Friday, April 1, 2011

Fidelity Marketing Spotlight of the Month - Virtual Tours

If “a picture is worth a thousand words”, than what do you suppose a virtual tour is worth? Do you know that statistics from REALTOR.COM show that listings with multiple photographs and virtual tours get clicked on 40% more than listings without? Do you know that in The 2009 National Association of REALTORS® profile of home buyers and sellers 63% of buyers “deem very useful” virtual tours when searching for homes? According to “How to Photograph Houses by Stan Barron:” “Selling a house is not a real estate function… it is a marketing function, and pretty photographs sell more houses. Think about the marketing used for professional products you are exposed to. Have you ever seen a bad photograph (taken with a point-and-shoot-camera) in an ad for a BMW? Of course not. Ever seen a badly composed shot in a cosmetics ad? Never. Good photographs are worth the effort.” The rewards will be well worth it: you’re branding yourself as the area real estate marketing expert, getting more exposure and noticed by more potential sellers and buyers that will take note of your great photos, superior virtual tour, and expert marketing skills, and thus selling properties faster. Don’t get run-over by those on your heels, those staying abreast of and using the latest and best real estate technology that buyers and sellers demand. However, all that said, buyers that look at these tours want to see the important parts of the house: the kitchen, the bathrooms. They want to get a sense of the flow, so a tour that shows the walk from the entry to the kitchen, from the garage into the house, from the living room out to the yard, and isolated rooms is a waste of bandwidth. There is nothing to be learned from tours like that or dark, distorted or wavy pictures of empty rooms. A bad virtual tour is worse than bad pictures. Is that the image you want representing you, your brokerage, and your marketing skills? Don’t take chances on quality, let Fidelity National Title and Arizona Imaging help you market your listings in the best light; day and night. You’ll have quick turn time, with low res stills sent the morning after shooting, for your review. Unlimited photos are included in all tours, and there are no added costs of membership or hosting fees. With price plans from $59.95 to $299.95, there’s a plan to fit your needs. For more information on this service as well as Fidelity’s suite of other services for you and your listings, go to www.fntarizona.com, or contact your Fidelity sales executive today!

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