News & Articles
News and Events:
*March 2010:First presence of our team in the Middle East with the Dubai International Boat Show.
*February 2010:Virtual-Tours.com is invited to the Miami Boat Show and will then go to Porto Rico and Tortola to do more yachts virtual tours.
*January 2010:Virtual-Tours.com is going to the Dusseldorf Boat Show, Viareggio Italy and the Seattle Boat Show.
*December 2009:Virtual-Tours.com is doing the winter Caribbean tour with visits in St Maarten, Antigua, St Kits & Tortola.
*November 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
*October 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is pleased to announce the launching of its new luxury branch www.PrestigeVision.com
*October 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Genoa Boat Show in Italy
*September 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Cannes Boat Show and Monaco Yacht Show in France
*August 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is pleased to announce the new position of our lab manager David De Castro
*July 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is welcoming our new photographer for the California area, Vanessa Schram
*June 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is going to Caribbean, Florida and California to do many shootings on hotels, yachts and private jets
*June 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is going to French Riviera and the UK to do many yachts shootings.
*May 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is launching a new type of virtual tours specialy adapted to the real estate market with stills, spherical pictures, free hosting, free listing and MLS integration.
*April 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Newport Beach Boat Show in California.
*February 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Miami Boat Show.
*March 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com has been invited to the Palm beach Boat Show in Florida
*January 2009:
Virtual-tours.com has been invited to the Seattle boat show.
*January 2009:
Virtual-Tours.com is honored to realize a virtual tour on the most prestigious charter vessel of the Canadian West Coast: the 120' 15M$ Spirit of 2010.
*July 2008:
We are happy to present our brand new virtual-tours.com website realized by XoomDesigns.com.
*June 2008:
After focusing on Marine virtual tours, Virtual-tours.com now offers services to the Real Estate, accommodation, transportation and Corporate industries.
*October 2008:
Virtual-tours.com has been invited the the largest yachting show in the world in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
*May 2008:
Acquisition of www.Edvertising.com and www.UnitedDream.com who will become our own advertising and hosting branches.
*March 2008:
Creation of the virtual tour development lab. Congratulations to Taz Martin who is now the manager of the lab and handles the tour development process.
*February 2008:
After 6 months of research and development we have created our first 100% walk through full screen virtual tour on a 80' Yacht.
*January 2008:
Xoomdesigns.com acquisition of www.virtual-tours.com and creation of virtual tour photography branch.
Articles:
http://www.m-travel.com/news/2005/08/best_western_pl.html
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/143/report_display.asp
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=92365&ran=9320
Selling Your Home With the Virtual Tour:
Did you know that most buyers will only visit a home after viewing numerous photographs and virtual tours? If you have not yet considered applying a virtual tour to your listing, you will want to pay close attention to this article.
A virtual tour consists of a series of photographs that will allow a buyer to see a 360 degree view of your home. Usually, virtual tours allow a person to view both the inside and the outside of a home. In order to create a virtual tour, you will need to gather around sixteen different photographs of your home. To start, make sure that your photographs are fantastic.
So many home owners make the mistake of snapping photos that are dark, dull, and uninspiring. A photograph can really make or break your sale, so make sure that it is superb. Do not crop photographs; do not choose photographs that depict cluttered rooms; do not turn any photograph sideways; do not select photographs of pets; and make sure that your photographs will look great on the internet. That said, you may want to consider hiring a professional photographer.
While you can easily snap a few decent short with an inexpensive camera, a professional photographer will be able to showcase your home in all its glory from the start. Many home owners make the mistake of photographing a home's exterior from far away, which will really not spark any sort of imagination within the mind of a buyer. Instead, brush up on your photography skills, or hire a professional to get the job done right.
Once you have a series of excellent photographs lined up, you will need to use a virtual tour service in order to put the photographs together. There are many virtual tour companies to be found on the internet, and most of these sites are relatively straight forward. Home buyers love to view virtual tours, since they do not require any special programs. Let's face it, buyers love to look at homes while surfing the internet in their pyjamas, so why not give them every opportunity to see just how great your home is?
