Virtual Tours Help Sell Houses(As the home selling market becomes more competitive by the day, homeowners are stopping at nothing to make their home appear the best it possibly can.)
Now, instead of just listing plain photographs of their featured property, many people are finding that a “virtual tour” of their home to-be-sold is an absolute must in attracting buyers.
Virtual tours are streaming video of the house that goes from room to room, as if you were actually walking through the home. And the best thing about this is that you do not even have to leave the comfort of your home to take an in-depth look around a house you could be interested in.
Or even if you are not interested in buying a house, this could be a fun way to pass the time.
A November 8, 2006 article by Elizabeth Weintraub of about.com, “Virtual tours are a necessity today,” discusses how many homes are passed over on listing pages if they do not have a link to a virtual tour.
“Virtual tours are to online listings as the single photograph was to paperback-bound MLS listings. Your home will get passed over without it. Fortunately, though, prices for virtual tours are very affordable nowadays, and they are so easy to do.”
“If you've ever wondered if a virtual tour was right for you, now is the time to give it a try. You'll be hooked. There are millions of page hits every day from virtual tour viewers around the world. That's all some people do -- sit and stare at virtual tours online. Do you understand why? I don't. I just post the links.”
According to Weintraub, many buyers will not even look at a listing online if it does not have a virtual tour. This means that you could be missing out on a lot of potential buyers if you don’t have one.
Even if the person is not really ready to buy but is just skimming through virtual tours, they may view your tour and then tell a friend about your magnificent house. This friend just may end up being the proud new owner of your home; all because of the virtual tour.
Even homeowners who know nothing about computers or technology can either put together a virtual tour themselves, or hire some outside help.
“You can order virtual tours a number of ways: Shoot your own photographs and hire a professional to simply upload and assemble them for you. Hire a professional to shoot the photos, upload and assemble them. Buy your own software and do it completely yourself.”
There are a variety of things to consider when you plan the look of your virtual tour. You want to show the property in its entirety, but you also want to be sure to focus on the positive aspects, and put less emphasis on the not-so positive attributes to your home. “Determine focus and viewpoints. Take your own digital photographs, if possible, and upload them to your computer. This way you can study each room for its appeal and photogenic quality. Print out the photos you like and show the virtual tour photographer the angles that you want.”
“Begin the tour focused on the most interesting element in the space and end with that element. Think about what the viewer will see first to determine your starting point for the tour. You don't want to begin filming a doorway, for example, because most doorways are boring.”
If you are one of the millions of people hoping to sell in today’s market, a virtual tour could be just what you need to set your home apart from all the rest.
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