Buildatour.com Buildatour.com Community Forum

Updating Clients with Information

Dennis — Sat, 08 May 2010 04:19:50 GMT

Can you send an update to your clients with the view count information?

Tour Views Counter

Kyle — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:34:37 GMT

Does anyone know if it's possible to reset the tour views count? Everytime I preview a tour while I'm building it, it counts as a view. It would also be nice to reset the count after the property has been off the market for a while.

FAQ - Personal Photo and Logo

Buildatour.com — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:29:21 GMT

If you are experiencing difficulty in uploading your personal photo and / or company logo to your Buildatour.com account, the following information should be helpful.

We display your personal photo and company logo images in your tours at 75 X 75 pixels (square). Therefore, for best results in your Buildatour.com account, we recommend cropping your images to a 1:1 aspect ratio (square). If the images are large, we'd also recommend resizing the images 500 X 500 or less.

If you do not have image editing capabilities, we're always happy to help. Simply send us the images you'd like to use in your account via email. We'll edit the images for use in your account, and email them back to you.

Once, images are uploaded they will display in all you branded tours in the following manner.
[IMAGE:11]

If you have questions or need our assistance in any way, please contact us anytime.

contact@buildatour.com
(314) 256-9252

Description Length

Chris — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:12:34 GMT

What is maximum character length of the description field?

Adding info to "Additional Listing Info"

Wendell — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:40:19 GMT

I would like to take advantage of adding listing info. How & Where do I add it?

Uploading Tour to YOU TUBE

Robert — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:28:01 GMT

Does anyone know how to upload a virtual tour to You Tube?

Can I add my own Audio to the Virtual Tour?

Robert — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:09:22 GMT

I know we have a choice of background music for the tour, but is it possible to record an "audio tour" (as a .wav or .mp3) and upload to the tour, in place of the music?

Building a Tour Without an MLS Number

Buildatour.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:46:04 GMT

We occasionally have customers that wish to build a tour for a property that does not have an MLS number. This is common for Rental Properties, Vacation Rentals, Hotels, etc.

If you'd like to use our tours to showcase a property that does not have an MLS number, please remember the the MLS number field does require an entry. However, in the case of a rental property for example, you may simply enter "RENTAL" in the MLS number field. Or, you may enter wording of your choice, but remember that the number of characters that will display in the tour is limited.

If you have a listing that has not been put into the MLS yet, you may build the tour and enter "Coming Soon" in the MLS number field. Or, you may enter wording of your choice. Once the listing is entered into the MLS and an MLS number is assigned, remember to update the MLS number field in your tour. All tour uploads to Realtor.com and other sites are done exclusively by MLS number. We are automatically notified when and MLS field is changed, and will upload the tour to the updated MLS number as applicable.

In the sort of real estate markets we've been dealing with for a while, and will most likely be dealing with for some time to come, it is not uncommon that MLS numbers change. Again, remember to update the MLS number in your Buildatour.com tour when this is the case. We are automatically notified of the update, and will re-upload the tour to Realtor.com and other sites as applicable.

If a Non-Showcase Realtor.com link was purchased for a Buildatour.com tour originally, we can re-upload the tour to a new MLS number(s) by editing the original Realtor.com order without additional charge to the agent.

If you have questions or need further clarification, please login to your Buildatour.com account and post your questions here. We'll answer your questions promptly.

Facebook - Good Tool for Real Estate Agents?

Buildatour.com — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 09:18:18 GMT

Are you using Facebook to promote your business?

Remember when you got your license, and your broker started talking about your "Sphere of Influence"? The phrase sounds complicated, but it's not. Isn't it as simple as letting every single person you are in touch with know that you are a real estate professional, and that you have properties for sale at any given time?

Joining Facebook and making it relevant to your real estate business is Free and Easy. But, you need to stay on top of keeping your Facebook Profile updated.

We'd recommend using the "Post Link" application to post links to your MLS Listings individually. And of course the link to your Buildatour.com tour will also be available from your MLS or Realtor.com, etc. If you choose to, you can post your Buildatour.com Tour link directly. Each link you post to your Facebook page allows you to also enter a paragraph of descriptive text. It seems like a good option to get more exposure for you and your listings, and it's probably easier than updating a traditional website.

Friends talk, and as a real estate professional, you want them talking about you.

If you've been using Facebook to promote your real estate business, please share your experience.

Details Tab

Clara — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:54:49 GMT

The Details tab is where all the text that should accompany the photos is stored. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to set my tour up so that the Details Tab is prominent instead of the Thumbnails tab. Since the Thumbnails tab is redundent information (the photos are already scrolling throuh on the presentation), is there an option I missed?

My tour is not showing up on MRIS or Homesdatabase.com.

Buildatour.com — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:56:10 GMT

We've had a number of phone and email inquiries about why tours aren't showing up on Metropolitan Regional Information Systems' site.

MRIS allows up to three Virtual Tours to be posted to a single listing on their system. If there are no other tours posted to the listing, the MRIS slideshow will automatically take the first tour position, and will open when the "Virtual Tour" Link is clicked from the MRIS Listing, Homesdatabase.com, or other MRIS fed sites.

