyond your competitors that only post ‘front of house' photos on their websites
and in their print advertisements, and may entice them to think of you when it is
time to sell their home.
Sources:
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20010501_tours.htm
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Virtual_Tours_2006.pdf
http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.nsf/pages/techwatch200306091?OpenDocument
http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/pages/techwatch200507051?OpenDocument
http://buyowner.com/learning/blog_article.asp?id=86
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Brandon Jordan's blog regarding Virtual Tours is a great, eloguent descriptive of the who, what, where , when, why and how of Virtual Tours. I applaud you. In today's "virtual" world and assumption of "instant" information, VTs are a must. We've always known that "a picture speaks a 1000 words." And, what a wonderful gift for the Buyer or Seller.
Luckily it can be done with little cost and some quality creative time. Whether you are producing a photo story yourself or have a professional virtual tour done it the perfect time to highlight outstanding features of the home that a limited number of static photos on MLS can't pull off. The exceptional tile and patterning used, the elegant grand entrance, lighting, the ambiance in the French Courtyard, upgraded fixtures, and in our area on the Northern Gulf Coast, the whole house generator that just doesn't present itself as well in a static photo. And, lets not forget the VTs of the neighborhood and community.
If you have no objection Brandon, I'll be using your examples and explanations in my next Seller Opportunity Presentation.