A recent blog entry mentioned the viewing stats for two particular tours – one was put onto Realtor.com and the other wasn’t. Of course, the one on Realtor.com received the most views due to it being the most popular real estate website and having numerous outside links.

Yes, Realtor.com charges a fee to link the tour (unless the agent has enhanced listings) but most agents don’t understand the return on investment it produces. A virtual tour does little to no advertising on the agent’s site alone. Getting it linked out to the various real estate websites is crucial to marketing. ‘No one is going to know about it unless you get it out there’ is what I tell them.

Last year I shot a virtual home tour for an agent and within 3 days of the 360 tour going online to Realtor.com and various other sites, the home sold. The agent credited the virtual tour as the key point in selling the home so quickly. How do we know this? Because the buyer was from out of state and bought the home just from viewing the tour multiple times. And last month a new realtor who didn’t use Realtor.com to market, even though he had a tour, decided to give it a try. The very next home I did a tour on for him sold within 7 days and the buyer cited the virtual tour on Realtor.com as the key element in making a decision.

Those two real estate agents are talking to others and getting the word out that our virtual tours linked to the various real estate sites are key to selling the listings. There is no better form of advertisement than referrals. Give the realtors in your area a little insight on the marketing power and watch your virtual tour business grow!

Rob Lenthe