There are several companies doing surveys on whether or not virtual tours are worth the investment. I saw this poll on the Texas Association of Realtors site.

When asked if virtual tours are worth the investment, 32% of the 386 respondents replied "Yes," 45% replied "No," and 22% replied "I don't know."

When I saw the poll results, I was dumbstruck: 45% of the folks polled think that virtual tours aren't worth having? Incredible. I'm not sure where such thinking comes from, but I wish these folks knew how much money other agents have made using them!

If you're one of those who think virtual tours are not worth the money, consider the following scenarios if you don't use them:

• You go on a listing appointment. The sellers have seen your Web site with one "front of the house" photo of each listing. Your competition uses virtual tours for each property on her site, and they've seen her Web site, too. Who's going to get the listing?

• You're working with buyers. Only the husband is in town for an advance house hunting trip. You don't use virtual tours, so you can't send the out-of-town spouse a tour of homes you've seen...narrated by her husband. Your competitor does. Guess who's going to sell the buyers a home? (BTW: You're going to be showing many of the same homes to the wife in a few weeks, since she hasn't seen complete tours of them...a terrific waste of your valuable time!)

• Your clients buy a new construction home from you. You can't take digital photos during the home's construction and put them in a multimedia tour so that you can present the new owners with a very professional slide show, complete with your narration, of their home as it was built...all at no cost to you, since you already own the software. You give them a potted plant as a closing gift instead of the tour. Guess who lost "customer satisfaction" points?

• You work with out-of-town relocation prospects. You don't own virtual tour software, so you can't do a dynamite area tour, complete with voice narration and background music, to send to every relo prospect before they come to town...at no cost to you. Your competition does. Guess who's losing relocation business?

I could go on and on, but I hope the point comes across loud and clear. If you don't yet see the value in virtual tours, you just don't get it. You're not making as much money as you could be making...and you're working too hard for the money you get!

Published: May 9, 2001

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