If the MRIS slideshow holds the first tour position on an MRIS listing, the second and / or third tours posted to the listing will appear when the "Other VT Link 1" or "Other VT Link 2" links are clicked after the original VT link is clicked from the listing. This can be very confusing for many.

Agents have indicated to us that they simply wait for their Buildatour.com tour to post to a listing before completing the MRIS slideshow for the listing. This allows the Buildatour.com tour to be placed in the first tour position and opened when the "Virtual Tour" link is clicked from the listing page.

The following image is an example of our MRIS tour upload interface. In this example, the Buildatour.com tour will appear under "Other VT Link 1"
[IMAGE:30]

The image below shows the corresponding "Virtual Tour" Link in a listing on Homesdatabase.com. In this case, the MRIS Slideshow will open when the "Virtual Tour" Link is clicked from the Homesdatabase.com listing.
[IMAGE:31]

The next image shows the opened MRIS slideshow with the "Other VT Link 1" link shown in the lower portion of the window. In this case, the "Other VT Link 1" link will open the Buildatour.com tour when clicked.
[IMAGE:32]

Unfortunately, we cannot select the placement of a tour when we post it to MRIS. This is completely determined by whether or not our tour is the first to be posted to the listing.

Please post any questions, comments, or advice below.

Realtor.com Upload Interface Currently Down

Buildatour.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:38:08 GMT

Realtor.com is currently experiencing technical problems, which are preventing us from posting tours to their site at this time.

We've contacted Realtor.com regarding this issue, and they indicate that the problem should be resolved relatively quickly.

We're continuing to monitor their system, and will upload pending tours as applicable at the earliest possible time.

If you have questions regarding this or other topics, please contact us any time.

Sincerely,

Buildatour.com, L.L.C.
(314) 256-9252
contact@buildatour.com

Sellers - Standing Out In The Crowd

Buildatour.com — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:58:28 GMT

In the current housing market, or any housing market for that matter, there are several things sellers can do to make their home stand out in the crowd.

Of course, during the "on-the-market" period, the home should be kept as clutter free as possible. Most experts agree that personal photos should be taken down, minor repairs should be made, and walls and ceilings should be freshly painted. Most agree that a pleasant aroma such as that from scented candles has a positive psychological impact on potential buyers. All of these make up the overall impression someone will have of you as a homeowner. All these factors are integral parts of the overall impression a potential buyer leaves with.
A few more ideas that have been proven effective are as follows.

1. Energy Conservation. Energy efficient appliances are attractive to potential buyers. Any project or renovation that makes the home more energy efficient will be popular with most buyers. Upgraded insulation, window replacements, caulking, and adding skylights can increase value, just to name a few.

2. Freshly painted decorative baseboards, crown molding, and door and window casings, are an excellent upgrade to any home, and are always a positive attention-getter with buyers.

3. Faux finishes, accented walls, or a simple coat of fresh paint can do wonders. This of course has to be done wisely. Just because your favorite color is bright green, doesn't mean you should paint the foyer wall that color. When choosing colors, you'll need to remember that you're trying to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. You'll be able to paint green walls in your next home, and then tone them down when it's time to sell again.

4. Wood, tile and new carpet may be the most beneficial upgrade of all. If the home is clean and clutter free, new flooring probably stands out more than any other single thing. New carpet and flooring probably do the most to make the home feel new again. On the other hand, flooring that is chipped, torn, or dirty will make your home feel older and will give potential buyers the impression that it has been less than well cared for.

5. Adding a deck, or replacing an old one can add value to your home. Many buyers would prefer that a feature like this be "ready to use" when they move in.

In a nutshell, your home has to look good if you want to get a reasonably high offer for it. And if it is well kept, clean, and up-to-date, you should show it to as many people as possible. An online virtual tour will be very effective in getting your home in front of as many eyes as possible. Tell your agent that you want a virtual tour. The National Association of Realtors state that more than 80 percent of home buyers start their search online, and the one thing they look for more than anything else is numerous photos of the home. Buildatour.com allows up to 75 high resolution (nearly full-screen) images per tour.

What is Image Resolution?

Buildatour.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:15:07 GMT

A quick answer to the question is to say that Image Resolution is a term used to describe how much detail exists in an image. For example an image that is 1600 X 1200 pixels would have far more detail than an 800 X 600 pixel image.

Essentially, the total number of pixels in an image is calculated in the same way as the square footage of a room. So, an image resolution of 800 X 600 would equate to 4800 total pixels.

You might think that the higher the resolution the better the image. Your are correct to make this assumption. If an image is to be used as part of a Virtual Tour or other website, there are a couple of factors to consider.

The larger the image, the longer the image will take to load to someone's computer.

A typical computer monitor can only display 72dpi (dots per inch), so additional resolution above an beyond that will only slow down the rate at which your tour or other website will load, and will provide no additional online benefit. Your Buildatour.com Tour(s) will display your tour images at 800 X 600 pixels and 72 dpi (nearly full-screen on a 17" monitor).

