All Forum Posts by: Mark Costa

Looking for an agent in the Blacksburg, VA area. We are possibly relocating to the area and wanted to meet with someone to discuss the market for our home, but also to discuss expanding our income property business.

Thank-you!!

You can do what Russell suggests and have a video capture/editing team or find/start a Matterport service provider. I advocate for Matterport because it's faster, the end product is more attractive, and it has more native functionality than 360 video or 360 pictures. For example, the Matterport service generates a floorplan and doll house which provides the prospective buyer a sense of the layout of the house, which is important for most buyers. Also, It's more difficult to do a bad job and easier to do a good job with Matterport than 360 video.  

Either way, it's smart to see people getting on board with virtual tours as they are becoming increasingly popular. A recent Coldwell Banker study found 77% of home buyers want to see a virtual tour before visiting a home.

In terms of providing the service to buyers you represent, you can either have a headset at the office that will allow your clients to stop by and do virtual tours or give them a Google Cardboard with your brand on it for them to use at home. 

I agree with both Len and John - the discussion about increasing time lived on campus is still happening within University administration and there seem to be more supporters than detractors.

I would also add that there are at least two large-scale operations in the neighborhood, both having in excess of 400-600 units. The result is it would be harder for you to make your property visible.

Stephen,

If you're talking strictly about moving properties, Matterport is a good technology to look into. It's a relatively low-cost tool that can be used to make 3D, photo quality scans. We've even done scans for museums, hotels, and event centers with their technology.

If you want to look more into collaboration around RE, particularly rehab and construction, you can explore technology like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (collectively xR) for viewing and editing BIM files. xR applications are just coming to market and will make a significant impact on the industry over the next few years.

Hope that helps,

Mark

David,

I can confirm that Matterport provides the services you are looking for. I am a co-owner of a company in the Syracuse area that provides scanning in the Syracuse, NY area.

The technology is great, working with Matterport is another story. They've done a number of things to undercut our business.

I suggest contracting with someone who already provides the service as it can be expensive to bring in-house once you account for all of your costs. We had a cost accountant help us model out the true costs before we started; I won't share the exact numbers but I will say your costs per scan are inversely proportional to the volume of scans you do and does not reach an asymptote until you hit a decently high volume. Of course, reaching that volume is challenging because there are certain parts of the process that are time intensive. We chose to get into the scanning space because we knew it would be difficult for anyone who is not pushing for volume to justify the costs and be competitive.

Take away: good product, but do your research before jumping in and becoming a service provider.

Alan,

One thing that immediately stands out is your estimated taxes. The $3000 estimation seems very low given NY's high tax rate. For example, a 2 unit house worth $70k in the city of Syracuse will be $3k a year in taxes. I am guessing the ARV for your property will be much higher.

I can't speak from experience, but I have talked to others who were assessed after the final certificate of occupancy was granted. That was for new build residential; if the process holds true for renovations your taxes could be in the tens of thousands per year.

Hopefully, someone who has more experience can chime in and provide a more definitive answer.

One more thing to consider - you can tag hotspots in Matterport. If you really wanted to add that extra polish, you can pay a translator to add descriptions in your target audience's native language. That may be tough if you are targeting investors that speak different languages, but doable if you are looking at one or two options.

@Sean Boivin I haven't bought any homes out of my geographic area yet and I tend to target lower-mid end of my local market where the REA still take photos with their phones, so I have not bought any houses with scans. However, my business is doing enough scanning volume on mid- to high- end houses to keep a full-time person busy.

In the interest of full honesty, I will say that I am a co-founder of a business that does 3D scanning for RE. I also do research in the applications of xR. 

If you are trying to impress investors and the deal is worth a significant amount of money, I would suggest springing for a Matterport scan. You can search for providers in your area. What I like about the MP scan is it retains some sense of depth and it auto-generates dollhouses and floorplans so the viewer can get a view the layout of the property.  I can't say how much the scan will cost as it is up to the service provider, but it shouldn't be that much more than professional photos.

In my experience, 360 videos and panoramic shots do not retain the sense of depth that an expensive 3D 360 shot would. You also have to stitch the shots together or create a walkthrough. I think it's harder to do well.

One last suggestion, for the final touch you could order a few custom branded Google Cardboard goggles to send with the investor package - your prospective investors can immerse themselves in the Matterport scan and have a memento that is way better than a calling card.

David,

Welcome and glad to see another person getting started in the Syracuse area. The market's competitive, but I am sure with a little effort you'll achieve your goal.

Where is the REIA and how do I get on the list so I know when the meetings are held?