Real Estate Forums

Website Usability Website usability is determined by user satisfaction, ease of learning, user ability to remember an organization and its functionalities.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-22-2008, 04:53 PM
GreggRio's Avatar
GreggRio GreggRio is offline
REW Client
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Santa Cruz,CA
Posts: 1,223
GreggRio is on a distinguished road
Default pictures of neighborhoods

What are people doing for pictures of neighborhoods homes.

This is what I have done so far and wonder what others have done and what you results have been. Since I am seeing more random search results from images, thought I'd start working on that end. I don't have a ton of community pages, but am working on them and adding photos.

What examples( links please) are people doing in this regard?
Gregg
__________________
Santa Cruz Beach Homes|Capitola Real Estate| Aptos Beach Homes Santa Cruz is a vibrant community, located on the north end of Monterey Bay, and is home to artisans, beach goers, hi tech types, and college students. There is plenty of natural beauty from the ocean side coastal towns to the little mountain communities. Let my 30 years of local knowledge and 20 years of real estate help you find the right home or property in Santa Cruz.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2008, 05:12 PM
RyanRE's Avatar
RyanRE RyanRE is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Bellingham, WA
Posts: 553
RyanRE is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

It takes a lot of time to drive around and take neighborhood photos, but I don't think that there is a better way. I would recommend being really careful taking photos of homes without the owner's permission. I try to take area photos or street photos to avoid directing people to one individual home. Here is one example. This photo isn't going to win any prizes, but it gives you the idea.
__________________
Ryan A. Martin - Windermere Real Estate / Whatcom Inc.

Your Bellingham real estate professional specializing in the listing and sales of Bellingham condos. Also check out my Anacortes real estate website for information about Fidalgo Island and Anacortes, WA
Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2008, 05:39 PM
OCTeam's Avatar
OCTeam OCTeam is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Orange County, Ca
Posts: 1,078
OCTeam is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

Add street view to your IDX.
I have no desire to take pictures of some 500+ neighborhoods!
__________________
Welcome to your guide to Orange County, Ca Real Estate and MLS Search, and the home to the world's best climate at San Clemente Real Estate where you can enjoy luxury coastal living with a beach close lifestyle.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2008, 06:00 PM
NY RE Broker's Avatar
NY RE Broker NY RE Broker is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LaGrangeville, NY
Posts: 595
NY RE Broker is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

I would question the legality of it as well. I do know that our MLS prohibits us from showing pictures of a neighborhood, playground, swimming pool etc. unless it is included in the sale of the house and is part of the property. Even though the services might be included or paid for by the taxes on the home, its not allowed.

In another business, I once had someone try to sue me because I sent out a mailing stating that I just contracted with so and so and if you would like a price, give me a call. Of course the guy was a lawyer. We settled on him getting a cut from any lead I got. With everyone so sue happy, I am surprised more agents have not been sued over just listed cards.

So tread lightly in this area. I would seek legal advice and know the position of the court.
__________________
Larry Jensen, Principal Broker
St. Lawrence Properties, llc
www.StLawrenceProperties.net

What's My Mileage?
Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2008, 06:59 PM
GreggRio's Avatar
GreggRio GreggRio is offline
REW Client
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Santa Cruz,CA
Posts: 1,223
GreggRio is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

I did put in that request for a link for "birds eye view" but they have not gotten to it yet. That is helpful though.

My main point is that I am finding people get to my site via image search, Anyone can take a picture of any house, city landmark, building as far as I know, unless the image is copyrighted. I guess someone could squawk and I"l take their house out, but I am thinking alt tagging for one and giving the consumer some other things to evaluate in deciding if this neighborhood is the one he/she wants to explore further. Simple, visual.

Birds eye is a good feature and has other benefits, but requires the consumer input.

On mine if I had agents who actually knew the subdivision names and put them in I could do subdivision searches as you have OcTeam, but that does not work so well here in Santa Cruz,Ca
__________________
Santa Cruz Beach Homes|Capitola Real Estate| Aptos Beach Homes Santa Cruz is a vibrant community, located on the north end of Monterey Bay, and is home to artisans, beach goers, hi tech types, and college students. There is plenty of natural beauty from the ocean side coastal towns to the little mountain communities. Let my 30 years of local knowledge and 20 years of real estate help you find the right home or property in Santa Cruz.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2008, 08:38 PM
NY RE Broker's Avatar
NY RE Broker NY RE Broker is offline
Uber Real Estate Webmaster
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LaGrangeville, NY
Posts: 595
NY RE Broker is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

Gregg,

I think you really need to look into the images you are shooting and using. Our web sites are a business tool and therefore its content is there to make us money. For that reason alone, you might be opening a can of worms with use of an image for promotional purposes. I don't think the owner of the property will simply say "Remove the Image" I think what might happen is that will say..."Cough up some dough"

Just want to make sure you have your I's dotted and T's crossed. Other than that, I love the idea. I am still waiting on approvals from a couple of local sub divisions (new construction) to see if I can add their info to my site.
__________________
Larry Jensen, Principal Broker
St. Lawrence Properties, llc
www.StLawrenceProperties.net

What's My Mileage?
Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2008, 11:01 PM
Justin Havre's Avatar
Justin Havre Justin Havre is offline
REW Client
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 349
Justin Havre is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

Hey guys, what about maybe doing a little video about the community and some of the benefits of living in that community? I know it would take some time to do but I think from a consumers stand point they may like it if they are surfing communities.
__________________
Justin Havre
Calgary Real Estate Associate

Calgary Real Estate: Search the Calgary MLS for All Calgary Homes & Condos for Sale.
If you are thinking of Selling, instantly determine your Calgary House Values in minutes, 24 Hrs a Day.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2008, 11:15 PM
Discover Davis Homes's Avatar
Discover Davis Homes Discover Davis Homes is offline
REW Client
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Davis, CA
Posts: 891
Discover Davis Homes is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

I wonder if individual photos might be more appropriate for a blog? I've seen agents write a blog post about a historic home or public building or space. I think showing homes that are representative of the local flavor is good. The page you linked to is not loading properly on my end so there is a lot of white space before the map and photos. Your property search is below the photos, some people may click away before looking at the homes.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2008, 05:02 AM
Larry Hann Larry Hann is offline
New real estate webmaster
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: St. John's, NL
Posts: 19
Larry Hann is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

For what it's worth since the law probably varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, I spoke to a well-established professional photographer this year about the legality of using pictures of homes on my web site. He said that there are no legal issues with street scapes, but a picture of a particular home was legally off limits, unless you had the owners sign a release agreement.
Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2008, 07:40 AM
AustinReilly's Avatar
AustinReilly AustinReilly is offline
Real Estate Web Guru
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 307
AustinReilly is on a distinguished road
Default Re: pictures of neighborhoods

We hired a guy to drive around about 30 neighborhoods and send us photoshopped pics. Here is an example from one of our neighborhood profiles.

http://www.austinhomelistings.com/gu...brentwood.html
__________________
Michael Reilly, Owner/Broker
Great Austin Properties, LLC
Austin Texas Real Estate Brokerage

Austin Homes for Sale | Bee Cave Homes For Sale | Spanish Oaks Austin
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
java script and pictures BTYRRELL Coding 3 01-05-2008 07:30 AM
Problems uploading pictures. Morristown Blogs 5 09-29-2007 09:16 PM

For our members

Main Sections

IDX Coverage Areas

Spiders Welcome

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:25 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.