Considering 3D Virtual Tour Business11476
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PamelaHaley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hi All, I'm new here and, I am glad to have found a busy forum full of pros. I am thinking about starting a business in 360 Virtual tours and, starting off with the MatterportPro 2. I don't consider myself a professional photographer but, I do have a decent amount of experience in graphic design, photography, and freelancing. Why start with a huge investment Matterport 2, rather than a less expensive device? I think this type of business would be good for me because of the product's quality and marketing appear very straight forward. What kind of advice do you have for someone starting from scratch? Thank you, Pamela Thompson |
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Regina, Saskatchewan Canada |
Queen_City_3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
| You will be the biggest determining factor of your own success. You can't expect the phone to ring, you have to actually market your services and proactively go after business. What you can charge will likely depend on what competition you have, so you should research if your market isn't overly saturated with other service providers. I can't speak for the quality of some of the entry level cameras. We own the Pro 1 and Pro 2, but haven't used the Pro 1 since upgrading (just keeping it as an emergency backup) as the Pro 2 has far superior image quality. This Covid-19 situation is rough for a lot of businesses, but it's magnified the need for virtual tours and so there's an opportunity right now for many of us. In my area real estate has slowed because of Covid-19, but there's a lot better options for small businesses right now anyhow. Good luck! |
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england921 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hi Pamela: I started doing virtual tours as a way to supplement my income as a professional photographer. My studio is currently closed, obviously, and all of my weddings, portraits, seniors etc. have canceled. This being said, I was in your boat a couple of weeks ago and here is what I have learned. Matterport - I looked into matterport because of all the hype. However, I did not like their restrictions on having hosted access to visual tours after a real estate property has closed in the board. You can have a stand alone tour which can be stored on a device to show clients but I know agents that will want to market these tours long after their property has closed. Also, in regards to matterport I heard that their camera cannot go outside. Whether or not this is true, a big part of the virtual tour is outdoor coverage - front and rear yards. I did extensive research on cameras. I settled with the Ricoh Theta Z1 ($999) and have been very happy with it. It allows me to shoot in auto jpg mode and also bracketed raw mode. This was important to me. I have shot 5 tours so far and the reliability, battery power, and storage have been more than adequate. I also did extensive research on the virtual tour software available. There are a ton. My favorite was more of a high end (3DVista) because of its ease of use, features, and it can be purchased ($499). I have the option of using their hosting services or I can download and host tours on my own. My tours are not held hostage. I have total freedom of their future. Finally, look into Ben Claremont as he has several youtube videos that cover virtual tours and even a course you can purchase. I believe there is a coupon floating around in here somewhere. He goes over in depth which camera to use and explores many of the popular virtual tour programs. There is a huge need for virtual tours right now due to the pandemic. Agents are scrambling on how to show houses by following social distancing rules and regulations. Good luck! |
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 WGAN FanClub Member Queensland, Australia |
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I do not see any reason to use something like a Z1 with 3DVista/Pano2VR over a Matterport Pro2. The resolution is not even close and almost 4 times less. Plus, even though you can shoot a big property with one click camera for a custom Pano2VR built tour under 15-20 minutes you are forgetting the time required to build a custom tour later. That's all in total should take more time to deliver a tour than doing it with a Matterport camera. And if you want to get the resolution close to a Pro2 you need a nodal setup with 30-50mp mirrorless/DSLR camera and do all panoramas manually. It adds even more time for combining bracketed shots into HDR & stitching HDR shots before you can even start building a tour. And if you account all this you will be charging $60-100 per each manually created panorama and it will be more than you can do it with Matterport. |
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by england921 @PamelaHaley ✓ Virtual Tour Pro course by Ben Claremont Save 15% with WGAN Forum Members Coupon Code for Virtual Tour Pro | Private Message me - @DanSmigrod - for the Coupon Code Best, Dan |
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england921 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @wingman - As I stated, I am a newbie to virtual tours. I use only DSLR cameras in my regular business so I completely understand the difference in resolution. Due to time constraints, I would not use a DSLR on my current projects and then stitch the photos. IF it was a high end client then maybe, but for real estate virtual tours I would not. I can't presume to comment on the quality of Matterport's $2000 camera, however, based on what I have seen in the forums lately, Matterport is adapting their own selling model, potentially affecting the income level of their subscribers. That being said, having an expensive 360 camera with excellent resolution makes no sense when the conglomerate is going to compromise my income eventually down the line. I would rather have full control of my future business in virtual tours with my own equipment and software choices. |
