Real Estate Virtual Tours

[bruced530]

<p>Have any of you heard of Voyegeur International or OBEO for real estate virtual tours? I got laid off in January from Manufacturing and Quality Control. Not much of this typ of work in Massachusetts right now. I was thinking of doing these virtual Tour shoots. I could take my kid along and still get a few dollars on the side.<br>

Have any of you done virtual tours or know who the best companies are to do this for?<br>

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks</p>

[gustav_basch]

<p>Had a quick look at their website. One word of advise, stay away from one-shot systems. They all produce terrible quality images. Panoguide is a website filled with information about making virtual tours.</p>

 

[greg_peterson3]

<p>For the past several months I've been investigating both techniques for producing virtual tours and the market for them.</p>

<p>I agree with Mr. Basch about one-shot systems. Interestingly though, a relatively inexpensive camera with a good panoramic head and some sophisticated software can produce excellent results.</p>

<p>On the technical front I'm very encouraged. There is a ton of software available, some of it free, that addresses various aspects of panorama and virtual tour production. At the moment I'm leaning toward <strong>Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009,</strong> both for its feature set and ease of use. But I plan to do more tests before I choose a package. The cost of panoramic heads is, I think, outrageously high at present. ($500+ for a really good one.) I ended up building my own, but I have access to a very well equipped workshop and considerable experience in metal working.</p>

<p>As to the market: It sucks. Real estate developers are frequently on the verge of bankruptcy, and even if the market were better, they, and real estate agents, tend to under-value photography. </p>

<p>The marketing manager of a $100 million development offered me $750 for a virtual tour of the whole site! (I estimated that shooting and post production would take five or six days.) He thought my laughter was rude.</p>

<p>Real estate agents are worse. They are very happy with the generally crappy pictures they take with their point-and-shoot cameras, and most that I've spoken to don't see the value of a virtual tour.</p>

<p>The only really positive response I've received is from yacht brokers.</p>

<p>Sorry to be the barer of bad news -- Greg Peterson</p>

 

[peter1980]

<p>I've been doing panoramas (otherwise, virtual tours) for some agents, and they are happy with them. To get started, get a pano head. I got a NN3 with the RD8 rotator from https://store.nodalninja.com/. What I like is that it's compact and relatively light and sustains a canon 5d with 17-40mm. </p>

<p>As for the business side of things, I would stay away from obeo. I've considered them once and learned very fast that what they pay is a joke (something like $30 per house), and that includes all your time to travel to the property and back home, take the photos, the panos, then edit and stitch them yourself and email them that day. NO WAY. You'd be better off begging on the corner than doing that much work for such little pay. </p>

[eric_m4]

<p>Hello,<br>

Gustav, what do you mean by "one shot systems?"</p>

[sam_ellis]

<p>What focal length lens is recommended for these? I thought my 14-24 2.8 would suffice, but it just wasn't wide enough for my test shots. I've considered getting into this to supplement the wedding and portrait business.<br>

Any recommendations for software that will do full-screen (or close) tours?<br>

Thanks,<br />Sam</p>

[sam_ellis]

<p>Per the lens recommendation, I forgot to mention that I was using a D700 (full frame) but would likely be using a D300 for regular work.<br>

Sam</p>

[fate_faith_change_chains]

<p>I use a D70 with an 8mm fisheye set on infinity. Takes five angles / clicks to go the whole way around with this setup.</p>

[aidjoy]

<p>I looked into this pretty extensively about a year ago. The best system with the best support that I found was real tour vision. They're pretty heavy-handed when it comes to sales but I'd still recommend looking them up.</p>

[paul_rodman]

<p>Full disclosure - I am the co-owner of a Virtual Tour hosting company, TourBuzz.net<br>

We have several customers that have switched from the companies named above as well as several others for a couple of reasons.<br>

1. Highest quality images and full screen. 1500X 1000 stills 1200 pix high panoramas or 2000 X 4000<br>

2. Branding. We let the photographer brand the tours including the URL<br>

3. Customer service<br>

4. No upfront fees or buy in. You can purchase tours in blocks of 10 for $12 each or 1 for $15<br>

Our business model is not right for everyone but for independent photographers that do not want to pay upfront fees or buy equipment/software we are a good fit. We do not market your photography or send you leads.<br>

Here is an example of a tour shot by an independent photographer:<br>

http://tour.getmytour.com/public/vtour/display/1838?viewerType=flash2<br>

We have found generally the market is slower but the providers that hustle and do good work stay very busy. It does take some time to build a book of business but that is no different than any other business. <br>

Good luck.<br>

Thanks for your time. Let us know if we can help.<br>

Paul</p>

[daniel_abraham]

<p>I know it's way late, but my two cents is that you should build your own local area listing site. This is what I did and I have all of the perks of being my own boss. My site is <a href="http://www.pglistings.ca">PG Listings</a> and we have been in business for one year and to be honest, I would not have it any other way.</p>