For best results, Buildatour.com users should make sure that their digital camera's resolution setting is larger than 800 X 600. You may upload any size image you prefer to your Buildatour.com Tour(s). We automatically down-size larger images to 800 X 600 pixels. However, we cannot up-size smaller images without significant image degradation.

Is there any way to renew a tour that has already expired?

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:55:10 GMT

I built a tour for one of my listings last year. My sellers decided to take the house off the market, and now want to put it back on.

When I login to my Buildatour.com account, I don't see the tour there. What can I do?

A Good Camera Choice for Real Estate Agents?

Buildatour.com — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:35:27 GMT

Digital cameras are not that much different than any other commodity .... you seem to get what you pay for. So, when it comes to digital cameras and equipment, there are a wide variety of options.

With the real estate market in it's current state, most agent's aren't interested in spending a lot of money on a new digital camera, and many worry about the technical requirements for using it. We won't recommend equipment that we haven't tested ourselves, but we certainly encourage you to share your experience with various digital cameras and equipment here.

We recently purchased a Panasonic Lumix FX35 10.1 Megapixel Point and Shoot Camera for testing purposes.

[IMAGE:5]

We're quite pleased with it. The key feature of this camera, and the single most important thing to consider when purchasing a camera to shoot home interiors, is it's 25mm wide-angle lens. 35mm lenses are simply not wide enough to adequately market a home. 50mm shots tend to result in a picture of a chair or end table when you thought you could show a room. For best results in shooting interior shots, we recommend that your lens be no more than 28mm. Generally speaking, the lower the better.

This is a shot taken with the Lumix FX35.

[IMAGE:6]

Now, here's the same shot with a Nikon D80 with 12mm Nikkor Lens and SB800 Speedlight.

[IMAGE:7]

Of course, the Nikon D80 and 12mm Nikkor Lens combination results in a much wider and higher quality image, but the cost of this equipment is approximately $2,000.

The Panasonic FX35 currently sells for $349 or less.

Photo Editing Software

Buildatour.com — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:39:33 GMT

Based on what we're seeing in Buildatour.com tours, a large number of agents are using some type of photo editing software. There are numerous photo editing software packages available ranging from freeware to the ultimate, Photoshop Creative Suite 4 (CS4). Photoshop CS4 Extended full version is priced at $2,499 online at Adobe's Online Store.
http://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/index.cfm?

We have been using Corel's Paint Shop Pro Ultimate Photo X2 for quite a while now. For the money, we think it's a good options for agents that want to get a little more out of their images after they're shot.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satell...4951547051

Paint Shop Pro X2 offers extensive features, and the price is now down to $79.99 (Full Version).

Adobe's answer to Paint Shop Pro, or vice versa, is Photoshop Elements (Full Version from $99.99).
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin

What editing software do you use? Do you have any recommendations on purchasing or using photo editing software?

Canon users - help with indoor lighting.

Connie — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:41:55 GMT

Hi. I am a independant real estate photographer - a newbie at that, who chooses buildatour.com as my tour site. I shoot with Canons, but have to go into manual mode to get the best lighting and decrease the orange glow indoors. Do any of you have this problem, and if so, what do you do? Shoot manually? Oh, and I have a Canon D 40 and 580 flash. Thanks!

MRIS Technical Issue continues to prevent us from uploading tours to their system

Buildatour.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:09:40 GMT

[IMAGE:29]
We were unable to upload tours to the MRIS system all day yesterday and the problem persist today. We've been in regular contact with MRIS to monitor their progress in resolving this issue.

The latest word from MRIS on this issue (via email) was received a few minutes ago.

THIS FROM MRIS VIRTUAL TOUR GROUP:
"This issue is a bug in a newly updated java code set that was deployed to the site on Monday evening. I received a fix from the developer about a half hour ago. We will be testing that fix today and tomorrow, and I hope to have it in place by tomorrow so long as it passes testing."

We have all tours purchased yesterday and today flagged for upload to the MRIS system as soon as they resolve the issue.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience.

If you have further questions or need our assistance in any way, please contact us any time.

Use our forum to get web exposure

Buildatour.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:22:53 GMT

Agents should seize every opportunity they can get to increase their exposure on the World Wide Web, and most do.

If you have a FREE account on Buildatour.com, you should probably take advantage of our forum on a regular basis. Please feel free to post information about yourself, your local market, expert advice on current market conditions, etc. And of course, if you don't have a FREE Buildatour.com account ..... you should. Once you've registered a FREE Buildatour.com account, we hope you'll become a customer ... but it's not required.

You can post links to your website(s) or other websites in your forum posts by placing the appropriate filters before and after the URL address. For example:
[url] should be placed before the link
and [/url]should be placed at the end of the link. The URL address should be placed between these two filters. A URL address is a link similar to www.google.com, www.cnn.com, www.realtor.com, etc.

Since Google and other search engines index forum post, your potential for being seen on the web goes up each time you post to the forum. If you choose to utilize our forum in this manner, please remember to include your contact information in each post. Only your first name will automatically be included in your post.