INMAN - Do 3D Home Tours Matter?8373
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 WGANStandard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Here's the article Inman today (Wednesday, 12 December 2018) And here's my focus within it: - - - "Bhuta also complained that even when listings do have virtual tours, that feature is often buried at the very end of a lengthy slideshow on websites such as Zillow, or even some brokerage pages. “The biggest problem with Matterport,” Bhuta continued, “is that on most of these websites that people go to, it’s not really shown prominently.” That was a recurring complaint among many of the Realtors who spoke to Inman, and highlights how the technology, while promising, remains a background feature across much of the industry." - - - Yes, call me a broken record, but this is the core issue. As I understand it, Matterport and Realtor.com share Newscorp as a major investor in both. Newscorp and Matterport need to negotiate a deal for Realtor.com to feature Matterport much more prominently. Go to Zillow and if a listing has a video, there is a fairly prominent "Video" button on the main image window. Go to Realtor.com, and if a listing has a Matterport, there's a teensy-tiny "3D View" button. Hey Realtor, make it huge and call it Matterport, what it is. Good for Realtor, good for Matterport, good for Newscorp's investment in both. And while you're at it, create a filter, featured on the main landing page, to "search for listings with 3D". Multiple studies have indicated that Buyers WANT to see more videos and 3D tours of listings. This is Realtor.com's ONLY real leverage to pull people back from Zillow. If Realtor promoted to the public that it includes MP 3D modeling - which Zillow does NOT - it could gain ground. Buyers want what Realtor is offering, but because it's virtually hidden on the site, it's meaningless. Realtor.com has owned this advantage for a couple years, but they have wasted it through lack of promotion and now Zillow is stepping up with it's own, albeit inferior, "3D Home" walkthroughs without dollhouse, floor plans, etc. But just wait! When Zillow flips the switch launching 3D Home (for accuracy, should be '360 Home') tours nationwide (currently in 9 test markets) I'll bet Zillow will market the hell out of it - perhaps even with TV ads. Then Realtor will be in the sad position of playing catch-up once again, despite having been in the lead for 2 years with MP, which the public didn't know. Duh. Wake up, Realtor.com |
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Home3D Your commentary is spot-in. I would add that I could imagine that Matterport's new CEO, RJ Pittman, will light a fire under: ✓ doing exactly what you say with Realtor.com (since the parent company, News Corp., is a strategic investor in Matterport. I can not imagine how Matterport allowed News Corp. to be a strategic investor without committing to major promotion of listings featuring Matterport 3D Tours. ✓ make strategic alliances with listing services (including offering equity in Matterport to make this happen) Doing this will sell more cameras resulting in more processing and hosting. Among other priorities for the new CEO, grow demand for Matterport by targeting people that are likely to list their home for sale. When home sellers specifically ask for Matterport, real estate agents will have to say yes. Happy holidays, Dan |
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BrokerBruce private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Good points Dan and 3D. In the commentary section the following was noted. "If these companies were smart, they would look into ways of obtaining feedback after a virtual showing in the same way that feedback is obtained after a physical showing. It would be highly valuable to report this information back to sellers and would drastically increase the adoption rate of this technology in more markets. “ Mr. and Mrs. Seller, you had 5 physical showings and 20 virtual showings this week. Here is all of the feedback…” I think this would be extremely valuable for a Realtor to pass on to clients. I have a super new listing that I have had zero calls on so far but I can't imagine the Matterport hasn't been viewed online. When I did the tour shoot I told them this may actually cut down the number of showings with folks being able to discount it up front for whatever their reason may be. |
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WGAN Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
| An additional comment from clients: A couple times agents have told me they are not interested in Matterport or any other 3D/360° tour process because they believe this will reduce in-person visits such as during publicized open houses. On the surface, I get their concerns though I generally counter that virtual 3D tours multiply the number of people who will "tour" the home in total, as well as cut down on the time wasted showing the home to buyers who, upon seeing it, really aren't interested. Of course, in the listing agent's mind, this is not "wasted" time as open houses rarely lead to purchases, they are conducted for the dual reasons of (1) making the homeowner feel the agent is servicing their listing and (2) for agents to meet potential new listing customers. Every person is a potential client. So once again, the only way to promote the use of Matterport is to educate Buyers (meaning the general public) of the power of the technology so that all Homeowners are convinced of its necessity when they become Sellers. The vast majority of agents will never lead the way because they have to pay for it. And they won't ask Sellers to pay for it (as they do staging) because Matterport feels more akin to photography, which agents traditionally DO pay for out of their commission. |
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Frisco, Texas |
Metroplex360 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| It's funny how we have these expectations of RJ Pittman to create a paradigm shift. Matterport Tours have a value for some realtors, because some of them use them effectively to differentiate themselves. There are different ways to look at everything. It's a tool and it works well in many industries. Matterport is a platinum sponsor at Inman this year. Interesting that such an article would be posted right now... |
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