If you overlook adding a virtual tour to your listing, you may be doing yourself a great injustice. Instead, take the time to capture your home at its best, and spend a few extra hours piecing photographs together. If you want to make your home stand out, a virtual tour is one of the best tactics out there.
Raynor James writes on real estate and FSBO issues for FSBOAmerica.org.
Virtual Tours - Why You Need Them
Virtual tours are a must for every real estate listing. In todays market 80% of people looking for a new home are doing it online. It is extremely frustrating when you go to see a listing of a property that sounds fantastic, but there are no photos or virtual tour to show the layout of the home, the colors, the cleanliness, the style, etc. I am actually suspicious of homes that do not use virtual tours or photos. What are they trying to hide? I personally do not want to drive clear across town to see a home that sounds great on paper but is horrible in reality.
There are basically 2 reasons why an agent does not have a virtual tour done on one of his/her listings. The main reason is they don't understand the value of the tour, and their seller is inexperienced and doesn't understand the value either. The second reason is the agent is trying to stay on a budget and tries to cut costs in every possible way. Unfortunately, when money is the issue, the seller suffers and the agent usually suffers because the house sits on the market longer and the seller is not a happy camper to work with.
Many brokers require their agents to do virtual tours on all their listings, yet many agents do not understand the value of the virtual tour. The agents are basically doing the tour because it is free to them. Since those agents do not appreciate the value, they do not properly market the tour in all their advertising endeavors.
I personally know Real Estate Agents who do a virtual tour on every listing they take no matter how low or how high the listing price is. After having the tour done, they make sure that all of their advertising materials show the tour address, web site address, etc. so anyone viewing the advertisement can immediately have access to the photos and tour if they are online.
One thing that always perplexes me is that some agents order virtual tours and then do not promote them. I review many real estate magazines in our area, and I see agents using beautiful pictures to promote their listing, but they never mention their virtual tour in the ad. With consumers looking for Internet information, it amazes me that agents do not cross advertise.
Advertising rarely stands alone, but works synergistically with other marketing methods. If you are advertising in a newspaper or magazine, you should provide links that would ultimately drive traffic to your web site and virtual tour.
Another way to advertise the virtual tour is through yard signs. When an agent acquires a listing, he/she should place a rider on their lawn sign that says check out our virtual tour online. Every flyer placed in the "Take One" boxes should also have the web site address of the virtual tour and make mention that a virtual tour is online. Many people drive through neighborhoods on their own taking flyers and checking out homes. Those flyers that have beautiful photos and an web site address to view additional photos and a virtual tour are the ones that will be kept for later when the home buyer is at their computer.
If you compare a virtual tour with a business card, you can summarize that if you keep the cards in the box, they will not do you any good. Cards only bring business back to you when they are utilized by the agent and given to as many people as possible. Yet agents spend thousands every day on websites that few consumers see. The agents that don't market their website, do not see results and therefore conclude that websites don't work. and virtual tours won't work either.
If a virtual tour is a tool to help promote a listing, then it stands to reason that broadcasting the virtual tour is the best way to use it.
Some of the most effective ways to use virtual tours are:
1. On an agent's personal website
2. Used for listing presentations that illustrate what the agent can do to market the home online and to show where the home will be marketed online, i.e. Realtor.com, MLS, franchise websites, personal websites, newspaper and other media sites.
3. Email alerts - to inform prospects and other Realtors of new listings
4. Email signature lines
5. The address posted in an agents newsletter
6. As a competitive edge in marketing - that all the agent''s listings get a virtual tour regardless of the home's price
7. Sign riders to invite drive-by consumers to the agents website
8. "Just Listed" cards and "Just Sold" cards
In conclusion, skilled real estate agents know how to use virtual tours to full advantage, making them into a tool that distinguishes their marketing from their competitors.
Chelina Schultz