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PamelaHaley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Thank you @Queen_City_3D I do need to do more research on the competition for sure. One of my neighbors is a real estate agent and, he feels the housing market is saturated in 360 photographers. I know my key would be sticking out from the rest and, being proactive. That's also why I don't particularly want to consider starting with lower-end equipment because I'd rather come out of the gate with higher quality work. I only found 4 other Matterport photographers within a 20-mile radius through this site's referral service. As far as judging competition, I've gone from the client perspective of going a Google search for photographers who offer this type of service and, there were certainly a few. Outside of calling them up and asking about their prices do you have anything more stealthy? I am confident that there are a few marketing steps I can take to be more visible and, of course, once I am started, word of mouth will take off. The market is uncertain in general, from home sales to small businesses. I think that what homes do sell, will require 360 tours to make that possible. I originally considered focusing on higher-end real-estate for the ROI but, affordable housing will always have higher demand, especially where it may have formerly had none when people and could just physically view any home. I'm actually having a flashback to the heck a seller must have been going through when I was shopping for a home. She had tenants in a short sale and, it literally took weeks, plus an hour of waiting outside, just to get in and actually see the place. That has me thinking I may focus on landlords... I'm not sure. I have a lot of research to do, to identify a target audience... |
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PamelaHaley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @england921 thank you for the recommendation. I absolutely welcome more economical options and have the math to do. IF software has made significant improvements since I last used panotourpro 4 years ago, it might be worth it. I have my own DSLR equipment so, it's an option. As @Wingman was saying, when it comes to shooting the images and, stitching software myself, I'm thinking of the time I would be spending building tours vs. acquiring new clients and shooting new tours. A part of my issue with what I do even now. I spend too much time agonizing over small details when I can just pay for Matterport's 1% accuracy plus have the options to offer measurements, schematics, and Google integration as products. I actually looked at the subscription side of Matterport as an opportunity for residual income. As you said, real estate agents will want tours available even after the listing is closed... I'm not sure why exactly, it's not like they should be expecting to sell the same home again anytime soon but, people have reasons. I was considering charging a subscription fee to the clients for continued hosting of the tours. This means that I could start charging hosting fees for my first 5 properties, which would easily cover the subscription cost for when I do need to upgrade to the 25 property package and so on... Of course, I would pass on the cost of offering schematics and Google street views for business as well. I think this will also help manage the number of subscriptions I have to pay Matterport to host at a given time. Thank you @DanSmigrod |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by england921 We will need to see what they offer first before criticizing. It can be bad if bulk jobs are scattered and you need to drive between but if it is in one location it can be still good. See my thoughts about it here  As you can see one member said that even $0.1-0.15 per sq ft is too low but it is actually $200-300 USD for a 185 sqm property. I do not even charge that for a single tour order and I would be more than happy to do it at that rates. |
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PamelaHaley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @wingman I hope people are not competing for the price downwards like that. I was turned on to the idea by people talking about making $5k on a single property. I realize that is high but, they are probably working with $1M+ properties. If I were looking at residential, I would be thinking about basing my rates on sales value, not square footage. For instance, a real estate agent's commission usually runs 3-7% of the sale price. Homes in my area are generally about $300K. An agent would be bringing in $9,000-21,000 per home. Marketing plays a major role in their ability to make a sale so, I would consider pricing my services to scale. If an agent's marketing budget is 10% of their income, I want to figure out what value I provide in their ability to make a sale. Proportionally speaking, if I charge 3-7% of their commission, I could be earning anywhere $270-$1,400... Charging more brings higher-end clients. "You get what you pay for." |
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PamelaHaley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @wingman I didn't see the conversation screenshot yesterday. I see the discrepancy in how you feel about pricing has a lot to do with where we live. I'm not sure if it works in Australia, or whatever part of Australia you are in. Let's say, my 1,400 sq ft house in Georgia for sells for $130k. IF I go into the city of Atlanta, GA that same home is worth $200-300k. In Los Angeles, California, that same home is $400-650k. It's about all about the cost of living per your location. There are some places where the minimum wage is $15/hr and, others where it is still $7.25/hr. There are even businesses that get away with paying their employees less than that. In America, we can't rely on price-fixing. |
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