NYC real estate agents share the same issues when feeling overwhelmed and flooded with rescheduled showings, pandemic uncertainty, flowery property descriptions in tedious email and text chains, and being challenged by the weather. These many challenges inspired Ricardo Picón, a visual marketing creator with over 15 years in Commercial and Real Estate Photography.
Picon says, “I searched for the right technology to go beyond traditional photography and offer an ecosystem where agents could do remote showings of high-quality realistic tours with exact measurements and a killer interactive floor plan.” He adds that “Agents today must adapt to post-pandemic times at social media speed and be their own marketing force. The secret is to produce a shareable solid visual experience that links back to them.” “We plan to empower realtors with tools to increase their exposure, out-of-town investors interaction, and virtual showings that can dramatically speed up sales and rental time gaps.”
Pictures and Social Media Alone are not enough.
Picon states, “the inventory of property pictures is so massive and similarly retouched that it is hard to grasp one’s real attention. In addition, social media dilutes exclusivity and valuable details for a potential client.” Many agents today think that social media is building followers and potential clients when the truth is that most of those leads belong to the hosting account. Says Picón, “All your followers constantly receive equal or better information from competitors. The key to this dilemma is to grow your clients within your interactive platform; pictures alone are not enough for this endeavor.”
Picon Virtual Tours, found in iGuide/Planitar technology a great ally. Picon’s photography, art direction, and marketing expertise, united with Planitar’s 360° fundamentals, are valuable assets for building an engaging and pragmatic experience for various industries. The technology thrives on an optimal realistic viewing experience, branding, visitor analytics, and precise floor plans.
Long-Lasting Value in User Experience, Floor Plan and Analytics
Picon adds, “Experiencing a Virtual Tour with realistic quality viewing from someone standing inside the property going over the ceilings, floors, tagged amenities, closet, and storage space is hard to forget. Any details you’d only find in the physical realm create a bond of familiarity with the tour creator, whether a— broker, contractor, designer, or architect. Decision-making accelerates through this experience. Reports worldwide suggest that Virtual Tours drive younger generations to property investment and, in general, more extended time visits over pictures alone.”
The interactive element is not only about appreciation or looking fantastic. Their laser-accurate floor plans —Fannie Mae approved— allow you to draw measurements giving the tours real practical meaning for moving, renovation, and decoration.
Picon reveals his own aha moment, “My wife and I were traveling in Oaxaca. She went crazy for a stunning artisanal tapestry; we needed to ensure the colors and dimensions would fit our home in Brooklyn. I opened our house’s virtual tour on my phone, drew measurements, and saw how my living room would integrate with the carpet. I was so glad to have this tour forever accessible; this is the long-lasting asset value of this tour package and the connection with its original provider.”
It is also possible to tag any amenity linked to its brand, model, year, and specs, from a Viking stove to a CB2 vase or a Design Within Reach couch.
Picon states, “Once the tour is live on your website or platform, you’ll get a detailed report of the number of visits, duration, and repeats driven by Zillow, Realtor.com, your webpage, Facebook, or any other site. This information is very beneficial for marketing leverage.”
Virtual Nevertheless with a Face
“Humanizing a remote experience and giving it identity changes how the client sees the broker, contractor, engineer, architect or interior designer offering the tour,” says Picon. “Every tour has a banner with the headshot, phone, email, site, and social media of the person/company listing the tour, and the best of all is that it’s clickable and shareable over the phone or via email.”
An added benefit is that; guiding anyone in the event of a remote showing is easy without clunky screen sharing; all the actions of the walkthrough are mirrored on the participants’ screens simultaneously, no password is needed, and it is a free feature.
Using Picon’s approach, Picon Virtual Tours technically acts as operators and producers of the tour; the branding belongs to the client. The tours are subscription-free, a game-changer in the high-end VT industry.
Photos, Videos, Drones, Google Street View, and Virtual Reality
With a strong background in commercial content creation, Picon Virtual Tours loves the flexibility of being able to add editorial beauty and a sense of polished advertisement by annexing external professional photography and video to the tour. Clients can also incorporate aerial drone pano-shots, which are increasingly popular in rural and industrial scenarios.
An extra feature that saves time and money for commercial properties is exporting the tours to Google street view, allowing better search ranking alongside Google maps.
Virtual Reality compatibility is as simple as having a headset and switching your tour to VR mode.
Industries
Residential and Commercial Real Estate are not the only ones benefiting from this technology; architecture, engineering, construction, insurance, restoration, and interior design gain great use, either by 3D navigation, reporting accurate dimensions, and floor plans having exact before and after comparisons.
The ROI on a complete package tour is very efficient given its cost; it can spin off to traditional media, social, SEO, powerful platforms, and an array of marketing material that transcends bubbles and demographics. Planitar states that Residential Real Estate properties with iGuide Virtual Tours sell 39% faster, 14% fewer days in the market, and 1.3% more than those listings with just pictures.
“Our tours have a down-to-earth alive and breathing quality that makes you want to dig deeper and trust the experience, “ adds Picon.
About Picon Virtual Tours Services
Picon Virtual Tours not only produces 360° Virtual Tours, but their services include individual or as a package: property photography, virtual staging, video, and corporate headshots. Picon says, “We listen to our clients to convey a compelling visual story, help them establish an immersive corporate identity, and make long-lasting bonds.”
Ricardo Picón has an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a long experience in commercial, corporate portraiture, and real estate photography.
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Corporate Headshots
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Corporate Portraiture Services for Staff and Teams
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Corporate Portraiture Services for Staff and Teams
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Click here to schedule a demo with Ricardo Picón at info@piconvirtualtours.com or call Picon Virtual Tours at 917 5485630. Currently, we are covering NYC and the Tri-State Area.
Our website: https://www.piconvirtualtours.com/