They’re a home seller’s dream come true: a miraculous gateway through which the world’s prospective buyers can tour your property 24 hours a day without your having to sweep the front porch, put flowers in vases, turn on all the lamps or light the fireplace. Here your house is always tidy and gleaming, its best foot forward (if your home had feet; well, you know what I mean!).
Of course, we’re talking about real estate virtual tours—the 21st century’s most far- reaching and transformative of real estate marketing tools. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, chances are you’re finding yourself spending more and more online time immersed in virtual tours. If you’re on the buying side: tour away! You’re saving a lot of time and motion as you whittle down the possible in-person visits. If you’re an owner preparing to list, on the other hand, you can contribute greatly to the success of your own virtual tour. Here’s how:
- Eliminate Excess. Real estate photographers are experts at knowing how to accentuate the spaciousness of your home by selecting the right angles and lens focal lengths. But you can make the results more impressive yet by ridding every nook and cranny of all clutter—including extraneous furnishings. One wise investment to promote a speedy sale is the renting of storage space to accommodate all that stuff. To showcase the full potential of your home, it’s probably worth the trouble of lugging a few pieces of furniture to temporary storage.
- Be Ready to Stash. Look around to spot items lying around the house that can be hidden. Find temporary lodgings for items like TV and stereo remotes, books and magazine, etc. Only slightly more troublesome are the kitchen blender and Cuisinart—or all the bathroom counter bric-a-brac. Have a number of smaller cardboard cartons ready to serve as temporary containers—they’ll go out of camera range.
- Give the Place a Thorough Going-Over. Western Slope area virtual tours—whether they be motion videos or the more common still photo compilations—can memorialize your home at its sparkling best only when it’s been made dazzling for the occasion. The camera tends to see flaws, and although some can be “fixed” in processing, the best virtual tours result when the property is actually in tip-top shape. Literally camera-ready. To that end, clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, dust, and vacuum – you know the drill! A few places that often get overlooked are baseboards and kitchen cabinet doors.
There’ll be a bonus coming your way afterward, too. In addition to having provided your home’s listing with one of the most appealing virtual tours in town, after the shoot, your family can enjoy the house at its spectacular camera-ready best (at least for a little while).
The combined efforts of a seasoned professional and motivated homeowner create an unstoppable formula for success. We hope you’ll think of us when it’s time to choose your agent!