A guide to the Virtual Tour on MHVillage
More and more we see technology come to the rescue for convenient and efficient shopping. From automated search alerts to online communication between consumers and sellers, the urgency of response time continues to be more valuable every day. Our Virtual Tour feature is yet another tool for you to provide more information up front to your buyer.
MHVillage works specifically with home buyers and renters who shop online. We found that, when it comes to our consumer base, a good number are looking at homes in cities and states beyond their current location. This can prove to be quite the obstacle for the home sellers who try to set up a time for potential walk throughs.
This is one of the reasons we offer the option for home sellers to upload a Virtual Tour to Premium Home listings and Showcased Communities!
What is a Virtual Tour?
This is a space on the home or community listing where you can add a link to a video. Once added, it will load the video directly to your listing page near the photos. This makes it easy for a customer to view.
How do I create the video?
As our technology evolves there are no excuses for poor quality video. So, while a professional video would be ideal, a smartphone video can be surprisingly effective too!
Here are some tips on creating a Virtual Tour that will show the best sides of your home:
Formatting: A horizontal view is the best angle when recording the tour, it not only allows for more of the home to be featured, but it also formats cleaner on both desktop and mobile devices.
Style: A video simply walking the customer through the details as if they were right there next to you is the most effective style for this video.
For a home, start with a steady view of the exterior and then end with the same. This will create a similar experience to the first and last impression of the home the customer would have if they were to take a tour in person.
For a community you can start with the entrance and then with some editing you can tour the recreational room, the library, the pool, or if it’s a more rustic an scenic community then a visual of the natural surrounds can be helpful too.
Narration/Music: This is a matter of preference. If you choose to narrate the virtual tour (meaning you speak directly to the customer off camera while filming), then be sure and check the audio quality in the editing process. If music is more your style, you also want to ensure you own the rights to the song. There are multiple websites to purchase the rights to music for this exact purpose (click here for a list of well reviewed music options on the web).
Edit/Upload: We also suggest you edit the video before you load it to the web. This is so you can be sure the video starts and stops at an appropriate spot. Some smart phones have editing features built in, and often there are editing tools provided on video-based sites like YouTube or Vimeo.
Once you have the video filmed, edited and loaded, the next step is to copy the URL and add it to your Premium home listing or Showcased Community!
If you have any questions about this feature, pleas contact us!
