Does anyone do their own virtual tours? I'm not sure that I have seen any of the "professional" VT's that I think are worth the money. I have heard of some software that you can purchase and create your own and I can't remember the name. I would also like it to be compatible to upload to REALTOR.com. I have seen some just by doing a search, but, I would like some first hand experience.

Thanks,

Ryan

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Ryan Ward, REALTOR® - Keller Williams Realty Consultants. (404) 630-3187
Atlanta Real Estate - My featured area is Alpharetta Real Estate and it is where I call home. Read my Atlanta Real Estate blog.

To make a long story short. Yes you can do your own virtual tours but my research shows it to be either rather expensive or time consuming.

You can use your own camera on a tripod and take multiple pictures as you rotate it around the room and then use stitching software to blend all the photos together. You then need to find another program that uses java, flash or some other method to pan and zoom on the photos.

I downloaded a number of demos and played with them for a day or two. I was not able to make anything that I was super satisfied with but with another day or two of playing with it I suppose I could figure it out.

I'm guessing even if you got a system down it would still take you a few hours to create a 3BR/2BA virtual tour.

The other option is to purchase a special camera that in one shot takes a 360 pic of the entire room. A few I have found are here http://www.0-360.com/#Optic and here http://www.voyager360.com/360-virtual-tours.html

I think I may go with the Voyager360 next spring.

Hosting is no big deal. You can throw it on just about any web host in the country starting at less than $4.00 a month


My biggest complaint is that it seems like Realtor . com charges additional money to display virtual tours even if you host it yourself. What a rip off!

You should however be able to post them on your own local MLS with no problem at all.

Around here virtual tour companies charge $75 - $200 + hosting fees for virtual tours. I can buy the whole system and have my assistant shoot the tours for less than $25 each. with a usual inventory of 40 homes the new lens would pay for itself pretty quickly.

I created my own virtual slide show tour site for my photo tours that I display through my local MLS and by looking at the traffic reports I see thousands of people are looking at them every week. vtbeach . com Certainly not as fancy as a real virtual tour but it does the trick. The coolest thing to track is all of my competitors sites who are tied to the MLS displaying my tours through their sites!!!

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Coastal Delaware Real Estate Sales
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Hi All!

Why do so few use real streaming video? Virtual tours are ok but nothing compares to streaming video!

With video you get to give your sales pitch as you video a property. People get to see a home from home!

In it's easiest form you walk a property and talk while holding a running video camera. A more professional approach would be to use a tripod and video the best features of a property and splice the videos together. A one time recorded intro of the agent could be spliced at the beginning and/or end of all videos.

It is not so hard, is convenient for home buyers and sellers, saves a lot of time and would surely help sell properties and get listings.

I am setting up such a site. The site is not complete but it is complete enough to let others see it. There is a link in my profile. Take a look!

Thanks!

My gripe with video is time, money & bandwidth.

I can take ten pictures in 10 minutes. 10 minutes of video usually requires a script, talent, editing and a good deal of time to download for clients.

With a million dollar home I might do it but for your run of the mill house I think it's overkill.

__________________
Coastal Delaware Real Estate Sales
REHOBOTH BEACH CONDOS | REHOBOTH BEACH REAL ESTATE | REHOBOTH BEACH MOBILE HOMES
* Results not typical. Individual results may vary.

It doesn't take so much time. I am in Florida, my parents are in NJ. My father rehabed a house and sold it. He wants to buy something here in Florida to avoid capital gains. I went out with a small camera that takes pictures and videos. Shooting the videos was as easy as walking the property with the camera running. It certainly took less than 10 minutes as the properties were condo's. It gave my dad the opportunity to look at numerous properties without leaving his home.

If pictures are worth a thousand video is worth millions!

Money? Money is what you would make from video. It sets you apart from those who will not use video. It sells properties better than pictures and would make sellers more inclined to list a property with you. Especially those selling million dollar homes! Video basically is an edge and any edge in a competitive market is a good thing.

Bandwidth is cheap. Most dedicated servers offer about 2000 GB a month. My sites are hosted and get 999 gigs a month for $6.95

Most people now have DSL or cable so viewing is not much of an issue.

Editing would normally be an issue as editing software is expensive & can be hard to learn however on my site we do the editing.

I'll find out when I get the site done and local newspaper ads start running across the country. I think/hope many people will be at the site.

I dont want to post a link in the forum as I do not know if it is allowed but there is a link in my profile. Take a look!

Thanks!
Nick