All Forum Posts by: Kimberly McDowall

I'm in the Corpus Christi Bay Area if you are still looking for someone in Texas and in this area. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kim McDowall

I would agree that you don't want to encourage sellers to ignore you rather than counter back, it's counter-productive. Your agent should be ready to present offers, however, they are negotiating in order to bring the seller a reasonable offer while still keeping your goals in mind and keeping communication going between you and the seller. Good agents will try to address potential problems with an offer before submitting them. There are agents out there that will do whatever you tell them without thinking but that knife cuts both ways too. It's a razor's edge all around. I wish you luck and hope it all works out for you.

David, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree that pricing is going to be a big part of how successful sellers are going to be. I also agree that virtual tours won't hurt. As always, there are no "magic" answers and some things that work for one area don't have the same effect in another area. Maybe someone has some new ideas they will share in another thread. Thanks again and best wishes!

Thanks Caroline! This is nice to have and compare with other virtual tour products out there. I appreciate you offering your input and helping out.

Peter, that's a great tip! Thanks for the input.

Thanks for your input Kelsheikh. I'm starting to believe that it's not an option whetheror not to have a virtual tour as much as whether or not to hire someone to do it, do it myself or find something in between.

It's good to hear from someone who is doing it themselves and know that you are having success with it. I wish you the best and hope it all works out good. Thanks again!

Thanks for your input Mark. I am sure the listings get looked at more and traffic goes up but market conditions as well as other variables affecting your listing will determine the sale. It's always good to know what type of experience someone else has had with a product or company though. Take care and thanks again!

Another service I'm looking and comparing with other services is:

realestateshows.com

Just some tips to make your site look interesting to the search engines.

1. Use the text in your web pages to describe specifically what you have to offer, especially if it is a certain geographical area or niche. You don't need to repeat or overdo the same phrases but use as many synonymous words as possible to describe what you offer. Don't overdo the text. Less is more.

2. Use keywords effectively when building your site. If you have someone else buiding your site, make sure they are doing this.

3. Use your meta tags or have your web designer or webmaster use the meta tags.

4. Define who your target audience is and write your text, name and/or tag your images as well as any files with specific words that will attract that audience.

5. Put yourself in the place of your target audience. If you were going to search for the information contained in your site, what words would you use to search for it? Use those words and terms in your site.

I hope this helps!

I would love to hear your opinions on virtual tours. After doing some research into the cost of hiring someone or buying the equipment to do the tours myself, I'm overwhelmed. I am just getting back into the real estate business and am planning where to spend my time and money most effectively.

I have a professional grade camera and tripod but need the rest, i.e. bracket, software. Some questions I have are:

Do virtual tours enhance your business?

Do you hire someone to produce the tour or do you do it yourself?

Do you feel your time is better spent on something other than creating tours or do you find it adds to your bottom line as well as adding a personal service to your clients?

Was it difficult to learn to use the equipment and software?

On average, how much time do you spend creating a virtual tour?

I am interested in a package from Real Tour Vision that doesn't include a camera or tripod and will work with my digital camera. After looking all over the net for equipment providers, I found them to be the most professional and cost effective. If you have had an experience with them, I would appreciate your input as well.

Thanks in advance for your time and any answers you may be able to clarify for me.

Hopefully you have a support system within your office and at home. Sometimes things seem overwhelming. Sometimes that's true and sometimes you just need to remove yourself from the situation to gain your perspective again.

There are other ways to make money in real estate but you have to look, think and act outside the box. Best wishes and don't give up so easily on something you've worked hard for.