Virtual Tours and Beyond

**r_port2000** · 07-18-2006, 08:13 AM

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Originally Posted by Thesa

I would not have the virutal tour comapny here create anything for me... nothing seems to be in prespective and they charge almost $100 for 3 views.... I can create my own that look pretty darn good and give the numerous out of town buyers we work with a good idea of the property. All this for $29.95 a month.... with a $199.00 one time set up fee.. and great customer service.... some of these tours were not my listings but taken for buyers that were out of town...

Hi Thesa,

First off, I think that you are comparing apples and oranges. I went ahead and looked at the ejourney site and looked at the virtual tours. I also followed your link and looked at a few tours that you suggested.

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I believe that what you are showing is not a true virtual tour. It is simply a Picture Slideshow from the 3 that I looked at. One tour however had 3 pictures that panned about 90

**Thesa** · 07-18-2006, 08:54 AM

you may very well do a great job.... however the person that does them here is not very experienced with her camera apparently - yes what we are using is more of a slide show it is limited in some aspects...

as for trying to sell it... no..... I do not represent nor do I recieve anything from them - it is simply what I use -because in my area it is better than anything else available.

as for pricing the $29.00 is for as many tours as you want or need up to 1000 - so.... your numbers make it look like you pay that per tour -

I believe a virtual tour can sell a property - I just got multiple offers site unseen via a virtual tour.... I think you are on the defensive and making a mountain out of a mole hill.

You are tooting the horn about a product that can make a difference in some of the markets we all work in, it is a great listing tool - however - you do not have control over all areas of the US - if other agents have the same issue I do - what I use is a good solution to the problem.

**Thesa** · 07-18-2006, 08:59 AM

Would you pay in excess of $150 for this?

http://media.homestore.com/mls/H5R3VDHD.htm

**r_port2000** · 07-18-2006, 09:06 AM

Thesa,

I apologise if my statement came of as aggressive. In by no means was it meant that way. When i read your previous posts, I felt that there was some sort of a attempt for a sale. I acted on defense for this other companys product as I do stand by the quality I have seen in their product. In the quote, It mentioned ease of travel for tours to be completed anywhere pending on quanity. This is a florida company and i am based in Gulf Shores AL. It was no problems for them.

Now, since you clarified the pricing, 29 is very reasonable for the picture book. As I stated previously, I still believe the picture quality of the shows you have indeed are nice.

Please dont take a wave of hostility from me as i was simply try to clarify the difference in the product.

R

**r_port2000** · 07-18-2006, 09:11 AM

I would not. If that is what you are offered in your area, I am sorry.

Josh from eJourney sent me some samples.

Those i would pay around $200 or so and be comfortable with it. Especially the one that has people in it. Very nice.

R

**Thesa** · 07-18-2006, 09:49 AM

I think virtual tours are one of my most productive tools - I do a virtual tour for almost every property and use to use the company I sent you the link to.... when they changed hands the quality became so poor that I had to find other options.

If there were a company like you seem to be that offered good quality - I would back them 110%

Thanks for the insight and the promoting a product that can make the difference in the right market.

**ejourney** · 07-18-2006, 10:32 AM

Wow, I didn't intend for so much debate and responses over my original post. While I realize there are a lot of choices (both providers and types) of virtual tours, I believe that people should choose a product that meets their needs.

Here in Florida, as I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of competition to provide virtual tours to the booming real estate market. As a result, there is also a lot of demand.

My company has chosen to carve out a very specific niche focusing on java enabled, 360 panoramic/interactive virtual tours stitched seamlessly using a pano head rotated at the nodal/axis point of the camera. Our target market is the vacation rental and homebuilder industries that re-use our tours for multiple years.

While, I think flash is a very useful tool for creating fast loading videos, the issues I have had in the past regarding flash is that a lot of our end users (think baby boomer generation) do not know how to use/install flash and get frustrated (or scared) when asked to install another piece of software on their machine. This being said, we have tried to stick to more open-source, readily available technologies (such as java).

Still I think that Flash (of which AJAX is soon replacing) can be successfully used when integrating multiple tours in environments such as a map of a development community or floor plan of a business.

Thanks for all of the comments, suggestions, opinions. I was simply suggesting what I personally see in the future of showcasing properties. I love hearing all of these different viewpoints and definitely take them into consideration when weighing the future opportunities for my company and the industry.

Josh,
eJourney

**MikeC** · 07-30-2006, 08:37 PM

We go one better. If the home is over $300k we go take digital video and then bring it back, splice it all together on win movie maker and then use a tool to convert it to DVD and burn it and make copies. Anytime someone calls or inquires, we send them a copy.

It's a lot better on thier TV AND its a full walkthru of the house.