More exposure = more demand = higher sales prices

How does this translate into higher prices?  Its about supply and demand.  We know supply is low, but as an agent, you can increase demand to create a perfect storm for you and your seller.  Check out this new testimony from Laurie Jorgensen, an agent with ReeceNichols in the Kansas City area, on how 3D tours can increase the demand, and final sales price.

The good news is “3D Tours” do not have to be Zillow’s own 3D tour.  In fact, the content FloorPlanOnline creates can qualify as a “3D Tour” on Zillow and get a special 3D Tour icon, especially if Matterport is added as the secondary virtual tour link in the MLS (if your MLS only has one spot we recommend our tour – see below on Brandkeepr).  In a recent search in the Seattle area, most of the “3D Home” listings were not Zillow’s version.  Plus, per FPO discussions with Zillow personnel, it looks like they are interested in getting more and more content, regardless of source, embedded on Zillow.  Why?  It increases their engagement stats and they can monetize in other ways via online advertising.  Increased engagement is why Redfin has been pulling in all kinds of content and embedding it on their website for several years now. Click on one of these screenshots to see how a listing on Redfin looks so much richer with all the different content options.

While we do have an upgrade option for the Zillow 3D Home tour, we limit it to buckets of 5 360 image locations per bucket.  Why? So we (collectively) do not give Zillow all the data of a home.  They already own more than 50% of the market using the industry’s listing photos.  What if they had 360 tours and floor plans on homes as well that they have exclusive rights to, which they do if you read their terms of use?   Since ZIllow is a brokerage, why give them content they can use against you down the road? It would be like a Keller Williams agent using a Remax app to create content exclusively for remax.com.  Why would you do that????  So if you really want a Zillow 3D Tour benefit, we can shoot 5 shots and upload the 360s via the app, and you get the badge on your listing.  Or, do Matterport and get it without giving them any content!

Now, we hear from some agents that they don’t like Matterport, because it makes them dizzy or just takes too long to view.  One thing we do is automate it, so the user pushes the play button, and we walk the user through the home in a few minutes.  It takes a lot less time to do this than to get in the car and drive to a listing.  Plus, it is safer for your sellers, and it is much less hassle, because they and you have an “always show ready home” via the virtual tour, 24.7.  This convenience is extended post sale as the buyer can use both Matterport and our floor plan tools to measure for paint or flooring estimates, count door knobs or windows, or share with their contractor for remodel planning.  This saves everyone time and effort up through close.

At the end of the day, it really should be about what your customers want.  And your customers are both buyers and sellers, and they want 3D Tours:

• 99% of sellers think 3D Tours make their home more competitive online
• 88% want to work with agents that offer 3D Tours
• 55% of all buyers, 64% of Millennial buyers, say they would by a home sight unseen if the listing had a 3D Tour.

Again, more demand (driven by anyone with an Internet connection) = higher sales price

Leverage our tour with Brandkeepr. Finally, with our newly patented Brandkeepr feature, we keep your brand on your tour on the top sites people use most, including Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and Redfin.  This is a breadcrumb left back to you and it has helped our clients be differentiated to win more listings, and as you have seen above, to win the sale by selling it faster and for more money.  See the video for a quick Brandkeepr overview, as well as how Redfin is really doing a nice job with embedding content, driving more users to their site and increasing engagement as well, moving up to a solid number 3 spot in the most recent consumer website rankings.