Property ManagementIPIX Pushes Low-cost Virtual "Tours" To Become Standard
Virtual tours, a panoramic digital camera technology which showcases
properties and other large ticket items for sale on the Internet,
revolutionized on-line marketing initiatives in late 1997. But high prices,
lack of skilled photographers and end-users, and the slow development of
broker/agent/MLS on-line infrastructure restricted the technology to the luxury
home market.
Interactive Pictures Corporation (IPC), makers of IPIX virtual tour software is out to change the
paradigm by making virtual tours inexpensive and user-friendly enough so that
they will become standard marketing procedure for every home listing.
IPIX fires the first shot in pricing war
From its vantage point as the first company to introduce virtual tours on
the Internet, IPC has worked over the past 18 months to reduce costs for an
easy point-and-click digital camera marketing solution. Today, the company will
debut its new low cost package - $49.95 for a four-room virtual tour that can
be placed on as many sites as the agent or broker wishes, from a personal Web
page, to the broker"s site, to the franchise site, to the home portal sites
such as Realtor.com and HomeAdvisor.
Working with large franchisers and home search companies such as Century 21,
ERA, and Coldwell Banker, and Homes.com, IPC has learned that agents want to do
more with digital photography, but the operating costs as well as optional fees
have been prohibitive for many. For example, some competitive virtual tour
companies offer one posting per home, with additional postings costing as much
as $20 each. That means that, until now, an agent had to carefully choose where
to put the listing.
The good news is that multiple listing opportunities clearly exist. Agents
aren"t being charged by their brokers or franchisers for including virtual
photography in their listings. IPC is working with HomeAdvisor.com, among
others, to support the technology at no additional cost to the agent.
To put every piece in place, IPC has created partnerships with Kodak, Nikon
and Olympus to provide a choice of digital camera products "at competitive
prices. " For $895, an agent or broker can purchase a digital camera such as
the Kodak DC200, which comes equipped with the IPIX Wizard software, a fish-eye
technology that enables 360 degree photography and enough "keys" to do
four-room tours in nine houses. After that, the agents can dial into the Internet for additional keys at $49.95 per home. The keys enable the agent to post the
home tours through IPC to as many sites as the agent wishes.
Kodak, among others manufacturers, has led the way by reducing digital
photography to a point and click level. The agent takes a picture of a room
from one perspective, turns around and snaps the opposite view. Then s/he takes
the memory card and downloads the photo files to his/her computer. The IPIX
Wizard does the rest, creating an on-line image of the rooms, bonding the two
photos into a 360 presentation in which the user can point a cursor and see
into every corner in a breathtaking panoramic view.
The beauty of it is that the IPIX images can be used free of charge for
instant viewing during listing presentations, over and over again. No charge is
incurred until the images are forwarded to IPC for Internet formatting and
processing. And, the digital camera can be used other ways. Take standard shots
for feature sheets, special events, or family vacations and download to the
computer for posterity.
For agents and brokers who don"t want to own their own cameras, IPC is
working on creating a network of MLS photographers through Homes.com. For an
additional $50 per homes, IPC will dispatch a photographer to the agent"s
listing, take photos of four rooms and upload the tour to the agent"s
specifications.
The second step - affecting how homes are marketed
The significance of the lowered pricing is that IPC has just opened the door
real Internet marketing to the starter home and move-up home sellers and their
agents.
Ed Lewis, VP of marketing for IPC says, "We have been working with major
real estate brands on the technology side. Our goal is to make it possible for
any agent or broker to make virtual tours part of their Internet marketing."
"While others limit the capability of the agent by charging to post the
tours on multiple sites, we are the only technology that allows agents to own
their own photography," he explains. "We also offer two ways to work with us,
either the agent/broker can own or lease their digital camera from us and take
their own pictures, or we can offer them a turn key service provided by a
professional MLS photographer."
There is almost no learning curve. "A fourth grader could do it. You just
put the camera on a standard tripod, take the pictures, pull out the memory
card, stick it in the computer, download it and then look and down with your
mouse," shrugs Lewis.
Lewis believes that virtual tours will become the new MLS standard for
presenting homes. "One difference is the quality of the image and the unlimited
viewing perspective. The second is ease of use. This has enormous benefits for
the seller, the agents and the buyer. They all save time."
The only hurdle left is residual misconceptions about the technology with
agents.
" What does a virtual tour on the Internet mean to an agent?" asks Lewis.
"It means the listing agent can provide the most competitive listing tool
possible for sellers. It means eliminating most walk-throughs for buyers who
can use the virtual tours to select or eliminate homes. It drives value to
everyone involved - the agent, the seller, and the buyer."
"Everybody wins."
See More: Technology Advice