Click the link to view the tour (AOL users can copy and paste this link into their browser): http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?t=12599

While most of our clients use VisualTour.com personally to enjoy complete control over their virtual tours, we know that some of you would prefer to have an outside firm create tours for you. Some of the problems our clients report they've had with 3rd party virtual tour vendors is that they're slow to photograph and create the tours, the images are blurry or distorted, and they don't get their money's worth! However, full service virtual tour provider Curb Appeal Marketing in the Houston, TX area delivers great service and value to their real estate clients using the VisualTour® technology. See http://www.curbappeal.cc (not .com).

While Curb Appeal can only service their local clients, if your company already works with a local photography service, consider letting them know about VisualTour.com. Your Broker/Owner may want to consider this option to help create top quality VisualTours® for your entire company!

In last week's tip we showed you how to use your e-marketing savvy to help out-of-town buyers find a home more quickly and impress their company's relocation director! This week, we'll continue this scenario with another great tip.

OK, you've got the buyer interested in two neighborhoods and five current listings. By the time they arrive Saturday morning, one of the five has a contract on it, but you've got several new listings that you've discovered since you sent them a preliminary virtual tour. Time to get in the car and ring some doorbells!

While you visit each home that interests the buyer, take a few photos while you're there. In fact, have the buyer stand in the photo to demonstrate how happy they are with the gourmet kitchen, huge walk in closets or spacious lower level rec room - perfect for that big screen TV and pool table they've got! Putting the buyer in the photo is also a helpful trick if it's an empty home to give them a better perspective on the size of a room when they look at the pictures again later.

Now fast forward to Sunday afternoon. You've looked at nine or ten listings, narrowed it down to just four, shown the buyer around town, etc. Now put your new photos into a virtual tour and let the buyer suggest some text or voice comments to add as this will help them remember the features from one house to the next. Then upload and email the tour off to the buyer's spouse and put it on a diskette for them to take home with them. What a great way to show the buyer (and their corporate relocation director!) how Internet savvy you are!

If you're in a market where listings get snapped up in just a few days, a "Buyer's virtual tour" is a wonderful tool to get them to make an offer quickly. Why? By emailing a link to the tour to the buyer's spouse, both spouses (and the kids) can see the great features of these homes NOW in living color instead of waiting till the buyer gets home with a couple of flyers or black & white listing sheets. This gives your buyer a time advantage to look at the property and present an offer before they leave or certainly very soon after they return to their hometown.

Louis L Cohen, Broker Beach Realty of Brevard, Inc, Indian Harbor Beach, FL
http://www.beach-realty.com

"I wanted to let you know that I sold a $1 Million home on the ocean as a direct result from the VisualTour®. You know I am a very pleased customer! I want to thank VisualTour.com. If it wasn't for the tour I created, the buyer would have never traveled from out of state to see the property. The buyer called as he was so impressed with the VisualTour® of the property that he booked the next flight here to see the home in person. When he arrived he already had a certified check with him for the escrow down payment. The oceanfront home was listed for less than 30 days and sold for $975,000. It was originally listed for $1,100,000."

"I remember when I purchased your software I was concerned that the investment would not result in any sales. Boy was I wrong!"

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If you have comments, have suggestions for future articles, or would like to submit a tour for consideration to be the tour of the week, please contact us via email at newsletter@visualtour.com.