Virtual tours and FSBO listings

Virtual tours and FSBO listings

I was on my way back from visiting a friend’s house last night when I came to the entrance of their neighborhood. A man was there tapping a “for sale by owner” sign into the ground.

Being a Jacksonville virtual tour provider, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to stop and hand him one of my business cards. I asked about how they were currently marketing their home. He indicated that they were trying to be cost conscious since their home was now worth less in the current real estate market and so were doing it themselves.

They had created their own flyers, were putting out signs on the main road near their neighborhood (which had already been pulled up a few times by road crews) and were putting the house in the paper this next week and planned an open house. Sounds fairly basic and straightforward.

I am guessing that they already spent $200 since an ad in our local newspaper costs over $105 for ONLY a ONE WEEK run. Given that, in Florida, over 65% of buyers are from out of state, it is quite likely that most buyers may never even see or consider this home with the current marketing approach.

I definitely gave him something to think about when I explained that he could have gotten a virtual tour package and a PanoRider with single property website for that same price!! A virtual tour would be online for 2 YEARS for that price, be distributed to over 90 sites, be accessible to a GLOBAL market, and would be built with quality photos taken by a professional real estate photographer.

As Linda Sabiston of First Impression Virtual Tours notes in her blog, high quality photographs are the foundation of an effective marketing strategy. Our Panoriders with unique property addresses are also invaluable for FSBO homes. We also support our clients by providing a prep sheet to ensure their home looks its absolute best for the virtual tour shoot. Needless to say, he was going home to speak with his wife about their current sales approach. I expect I will be hearing back from him by end of week. Being cost conscious is not just about how much you spend, but how much value you get for your money.

Trish Edmonds
Ad Vantage Virtual Tours, LLC

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