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One limitation of many third party virtual tours is that you can only show how a property looks on the actual day of the filming. And of course even here in sunny Florida, not every day is a "picture perfect day". This limitation not only makes scheduling the photo shoot difficult and time consuming, but reshooting it later when the weather is better or the season has changed is prohibitively expensive. These are great reasons to create your own virtual tours and use a library of great looking community photos over and over again!
You sell real estate year round, so why not show off the exteriors and neighborhood features in the best way, not just how it looks today? If you have a digital camera, keep it handy and take photos year round of the most interesting (and new) features in the communities in which you sell. Photograph the parks, golf and tennis facilities, the schools, the shopping and business districts. Get photos of waterfront scenes, kids splashing in the pool, and seasonal parades or festivals that define your community. And if you sponsor a local sports team, get some photos of the kids with your name on their jersey or holding a trophy. Great for personal promotion on your website and in print!
It's easy to store these digital images on your computer or on a rewritable CD-ROM. You can even make great looking panoramic images (see last week's tip on panoramic and 360 degree images!).
Then when you have a listing (or a buyer client) and you want to create a virtual tour, you can include many of these community views in each individual virtual tour as you deem appropriate. Think about how your virtual tours will be perceived by sellers and buyers compared with tours done by other agents in town. Your virtual tours will showcase all the great neighborhood and community features, and show them off in their best light! Your competitor's tours? Well, let's just say they'll be spinning in circles trying to compete with you!
Another key advantage of taking community photos all year long is that with an "agent controlled" virtual tour such as www.VisualTour.com, you can add new images to an existing tour. Why? Let's say you live in the north and you took a listing in the winter. Maybe the interior looks fine, but the outside looked cold and gray. Maybe the listing is still on the market today and you want to add some current photos that show off the lush green lawn or the flower bed "springing" up! Or you just want the listing to look brand new instead of "on the market for 3 months".
Happy
Spring everyone!
Please
see the e-marketing newsletters from previous weeks for more tips
on taking better looking pictures with your digital camera.
In
future e-marketing newsletters we'll cover other marketing and
photographic tips. Stay tuned!
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